River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-08-04


of the high honor conferred upon me by
the representatives of the republican party
assembled in convention, and / accept the
nomination for the presidency with SOL
emn realization of the obligations I as
sumo. / heartily approve the declaration
of principles which the republican national
convention has adopted, and at some fu-
ture day I shall communicate to you, Mr..
Chairman. more at length and In detail
formal written acceptance Of the nom
nation.
Three years ago became president be-
cause of the death of my lamented prede-
cessor. / then stated that 1t was my pur-
pose to carry out his principles and poll
cies for the honor and the interest Of the
country. To the best Of my ability
have kept the promise thus made. If
next November my countrymen confirm
at the polls the action of the convention
you represent I shall, under Providence,
continue to work with an eye single to the
welfare of our people.
party is Of worth only in so far as it
promotes the national interest, and every
official, high or low, can serve his party
best by rendering to the people the best
service of which he Is capable. Effective
government comes only as the result of
the loyal cooperation Of many different
persons The members of legislative
majority, the officers in the various de-
partments of the administration, and the
legislative and executive branches as to-
wards each other, must work together
with subordination of self to the common
end Of successful government We who
have been entrusted with power as pub
lie servants during the past seven years
of administration and legislation now
come before the people content to be
judged by our record of achievement. In
the years that have gone by we have made
1o aa1 until no nrds n We
are continued in power we shall unswerv-
ingly follow out the great lines of public
policy which the republican party has al
ready laid down; public policy to which
we are giving, and shall give, united,
and, therefore, an efficient support.
In all this we are more fortunate than
our opponents, who now appeal for con-
ddeuce on the ground, which some express
ard some seek to have confidentially I'M
derstood, that If triumphant they may be
trusted to prove false to every principle
which in the last eight years they have
laid down as vital, and to leave undisturbed
those very acts Of the administration be-
cause of which they ask that the admins
tration itself be driven from power. Seem
ingly their present attitude as to their
past record is that some Of them were mis-
taken and others insincere. We make our
appeal in a wholly different spirit. We
are not constrained to keep silent on any
vital question:; we are divided on no vital
question; our policy is continuous, and is
the same for all sections and localities.
There is nothing experimental about the
government we ask the people to continue
in power, for our performance In the
past, our proved governmental efficiency,
is a guarantee as to our promises Tor the
future. Our opponents, either openly or
secretly, according to their several tenn
peraments, now ask the people to trust
bnir Si66r1tiOn
the fact that they intend to treat their
past promises as null and void. We know
our own minds and we have kept of the
same mind for a sufficient length of time
to give to our policy conference and sanity.
In such fundamental matter as the en-
forcement of the law we do not have to
depend upon promises, but merely to ask
that our record be taken as an earnest of
what we shall continue to do. In dealing
with the great organizations known as
trusts, we do not have to explain why the
laws were not enforced but to point out
that they actually have been enforced and
that legislation has been enacted to in
crease the effectiveness of their enforce
ment. We do not have to propose to
turn the rascals out" for we have shown
in every deed that whenever by diligent
investigation a public official can be found
who has betrayed his trust he will be pun
ished to the full extent of the law with
under a republican or democratic ad-
mnistration. This is the efficient way to
turn the rascals out and to keep them out,
and it has the merit Of sincerity. More
over, the betrayals Of trust in the last
seven years have been insignificant in
number when compared with the extent Of
the public service. Never has the admin
istration of the government been on a
cleaner and higher level; never has the
public work of the nation been done more
honestly and efficiently.
Assuredly it is unwise to change the
policies which have worked SO well and
which are now working so well. 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 formerly
oIr opponents, but who would neither OPEN
r/support nor silently acquiesce in the here
az of unsound finance; and we have done it
against the convinced and violent opposi-
ton of the mass of our present opponents
who still refuse to recant the unsound
opinions which for the moment they think
it 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 definite and conclusive
committal on the most important issue
which has recently been before the people,
and which may at any time in the near
future be before them again. Upon the
principles which underlie this issue 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 settled, not as a
matter of temporary political expediency,
not because of shifting conditions in the
production of gold in certain mining CEN
tiers, butin accordance with what we regard
as the fundamental principles of national
morality and wisdom
Under the financial legislation which we
have enacted there is now ample circula-
ton for every business need; and every
dollar of this circulation 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 view to relieve the