The Springfield herald., 1904-09-16

| the party now in power can be trusted
| TO take the additional action necessary
| to improve and strengthen our mone<ary
be SO trusted The fundamental fact is
| that in a popular government sneh as as
ours no policy Is irreyocably settled settled, by os
the government men who believe In that
policy as, a matter of deep-rootea con,
| is the spirit and the purpose OF those
responsible for their enactment and ad,
which Must ai To be soY ssa tsat ghe tha
monetary standard OF the nation is ir-
revocably fixed so long as the party
which nj the last election cast approx,
| mately forty-siN per cent of the total
| vote, refuses to put In ITS platform any
a determination 10 remain Silent cannot
| be accepted as equivalent to recanta-
tion, until our opponents as a party
and upon which we have acted and are
| acting, In the matter of sound cur
question from becoming unsettled IS to
keep the Republican party in power.
As for what our opponents say IN ref ref;
| erence to capital and labor, individual
| way of answer is to point TO what We
have actually done. and to say that II
oeoe carry out Il the p policy w we ' have been pur-
| suing and to execute the laws as reso-
lutely and fearlessiy in the future as
| we have executed them In the past
| The action of the attorney general in
| enforcing the antitrust and interstate
| commerce laws, and the action of the
| the Interstate commerce law. and IN
| creating the department OF commerce
have for the first time opened a chance
| for the national government to deal In
| telligently and adequately with the ques,
or for evil. because OF the accumulation
of capital In great corporations. ana pc
| cause of the new relations caused there
hv la heinD
/ ed with entire efficiency: and as, In their
| working. need is shown for amendment
secure the proper publicity. or better TO
guarantee the rights OF shippers. or IN
oher 9ssa rssd tSe S come be
mon law. as developed affords n COM
plete legal remedy against monopolies.
But there is no common law OF the Unit,
ed States. Its rules can be enforced
only by the state courts and officers. No
| fact. coupled with the inability of the
states to control trusts and monopolies;
statutes known as the Sherman anti
| trust act and the Interstate commerce
of the powers conferred by these acts.
| and by the statutes of the last congress
| supplementing them. that the national
over over % the subject. TO say that action
against trusts and monopolies should be
| limited to the application of the common
tionai government should take no action
i whatever to regulate them.
Undoubtedly, the multiplication &c Of
been largely due to the failure OF oiii-
cials charged with the duty of enforc-
ing the law to take the necessary pro
of the officials of the national govern
ment to do their duty In this matter Is
dent de MeKinley's is concerned; bSt it has
ministration 1t is also undoubtedly true
that what is most needed is ''officials
having both the disposition and the eour-
age to enforce existing law" This Is
precisely the need that has been met
by the consisten, and steadily continued
der the present administration.
So far as the rights of the individual
wage worker and the individual capital
ist are concerned. both as regards one
regards organized capital and labor. the
position OF the administration has been
SO clear that there is no excuse for mis-
posing it unless misrepresented. Within
the limits defined by the national consti-
sought to secure to each man the fnll
enjoyment of his right to live his life
as he deems best. so long as he wrongs
no one else. 1t has shown in effective
fashion that in endeavoring to make good
poor. whatever their creed; their color.
or their birthplace. as standing alike be-
fore the hs law spere In oS wheR The % nation
as distinguished from the state can act
is narrowly circumscribed: but within
been been done done. Ali thinking men are aware
OF the restriction upon the power OF ne-
matters. Being ourselves mindful of
them. We have been scrupulously careful
on the one hand to be moderate IN our
promises. and on the other hand to Keep
these promises in letter and in spirit
When we take up the great question of
the tariff we are at once confronted by
say that protection is robbery" and
promise to carry themselves accordingly
persons among them assert that they do
not really mean this and that If they
policy as regards the tarir: while others
seem anxious to prove that 1t Is safe
to give them partial power, because the
fore they would not be able to do mis-
chief The last Is certainly curious
plea to advance on behalt OF OF party
seeking to obtain control oil the govern
mcnt.
1t is but ten years since the last attempt
was made. by means OF lowering the
pering too much. The attempt was en-
irely successful. The tariff law Of that
that year and for some time afterwards
effec:ually prevented anybody from pros
pering too much. and LABOR from pros
perIng at all. Undoubtedly 1t would be
possible at the present time to prevent
any OF the trusts from remaining pros
.Derous by the simple eNpedient of max
ing such sweeping change in the tar
iff as to paralyze the industries of the
country. The trusts would cease to pros
per: but their smaller competitors would
be ruined. and the waGe-workers would
starve, while 1t would not pay the farm
er to haul his produce to market. The
evils connected with the trusts can be
reached only by rational effort step by
step. along the lines taken by congress
and the executive during the past three
years.
From time to time schedules must un-
doubtedly be rearranged and readJusted
TO meet the shifting needs of the coun-
try; but this can with safety be done
only by those who are committed to the
cause of the protective system. To up
root and destroy that system would be
to insure the prostration OF business the
closing of factories, the impoverishment
OF the farmer. the ruin of the capital
ist and the starvation of the wage-work-
er Yet, II protection is indeed robbery"
and If our opponents really believe what
they say, then 1t is precisely to the de-
struction and uprooting of the tariff, and
theref1ya of our business and Industry,
that they are pledged. When our oppo-
nents last obtained power 1t was
platform declaring protective tariff
!.unconstitutional:" and the effort to put
this declaration into practice was one of
the causes of the general national pros
tration lasting from 1898 to 1897 If
protective tariff IS either "unconstitu-