The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-09-15

have the right to ask why they raise
an issue which, when raised, they do
not venture to meet. p"
The trust question and the coal
strike settlement are discussed briefly
but effectively, and the attitude of
the two parties towar the gold stand
ard is strongly presented. On the lat
ter question the letter says of the
Democratic party that: "Being an
able to agree among themselves AS to
whether the gold standard is curse
or a blessing. and rs to whether we
ought or ought not to have free and
unlimited courage of silver, they have
apparently thought it expedient to
avoid any committal on these sub
jects, and individually each to follow
his particular bent. &"
On the contrary the Republicans:
believe in the gold standard as
fixed by the usage and verdict of the
business. world, and in sound none
tary system as matters of principle
as matters not OF monetary political
expediency. but of permanent organic
policy. In 1896 and again in 1909 far
sighted men, without regard to their
party fealty in the past, joined to
work against what they regarded as
a debased monetary system The pol
icies which they championed have
been steadfastly adhered to by the
administration and by the act of
March Ia, 1900, Congress established
the single gold standard as the meas
ure of our monetary value. This act
received the support of every Repub-
lican in the House, and of every
Republican except one in the Senate
OF 1ur opponents, eleven supported
it in the House and two in the senate
and one hundred and fifty oppoSed 1T
in the House and twenty eight in the
Serste The record of the past seven
years proves that the party now in
power can be trusted to take the ad-
ditio1 al action necessary to i'm lrove
and strengthen our monetary sS stem,
and that our opponents cannoC be so
trusted. The fundamental fact is that
in IA 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 a matter of deep-rooted
conviction. Laws can always be re-
voked; it is tine spirit and the pur-
pose of those responsible for their en-
actment and ADMINISTRATION which
must be fixed and Interchangeable. 1t
is idle to say that the monetary stand
ard of the nation is irrevocably fixed so
long as the party which at the last
election cast approximately forty-six
per cent Of the total vote refuses to
pat in its platform any statement that
the question is settled. A determine
tion to remain silent cannot be &C.
cepted as equivalent to recs ltation.
Until our opponents as party eX-
plicitly adopt the views which. we hold
and upon which we have acted and
are acting, in the matter of a sound
currency, the only real way to keep
the question from becoming unsettled
issto keep the Republican party in
power
What Mr.. Roosevelt writes ON the
questions of the bearing of the tariff
on agriculture and the farmers inter
ests, on the relation of labor and
capital the Filipino and other issues
of national interest. is expressed in
his trenchant way and will furnish
matter for further publication. The
conclusion of the letter abounds in
striking utterances. The closing par
agrsphs follow:
"Our appeal is made to all good
citizens who hold the honor and the
interest of the nation close to their
hearts. The great issues which are
at stake, and upon which I have
touched, are more than mere partisan
issues. for th3. Involve much that
comes home to tAe individual pride
and individual wen-being of our peo-
pie. " "We believe that the
progress that we have made may be
taken as measure of the progress we
shall continue to make il the people
again entrust the government of the
nation to our hands. We % not stand
still. We press steadily forward
toward the goal of moral and material
we l-being for our own people, of just
ard fearless dealing toward all other
peoples, in the interest not merely of
this country, but of mankind.
I'VE make our appeal to no class
and to no section, but to all good cIti
zens, IN whatever par of the land
they dwell, and whatever may be their
or worldly condition. We
have striven both for civic righteous
ness and for national greatness; and
we have faith to believe that our
hands will be upheld by all who feel
love of country and and trust in the
uplift, lg of mankind. We stand for
of the law and for obe-
dienoe to the law; our govern
ment is government of orderly Ii
berty equally alien to tyranny and
to anarchy; and its foundation
stone is the observance of the
law, alike by the people and by the
public servants. We hold ever before
US as the ell-importsnt end of policy
and administration, the reign of peace
at bone and throughout the world