Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-12

| this? If so, we accept the issue. If not.
| then we have the right to ask why they
| raise an issue which, when raised, they do
| not venture to meet
| Strike Settlement-Merger Suit.
| In addition to those acts of the admins
| traion which they venture to assail only
| after misrepresenting them. there are
| others which they dare not overly or Of
| f1cially attack, and yet which they covertly
bring forward as reasons for the other
throw of the party. In certain great CEN
tiers and with certain great interests our
opponents make every effort to show that
the settlement of the anthracite coal strike
by the individual act of the President and
! the successful suit against the Northern
securities Company-the merger sut-un-
dertaken by the Department of Justice, were
acts because of which the present admins
tration should be thrown from power. Yet
they dare not openly condemn either act
They dare not in any authoritative or
formal manner say that In either case
wrong was done or error committed In the
method of action, or in the choice Of in
struments for putting that action into ef-
feet. But what they dare not manfully as
sert in open day, they seek to use furtively
and through special agents. 1t Is perhaps
natural that an attack so conducted should
be made sometimes on the ground that too
much, sometimes on the ground that too
little has been done.
Some OF our opponents complain because
under the antitrust and interstate COM
merce laws suits were undertaken which
have been successful, others, because suits
were not undertaken which would have
been unsuccessful. The democratic state
convention in New York dealt with the
anthracite coal strike by demanding
In deliberate and formal fashion
that the national government should
take possession of the coal fields;
yet champions of that conventions
cause now condemn the fact that there was
any action by the President at although
they must know that it was only this
ton by the President which prevented the
movement for national ownership of the
coal fields from gaining what might well
have been irresistible impetus. Such
mutually destructive criticisms furnish an
adequate measure of the chance for CO.
herent action or constructive legislation II
our opponents should be given power.
Financial Policy.
So much for what our opponents openly
or covertly advance in the way of an at
tack on the acts of the administration.
When We come to consider the policies for
which they profess to stand we are met
with the difficulty always arising when
statements of policy are so made that they
can be interpreted in different ways. On
some of the vital questions that have con-
fronted the American people in the last
decade our opponents take the position that
silence is the best possible way to convey
their views. They contend that their luke
warm attitude of partial acquiescence in
them to be made the custodians of the
financial honor and commercial interests
which they have but recently sought to
ruin. Being unable to agree among them
selves as to whether the gold standard is
a curse or blessing and as to whether
we ought or ought not to have free and
unlimited coinage of silver, they have APP
parently thought it expedient to avoid any
committal on these subjects and individ-
ually each to follow his particular bent
Their nearest approach to ma jority judg-
ment seems to be that it is now inexpe-
dent to assert their convictions one way
or the other, and that the establishment of
the gold standard by the republican party
should not be disturbed unless there is an
alteration in the relative quantity of pro-
duction of silver and gold. Men who hold
sincere convictions vital questions can
respect equally sincere men with whose
views they radically differ; and men may
confess change of faith without compro-
missing their honor or their self-respect
But it is difficult to respect an attitude of
mind such as has been fairly described
above; and where there is no respect there
can be no trust. A policy with so slender a
basis of principle would not stand the
strain or single year Of business adver-
sity.
Silence Not Recantation.
We, on the contrary, believe in the gold
standard as fixed by the usage and verdict
of the business world. and in sound mon
etary system as matters of principle; as
matters not of momentary political expedi-
ency, but OF permanent organic policy In
1915 and again In 1860 far-sighted men, with |
out regard to their party feaHy in the past
joined TO work against what they regarded |
as debased monetary system. The poll |
cles which they champoned have been |
steadfastly adhered to by the administra-
ton; and by the act of March H. 1900 Con- |
gress established the single gold standard |
as the measure of our monetary value. |
ms act received the support of every re- |
publican In the House, and of every repub- |
ilcan except one in the Senate. OF our op- !
ponents. eleven supported 1t in the House |
and two In the Senate; and one hundred
and fifty opposed it in the House and |
twenty-eight in the Senate.
The record of the last seven years proves |
that the party now in power can be trusted |
to take the additional action necessary to /
Improve and strengthen our monetary sys-
tenn, and that our opponents cannot be so |
trusted. The fundamental fact is that in a |
popular government such as ours no policy |
is irrevocably settled by law unless the |
people keep in control of the government |
men who believe in that policy as matter
Of deep-rooted conviction. Laws can al
ways be revoked; it is the spirit and the |
purpose of those responsible for their en- /
actment and administration which must be |
liked and Interchangeable. 1t is idle to say
that the monetary standard of the nation |
which at the last election cast approx |
mately 46 per cent of the total vote refuses
to put in Its platform any statement that |
he question is settled. A determination to |
remain silent cannot be accepted as equiva-
ent to a recantation. Until our opponents
as a party explicitly adopt the views which
we hold and upon which we have acted and
are acting, in the matter of a sound cur |
'ency, the only real way to keep the uues-
ion from becoming unsettled is to keep the
republican party in power.
Labor and Capital.
AS for what our opponents say in refer |
ence to capital and labor, individual or
here again all we need by way |
IF answer is to point to what we have actu-
ally done, and to say that If continued in |
power we shall continue to carry out the |
policy we have been pursuing, and to exc
cute the laws as resolutely and fearlessly in !
he future as we have executed hem in the |
past. In my speech of acceptance 1 said: |
I'VE recognize the organization of capital |
and the organization of labor as natural |
Dutcomes of our industrial system. Each |
kind of organization is to be favored SO |
ong as 1t acts in a spirit of justice and of
regard for the rights OF others. Each Is to
be granted the full protection of the law, |
and each in turn is to be held to a strict |
obedience to the law for nc man is above |
Il and no man below il. The humblest in |
81 t, lii x~l,t 1