Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1904-09-15
l| N0 THEODORE ROOSEVELT

,are TO raise the Issu~1n srTrIgnucrwaro
fashion; for If so raised there would be
no issue. f4hA
| Similar Misrepresentation Is the one
weapon of our opponents in regard to
our foreign policy. and the way the navy
| has been made useful in carrying out
| this policy Here again all that we ask
| is that they truthfully state what has
| been done, and then say whether or not
they OBJECT to 1t; for If continued in
power we shall continue our foreign
policy and our handling Of the navy on
exactly the same lines in the future as
In the past. To what phase of our for
eign policy, and to what use of the navy,
do our opponents object? Do they OBJ
Ject to the way in which the Monroe doc
trine has been strengthened and up
held? Never before has this doctrine
been acduiesced In abroad as 1t is now;
and yet, while upholdlng the rights of
the weaker American republics against
foreign aggression. the I. administration
l,su ipst. no opportunity 70. point gont 40
equity should come with clean hands,
and that whoever claims liberty as
right must accept the responsibilities
that go with the exercise of the right
Do our opponents object to what was
done In reference to the petition of
American citizens against the Kishenev
massacre? or to, the protest against the
treatment Of the Jews In Roumaniaf or
to the efforts that have been made In
behalf of the Americans In Turkey? No
other administration In our history. nc
other government In the world, has more
consistently stood for the broadest spirit
Of brotherhood In our common humanity,
or has held q more resolute attitude of
protest against every wrong that out
ragged the civilization Of the age. at home
or abroad Do our opponents object to
the fact that the international tribunal
at The Hague was rescued from impo-
tence and turned into a potent instru-
ment for peace among the nations!
This government has used that tribunal,
and advocated its use by others, In pur-
suance Of its policy to promote the cause
of international peace and good will by
all honorable methods. In carrying out
this policy, 1t has settled dispute after
dispute by arbitration or by friendly
agreement 1t has behaved towards all
nations, strong or weak. with courtesy,
dignity and Justice; and It is now on
excellent terms with all.
When our opponents speak of '"en-
croachments" by the executive upon the
authority Of congress or the judiciary,
apparently the act they ordinarily have
In view Is pension order No. Is, issued
under the authority of existing law.
This order directed that hereafter any
veteran Of the civil war who had reached
the age Of 60 should be presumptively
entitled to the pension of So a month,
given under the dependent pension law
to those whose capacity to earn their
livelihood by manual labor has been
decreased 80 per cent, and that by the
time the age Of 70 was reached the pre-
sumption should be that the physical
disability was complete; the age being
treated as an evidential fact In each
case. This order was made In the per-
formance Of a duty imposed upon the
president by an act of congress, which
requires the executive to make regula-
tions to govern the subordinates Of the
pension offlce in determining who are
entitled to pensions. President Cleveland |
had already exercised this power by a
regulation which declared that rs should |
be set as the age at which total disabil- |
ity should be conclusiveiy presumed. |
President Mckinley established |
9 as the age at which half disability |
should be. conclusively presumed. The |
regulation now in question, in the exer- |
else OF the same power, supplemented |
these regulations made under Presidents |
Otcfelhuu anu AAChAtheJ.
The men who fought for union and for |
liberty in the years from 1861 to 1856 not |
only saved this nation from ruin. but |
rendered an inestimable service to all |
mankind. We Of the United States owe
the fact that to-day we have a country /
10 what they did: and the nation has de-
creed by law that no one Of them, II
disabled from earning his own living. |
shall lack the pension to which he is
entitled. not only as a matter Of grat-
tude, but as a matter Of justice. II IL
The policy Of the republican party. stead
ny continued through many years, 10
treat the veterans Of the civil war IN a
spirit Of broad liberanty. The order IN
question carried out this policy. and is
Justified not merely on legal grounds, but
llso on grounds Of public morality. II IL
/ matter Of common knowledge that
when the average man who depends for
1ia wages upon bodily labor has reached
he age Of 8 his earning ability n IN all
probability less BY half than n vas when
ae was IN his prime; and that By the
line he has reached the age Of n he has
probably lost an earning ability. II there