The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-02
DEPICTING TO CnrrrcIsn.

Speaking of the restiveness under criticism displayed by some Republi- cans. The New Bedford Standard. a sound party paper, tells them;
 Republican orators. whatever their station or rank, are making q bad mis- take and setting bad Rresedsiatt, wnss o9 criticism of the administration In vein to rank 1t with treason against the country At the moment, when they are strained and intense, this may seem they ought to reflect that in the natu- ral course of political events, the Chances that they will sometime ma themselves in the opposition are very great. Then. according to their own line of reasoning, they will be cut on from all review of governmental pol : icy because. to quote Secretary Hay. they are "inciting disordered minds to of a nation" This is remark which is unworthy of Mir. Hay, whok ought to know that with free people, who are trying te carry on government cy par, amount of give and take, is essential That such discussion runs Into excess and extravagance at times Is no doubt true. But we had better have the ex- cess and extravagance than not to have the discussion at all. And there Is no sense in whining because sometimes 1t hits hard.
 The Standards position Is we'll taken. and it's Republican brethren will lose nothing by accepting It. Our con temporary will hardly agree with us when we say that no Party was ever more open to criticism. and that public officials have rarely made of themselves more vulnerable targets than the Re- publican officials have. but we may let that pass. The point is that fair criti- cism is both allowable and proper It may be that the limits of fairness are sometimes passed, and 1t may also be a fact that neither Party Is entirely guilt less of offence. That Is natural in the heat of political campaign. and may be expected, but such remarks as that Of Hay, quoted by The Standard. are not at all creditable to those who are guilty of making them.
 It is somewhat amusing to hear peo- pie iamenting the virulence of political criticism in our day as if 1t were alto gether modern innovation. If they will go back and post themselves a little, they will find how badly they are mistaken. Even as early as Washing toms day Party rancor was as violent as it is now, or more so. The most ex- treme partisan speaker of today could get pointers In his peculiar line by go. ing back to the times of Washington and the elder Adams. and continuing in continuous line to the present. The Father of His Country would have gone to his grave several years earlier if bitter persecution and misrepresenta- ton could have killed him. It has been the same all through the life of the Re- public and doubtless will remain so.
 The fact is that as long as there are political Parties, there will be full and free discussion, and 1t is better so. If 1t could be possible for Party to hold office, or even to aspire to office with out being criticised, there would be no safety for the Republic. Such condi- tions might be submitted to In Russia, but not in free government, where the right of any citizen to express hss sentiments Is among the guaranteed privileges of citizenship. And then. too, The Standard does well to warn It's Republican friends that they may Tn some future time be out and the Demo- crats in. Then the Republicans would be as ready to criticise the "ins" as Democrats now are. and 1t might be embarrassing to them to have the rec ords produced to show that they ob- jected when they were in office to hav- ing anything unfavorabie said about them Give and take is the only way.