Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-19

Cedar Rapids Republican, review
of the political history of last year, in.
Iowa, is sufficient to reveal the sharp
contrast between the spirits of the OPP.
posing factions in Iowa. The year 1903
was the year for the Iowa state cam
patgn. Governor Cummins had been
elected two years before by a united
party vote, although there had been
the sharpest kind of party contest
for the nomination, involving consider
able bitterness of a personal character.
During the two years in which he had
filled the Office, the governor had made
many speeches of radical nature,
some of them sensational in the ex-
IRENE, and wholly foreign to the estab-
lished doctrines. of the party which had
elected him governor of this state. In
his famous Minneapolis speech of April
4th. 1902, he had announced a doctrine
that was the extreme of socialism,
namely, the creation of a commission
empowered to fix the prices of COM
modities and service, where the service
or commodity was controlled by a
trust. Populism in its widest days
never put forth a proposition like that.
He assented moreover to the demo-
cratic proposition, that the tariff is the
mother of the trusts, and he advocated
the removal of the tariff from trust
made articles.
And when taken to task for these
lutterances, he declared that he had
authority to make them by reason of
| the language of the state platform, and
he sought to make it appear in addition
| to this, that his position was the posi-
| ton Of the President of the United
| States. Orthodox republicans every
| where resented these radical utter
ances of Governor Cummins. They de-
nounced the first as socialism pure and
simple, wholly without warrant of law.
They denied, as they had always done,
| that the tariff had anything to do with
the trusts, and they asked what right
Governor Cummins had to take for
| granted the approval of President
| Roosevelt.
In the spring of 1903, the President
of the United States left Washington
for an extended tour of the country.
There was no concealment of the fact
that the President intended at certain
4 places to frankly state his views on
certain question, as preliminary to the
| presidential campaign, that was to fol-
| low. Minneapolis was chosen as the
| place where 1.-THE president would dis
cuss the tariff in its relation to the
4 trusts. In that speech he completely
annihilated' the sophistry that the tar
| iff was a shelter for trust monopoly
and he advised against an ill-timed re-
vision Of the tariff laws, which had. OF
| the whole, worked we'll. In other
words the, speech was complete an
swer to the contentious of Governor
/ Cummins. Had the political enemies
ltof the governor seen fit to proceed
1 against him and had he elected to re-
! affirm these declarations, very strong
4 fight against his e-nomination could
have ben put UP, for his opponents
4 could have used the Presidents Min
/
! governor and his friends were quick tc
recognize the danger, and the governor
sought out certain leading men linden
i titled. with the orthodox leaders of the
| republican party, among them Senator
| Allison, George d. Perkins, and j. w
Blythe. He stated to, them frankly
that he. wanted to be nominated with.
/ out a fight and had a desire to be re
elected by the full party strength. Al
the same time he did not wish to BIZ
5I.compelled to- stand on asiplatform thai
would humili LATTE him. These overture:
were received III a spfgits that in ths
Hight of that present, was comrne nda'
4 Bile. The men to whom Governor
4 Cummins made these statements sale
to him in effect, that while they did no
Iagree with him, they had no desire
4 to embarrass him; that a fierce strife
| within the party would hurt it then
and hurt it worse in the presidential
i year. On this initiative, and in this
4 spirit, the compromise with which we
are all familiar, was arranged.
| Governor Cummins was re-nominat'
ed by reclamation. The platform dec.
larations, while emitting some obiec'
tionable phraseology, were such as no
to wound Governor Cummins' pride
and though in the violation of thu
spirit of that compromise, he reiterated
his former heresies in his speech O
acceptance, he received the votes O.
all republicans, regardless of factiona
division. In no place. was he more
Loyalty supported at the polls than II
1 the so-called reservation" where Mr.
Blythe is conceded to be an accepted
LEADER. 1t is to be said moreover tina