Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-09-28


in abstract questions which had been pre-
scented for settlement by his own court.
His exposition Of the general principles
OF the Constitution was not bad from
legal standpoint. but when he came 10
deal with the question OF trusts he seem
e1 to have forgotten that he was respond
Ing TO a nomination from a national con
yentu1. which had selected him to act as
President Of the United States. in which
capacity he would have To execute Unit
ell States laws only. and would have alb
solately nothing to Do with the common
law. This alluSiou OF Parker to the
common law. as means OF attacking
the trusts. has been a source Of surprise
and amazcmeHt 10 the pre- fesSion all over
the country. Judge Parkei : decisions in
New York Stale have always taken high
rank. and it was this which made thu
amazement all the greater We conld
not understand how il could possibly br
that any good lawyer could have made
such a blunder. and we have heen forced
to the conclusion that Judge Parker alb
s1lutely forgot that he was writing on
national topic. his is only an in
stance going to show the uuwisdom of
taking man off the bench for a political
position. especially such a position as
that of President of the United States.
Experience Necessary.
ITO administer the affairs of the gov
eminent successfully. experience is just
as necessary as ii is to run hotel or
railroad. y lawyer in active practice is
necessarily thrown in 10 a large extent
with the ordinary business affairs OF the
country. but with judge on the b'uch
it is entirely different He deals it'll
matters Of abstract right and wrong.
and all his trSining goes to remove him
from business problems. In point On
fact. the successful Judge in a court of
last resort should be rs far removed
from the Influences Of daily life as posi-
bic. The IDEAL judge Is legal machine.
settling abstract principles of Law. Where
as the ideal President is exactly tile oppp-
site. He executes the laws as he finds
them. suggests new ones TO meet new
conditions. and acts as the personal rep
reSentatiye of the people who make the
laws. 1t is not his business to interpret.
but to do. and the things which make a
man a good Judge make him a bad PreSi-
dent, and vice versa. Parker would new
or have made that awful blunder if he
had had any recent experience in Con-
gress or in an executive position at
Washington. where he would have been
in touch with current opinion on this
subject. | don't wonder that ROoSe-
welt picked him up on this. and, in my
opinion. the Presidents paragraph about
the common law as applied to the federal
control OF trusts is most luminous eX-
position of the powers and the limitations
Of the federal government. But it's GER
tainly a knockout blow for Parker"
The Tariff Issue.
Il was glad to see" said successful
looking man. who explained later on that
he was a manufacturer il northern Yer
mont, Il was glad to see that the Presi-
dent made Snch a point of the tariff
issue We had .dose OF Democratic free
trade theories mp our way about ten
years ago. which we Will never forget.
We are so near the Canadian border
that we get the worst of every reduction
in the tariff rates. We have to enter
into competition with the cheap labor
of Canada. When the WilSoa tariff bill
went into operation, just ten years ago,
it shut up my factory inside Of six
months, and | tell you, gentlemen
didn't open again until after Mckinley
was elected and the Dingley tariff law
Went into operation. Ii was a time OF
panic. as you know. thousands OF labor
ing men were glad to work for any
wages. and yet. at the same time, could
not run my factory and compete with the
Canadians. who flooded our part of the
country with goods made by the cheapest
labor, such as / could not secure even
in those times of starvation. There are
some places far in the interior where
freight rates protect them from foreign
competition in times of free trade, but
those of us Mo are near the border are
the first to feel = Is competition. l got
it in the neck ten years ago. and got it
good ana hard. Ii there weren't any
other issue between the two parties |
would vote for Roosevelt, because he and
the Republicans generally stand for the
protection of American manufactures
against the competition oS the cheap Ia
Dor. not only of Canada but of the
world at large. We all believe in reel
procity which is reciprocal. and not in
free trade under the guisp Of reciprocity
Ro0Sevelt's story of the disastrous effects
Of the Wilson tariff of 1894 is not over
drawn in the slightest particular and |
am glad to sec that he has kept the
tariff issue to The front. because in al
this talk of imperialism and extrava-
gance and the trusts, and one thing and
another. people seem to forget that the
Republican party is pledged to protec-
ton. and that the Democratic party is
pledged to free trade. We haven't for
gotten that up our way. however. and
tell you. gentlemen, that the biz Eepu5-
liean vote in Vermont was largely. If not
entirely. produced by the determination
of our people to put themselves ON rec
ord against the free trade principles 4
platform Of the Democrats.
Its frank. it's honest. and its fair.
said the clergyman to a seat-neighb8r in
the interior of the car when they We're
discussing the same letter Of accept
ance I'm not much of a politician my
self. hut | have been very much impress
cd with the extraordinary honesty and
the tenaeity OF purpose shown by the
President in his letter Of acceptance.
Comparing il with the speech OF Judge
Parker. in accepting his nomination. I
cannot see how the people can hesitate
very long in making their choice"