Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-08-03

we are Hol CUnSlrdlned 10 keep 81
lent on any vital question: We are di
vided on no vital question; our polio.
is continuous, and Is the same for al
sections and localities. There Il
nothing experimental ABOUT the gov
eminent We ask the people to con
tinue In power, for our perfomanc,
in the past, our proved government
tai efficiency, is a guarantee as Il
our promises for the future.
Our opponents, either openly or sec
retly, according to their several tenn
peraments. now ask the people tC
trust their present promises in con
sideration of the fact that they in
tend to treat their past promises a:
null and void. We know our owl
minds and have kept of the same
mind for sufficient length of time
to give our policy conference and san
ity.
In such fundamental matter as the
enforcement of the law We do not
have to depend upon promises, but
merely to ask that our record be TAX
en- as an earnest of what we shall
continue to do. In dealing with tbs
great organizations known as trusts
we do not have to explain why the
laws were enforced, but to point out
that they have been actually enforced
and that legislation has been enact
ed to increase the effectiveness OF
their enforcement.
We do not have to propose to turn
the rascals out" for we have shown
in every deed that whenever by dill
gent investigation a public official
can be found who has betrayed his
trust he will be punished to the full
extent of the law without regard to
whether he was appointed under Re
publican or a Democratic administra
tion. This is the efficient way Ia
turn the rascals out and to keep them
out, and il has the merit of sincerity
Moreover, the betrayals of trust in
the last seven years have been insig
nifcant in number when compared
with the extent of the public service
Never has the administration of the
government been on a cleaner or
higher level; never has the public
work Of the nation been done more
honestly and efficiently.
Unwise to Change.
Assuredly IL is unwise to change
the policies which have worked SO
well and which are now working SO
we'll Prosperity has come at home
The national honor and interest have
been upheld abroad. We have placed
the finances of the nation upon a
sound gold basis. We have done this
with the aid of many who were form
erly our opponents, but who would
neither openly support nor silently
acquiesce in the heresy OF unsound
finance; and we have done it against
the convinced and violent opposition
of the mass of our present opponents
who still refuse to recant the unosund
opinions which for the moment they
think 1t inexpedient to assert. We
know what We mean when We speak
of an honest and stable currency. We
mean the same thing from year to
year. We do not have TO avoid a def.
mite and conclusive committal on the
most important issue which has re.
Gently been before the people and
which may at any time in the near
future be before them again. Upon
the principles which underlie this is.
sue the convictions of half of our
number do not clash with those OF
the other half.
So long as the Republican party
is in power the gold standard is set.
tied, not as a matter OF temporary
political eXpediency, not because of
shifting conditions in the production
of gold in certain mining centers,
but in accordance with what we re-
gard as the fundamental principles
of national morality and wisdom.
Under the financial legislation
which we have enacted there is now
ample circulation for every business
need; and every dollar of this circu
lation is worth dollar in gold. We
have reduced the interest-bearing
debt and in still larger measure the
interest on that debt. All of the war
taxes imposed during the Spanish war
have been removed with a view TO
relieve the people and to prevent the
accumulation of an unnecessary sur
plus. The result is that hardly ever
before have the expenditures and in
come of the government so closely
corresponded. In the fiscal year that
has just closed the excess of income
over the ordinary expenditures was
nine millions of dollars.
This does not take account OF the
fifty millions expended out of the
accumulated surplus for the purchase
of the isthmian canal. 1t is an ex
traordinary proof of the sound finan'
cial condition of the nation that in
stead of following the usual course
in such matters and throwing the
burden upon posterity by an issue OF
bonds. We were able to make the pay.
ment outright and yet after it to have
dred and sixty-one millions. More
over. we were able to pay this fifty
millions of dollars out of hand with.
out causing the slightest disturbance
to business conditions.
Wages Are Higher.
We have enacted tariff law under
which during the past few years the
country has attained height Of ma.
terial well-being never before reached
Wages are higher than ever before
That whenever the need arises there
should be radjustmnt OF the tariff
schedules is undoubted; but such
changes can with safety be made only
by those whose devotion to the prin
ciple of protective tariff is beyond
question; for otherwise the changes
would amount not to readjustment
but to repeal.
The readjustment when made must
maintain and not destroy the protec
tive principle. To the farmer, the
merchant. the manufacturer this Is
vital; but perhaps no other man Is
so much interested as the wage.work
or In the maintenance OF our present
economic system, both as regards the
finances and the tariff.
The standard of living OF our wage
workers Is higher than that of any