The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-06-28
Annoying to the Democrats.

Annoying to the Democrats.
Certain democratic newspapers
among them the New York World,
feel aggrieved because the republican
national platform contains almost
nothing but record of republican
achievements, tagged, cataloged and
enumerated"
It is difficult to please critics Of
this sort. The republican party, about
to submit it's record to the people for
their approval or disapproval, is ex-
pected to tell what that record is.
If the record is satisfactory, the peo-
pie will indorse; if it is not, they will
turn to the democrats.
1t is rather significant that the
Worlds chief criticism Of the repub-
lcan platform is largely confined to
this tagging, cataloging and enumera-
ton. Unfortunately for the demo-
Gratis they have nothing which they
care to exploit in this way. They
might call attention to the last Cleve-
land administration and to the finan-
cial distress which overlook the peo-
pie during it's early stages. They
might go somewhat into detail and
speak of the soup kitchens Of that
administration, and, coming down to
later times, they might note the free
silver insanity of 1896 and the equally
insane anti-imperialistic doctrines
preached by their leaders in 1900. But
will ~ hi do.
is to find fault because the repub-
leans have set before the country and
the world a statement of the match
less performance Of their party.
The republican national platform is
one of the strongest and most con-
vincing political utterances given the
American people for years. In part
this is due to the literary ability of
the man who wrote it. But in the
highest and most important sense,
Senator Lodge could not have sue
ceeded had the performance of the
party been less entitled than it is to
public confidence. and approval. The
platform shows something more than
mere literary skill Of phraseology and
arrangement. Discarding platitudes
and congratulations, it deals from the
beginning to the end with what the
republicans have done or are doing.
1t tells of a presidential candidate
who had lifted his administration to
the highest level of party hopes and
public expectations, of a vice-presi-
Dental candidate who was sought out
by the party because of his peculiar
fitness for the place, and of seven
years Of unexampled prosperity under
republican rule. Returning and con-
tinuing prosperity, the Spanish war
and it's unexpected results and re-
sponsibilities, the gold standard, the
canal, the building up of the navy,
the reorganization of the army, a for
eign policy which has won for us the
respect and the admiration of the
whole world internal policies which
have made and are making for in
creased happiness and enlarged op-
portunities among our own people
| these are some of the things which
the republican national platform dis
| cusses.
| That the World should object to
having such a record tagged, cata-
logged and enumerated" is not
strange, for that record must. be met
during the campaign, and the demo-
Gratis must labor to convince the peo-
| pie that it contains nothing of which
they should be proud. Opposition
| parties in the United States have fire.
quently been confronted with difficult
problems, but not in recent years has
| there been one Of such difficulty as
now confronts the democracy.