Perth Amboy evening news., 1904-09-12

| tlenen OF tile Alaska line
Do they object to the fact that after
freeing Cuba we gave her reciprocal
trade advantages with the United
| States, while at the anne time keep
ing naval stations in the island and
providing against its sinking into chaos
or being conquered by any foreign
power? Do they object to the fact that
| our flag now flies V Porto Rico? Dc
they object TO the acquisition of Ha-
wall? Once they "hauled down our
| flag there. W. have hoisted it again.
DO they intend once more to haul II
down? Do they object to the part we
played in China? Do they not know
| that the voice of the United States
would now count for nothing In the
far east If we had abandoned the Phil
ippines and refused to do what was
| done In China? Do they object to
the fact that this government secured
a peaceful settlement of the troubles
in Venezuela two years ago?
Do they object to the fact that
| American warships appeared promptly
at the port of Beirut when an effort
had been made to assassinate an Amer
lean official, and in the port of Tangier
| when an American citizen had been
| abducted, and that in each case the
wrong complained of was righted and
| expiated, and that within the last few
| DAVIS the visit of an American squad
ron to Smyrna was followed by the
long delayed concession of their just
rights to those Americans concerned
in educational work in Turkey? Do
they object to the trade treaty with
China, so full of advantage for the
American people in the future? Do
| they object to the fact that the ships
| carrying the national flag now have a
| higher standard than ever before In
| workmanship and in seamanship as
individual units and as component
/ parts of squadrons and fleets?
Executive "Encroachments."
When our opponents speak of ZEN
cr~oachments'' by the executive upon
the authority of congress or the judi
ciary, apparently the act they ordina-
rily have in view is pension order No.
rs, issued under the authority of exist
ing law. This order directed that here
after any veteran of the civil war who
had reached the age of sixty-two
should be presumptively entitled to the
pension of Sc 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
| seventy was reached the presumption
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 performance Of
u duty imposed upon the president by
an act of congress which requires the
executive to make regulations to gov
ern the ~subordinates of the pension of
flee in determining who are entitled to
| pensions. President Cleveland had al
/ ready exercised this power by a regu-
lation which declared that seventy-fiye
| should be set as the age at which total
disability should be conclusively pre-
sumed. Similarly President Mckinley
established sixty-five as the age at
which half disability should be con-
clusively presumed. The regulation
now in question in the exercise of the
same power supplemented these regu-
lations made under Presidents Cleve-
land and Mckinley.
1t is easy to test our opponents sim
certify in this matter. The order in
| question is revocable at the pleasure
of the executive. If our opponents
| come into power they can revoke this
order and announce that they will treat
the veterans of sixty-two to seventy as
presumably in full bodily vigor and
| not entitled to pensions. Will they
now authoritatively state that they in
| tend to do this? If so, we accept the
issue.
The Currency.
So much for what our opponents
| openly or covertly advance in the way
| of an attack on the acts of the admin
| istration. When we come to consider
| the policies for which they profess to
| stand we are met with the difficulty
| always arising when statements of pol
| icy are so made that they can be inter.
preted in different ways. On some OF
the vital questions that have confront
ed the American people in the last
| decade our opponents take the posi-
| ton that silence is the best possible
way to convey their views. They con
| tend that their lukewarm attitude Of
partial ~acquiescence in what other:
have accomplished entities them to bt
made the custodians of the financia
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 a blessing and as t.
whether we ought or ought not to hav'
free and unlimited coinage of silver
they have apparently thought it ex
pedient to avoid any committal OF
these subjects and individually each t,
follow his particular bent. Their near
est approach to a majority judgmen