Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-10-26

pliutlpltS as utN were III lllt HeuTlS
OF his countrymen. The platform at
ST. Louis rs the greatest one ever
presented by a party. There is not
one here tonight who thinks in the
bottom OF his heart that the United
States is doing right in the Philip
pines. There is not an iota of right
in our treatment of the Filipinos."
Mr.. Ayers then went on To discuss
the Philippine question and said that
the Filipinos are perfectly III TO gov
cm themselves at the present time
as any soldier who had served there
would say. He confined his remarks
to the question of Imperialism.
David Hilger used up the remain.
der of the twenty-five minutes that
had been allotted to the first speaH
er and discussed the platforms OF the
two parties. He alleged that the Re
publican platform had been stolen
from the Democrats. He then touch
ed on the initiative and referendum
and tariff issues, characterlzing the
latter as dead issue. He closed
his argument with a discussion of i'm
perialism. lie was forced to stop be
the condition OF his voice.
The second speaker for the Republ.
cans was the Hon. w. A. Hedges aud
he was received with great applause
by the audience. He said. while
We are wandering from Thomas JCf
ferson to the present time the main is
sue really is; What are we TO do toI
an administration for the next four
years. All OF you know that political
conditions change and platforms are
made up from the needs of the coun
Try AT the time the platform is drawn
up. III at the last election the Repub
lican platform did not contain the ini
tiative and referendum plank and 9th
ers that IL does this year II was for
the reason that the Republican party
did not at that time think the needs
OF the state were such as to demand
them. We must decide which party
policies affect you and me to the
greatest extent. We are doing the
work and paying the taxes and we
want to know how the administration
is going To affect us. The men here
tonight now that the change from a
Republican administration to a Demo.
cratic administration in 1892 brought
disaster. Some OF us are paying today
mortgages which we were compelled
to burden ourselves with at that time
"The Republicans gave prosperity
to this country. We are satisfied and
that Is why we should return them
to power. During those dark days fol
lowing 1892 We. in this country. were
fighting the question of free wool IN
real life. IL brought us disaster. In
1896 the question OF free silver was
raised by the Democratic party. That
question was settled under an ava
lanche OF votes. The question is.
Shall the party which has shown that
IT is capable Of administering The al
fairs Of the nation be continued in
power? The question IN this election
is largely that OF individuals al the
head Of the party and what they stand
for. Wall street is opposed 10 hav'
ing a president whom II cant control
with It's Immense wealth.
Mr.. Hilger has said that the Repub
liCans until now have SHE'D the lucs-
tion of initiative and referendum. Il
say to you that the question now is
whether the county OF Silver Bow
with the great corporate interests
there are TO control the state. We
have been up against the Amalgamat.
ed Copper company. the United Cop
Ier company and the Clark copper
companies for years and they have
county. We have fought them. We
believe the people Of the other twen.
ty-five counties in Montana are ar
rayed against Silevr Bow. The initia
tive and referendum has been brought
to us and the Republicans have de-
cided that we must appeal to the In
telligent people of the state. Silver
Bow county has brought to pass the
initiative and referendum.
Theodore Roosevelt has been the
idol of the people of this country.
He broke up the railroad merger and ~
now after the beef trust He can not so
farther than this In his capacity as ex-
ecutiye. Mr. Hilger complains of the low
prices Of beef and says the president
has not gone far enough In regard to
the trust. The president has no pow.
er to interfere In regard to the price
of beef as long as the packers keep
within the bounds of Interstate com.
merce. He doesn't make the laws.
He enforces them.
Roosevelt has surpassed In good
TO the state Of Montana any president
who ever sat In the white house"
| Mr.. Hedges closed his talk amid hearty
applause.
II. l.. De kalb. the next Democratic
speaker took up the question OF the
national irrigation law and endeavor
ed to prove that II was due to the
Democratic party that this law was
passed and not to president Roosc.
welt. as had been stated. He quoted
statements of prominent public men
in support Of his argument. He then
touched on Imperialism and enumer
ated various promises which he claim
ed the Republican party had failed to
| fulfill in their administration.
The subject of the trusts came up
| for discussion and he cited the fact
that the trusts were betting on ROOse
welt for the coming election, claiming
that this fact showed the president
TO be in league with them. He accus
ed the Republicans Of Montana Of al.
! lowing Senator Carter to draw up
their platform and read selections
from both the Republican and Demo.
cratic platforms. He then went into
rebuttal of the arguments Of the Re
| publican speakers but seemed 10 be
unable to successfully meet the ques.
tions that had been raised.
Albert Pfaus closed the debate for
the Republicans in good forceful ar
gument He spoke OF the characters
of the two men who are at the head
of the national tickets and showed
how many Of the prominent Demo
Gratis were still supporting Bryan and
his doctrines. although he Is direct
ly opposed to Parker on the financial
question.
when a man does not stand for