Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1904-09-09
Election of Parker to the Presi'
dency Would unsettIe
Business.
PEOPLE PREFER Roosevelt 1
Observations OF a Travelling Salesmaf
In the Middle West--Attitude of
the Farmer and the First
Voter.

Following out the custom Of most larx(
business houses, one Of the big jobhinl
concerns in Chicago instructed its traveIz
ing men on their return from extensive
trips to present report on the ganpft
political conditions Ia the territory ovo
which they had gone.
I'VE do this, said one OF the membAfl
OF the firm. mot because we expect 0u'
travelling men 20 interest themselves Ii
political matters or because we expcc
them 20 influence any votes. Our nlotiv<
Is entirely different. Ii concerns nllr own
business wholly. Il Ii not poIitic&
to say that Ii the Deniocrht
win at the next election II means dfVY
in prices. That is thing every buS{
ness man understands. A. Judge pAx
ker himself said, Repu-ucau Sennt&
will in any event stand In the way a
Democratic attempts to break down tt6
protective tariff. Nevertheless. Ii tk6
elect Judge Parker. they will stand
chance OF electing House Of Repreael1f
atives Of the same kind That Hou4
viii certainly pass new tariff hill Exe1
IL this was beaten In the Senate. fl1l
effect would be to unsettlc business N
an extraordinary degree There w0uI(
always be the threat OF lower tarin an
ties, and the same thing would hapI6
in 1905 which happened In 1898 Prizes
would go down, production would Be curl
tailed. laborers would be thrown out N
employment the home market would IN
at least partially destroyed and l0e1
business conditions would immediateI
suffer. This was true before the WflAo
tariff bill was passed ten years ago, atll
II would be true next year II Parker W4l1
elected in November. Whit we want N
our travelling men. therefore, Ii to p01
us as to political conditions, 50 that M
may make our contracts and adjust o>l
prices to the conditions Of the buAine
world which are likely to obtain durfn
the next season.
This same far-seeing business man ha{
in his hand at that time. however, ! r6
port from travelling pan just lii, wl11
had covered large territory in the mid
die West.
Tho "Druus mer'ss' Letter.
II fnd." said the drummer, Id report
Ing TO his employer. that the conditional
in the middle West seem to favor an Al.
traordinarly large vote for Roosevelt.
His popularity Is growing rather thn1
diminishing, and the nomination Of Pnx
ker seems to arouse not only no outxu
siasm, hut actual suspicion. Mr.. BryoH
has officially declared that he will Hlfl
port Parker, but everyone knows thai
he Is not sincere. and every time ~
makes speech for Parker he will k6er
his fingers crossed. This attitude Ii no(
peculiar to Mr.. Bryan. in any way. Oil
the contrary. 1t IL common among kh1
Populistic element Of the Democratic
party. and thousands Of them are 0penIS
declaring they viii vote for Roosevelt a
November. The Presidents manly atff
tude on the trust question has attracted
the farmers. They are perfectly NH
aware OF the fact that Mr.. RooaexaI1
would never attack any legitimate c0fs
poration. and they recognize that be n
not In any way opposed to the legitilnafG
use Of combined capital for any pr0peE
purpose. The farmers are al
capitalists In small way, aud they naval
no sympathy with Populistic attacks on|
capital AS such. They do believe. how
ever, that the President performed
great service In settling the coal atrikos
and they think he showed his braytrS
and his honesty In directing the prosecu1
ton Of the suits against the combinatio6
of railroads in the Northwest. On fh8|
other hand, the idea has gained ground
among the farming classes that Judge
Parker's nomination was largely br0ughf
about and In fact was directly promoted
by certain INSCRIPTIONS corporate inhtl@
ences which were antagonistic to pro8f4
dent Roosevelt because he had honestly
attempted TO execute the laws a. hi
found them. Added to these elements
are the first voters, and they are fot|
Roosevelt almost to man. His physical
prowess. his consistent manliness, th9|
with which he resigned a.
important civil office to endure the hard
ships Of military campaign. the heard
ness and the frankness or his manners
the honesty and the drectness OF his POI
litical methods, and the intense Ameri-
canism OF the man, have captured The
hearts and affections OF the young men.
These first voters will generally disre-
gard the affiliation of their fathers and
their older brothers, and they will vote
for Roosevelt as a personal complimentI
to the man. entirely outside Of party