Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-09-20

President Roosevelt's formal letter ac-
ceptins the presidential nomination of
the Republican party has been given out.
1t is 1920 words long.
President Housewife defends the last
seven years of Republican control. He
declares that the Democrats attack Re
publican policies and acts of the last
seven years by misrepresenting what has
been done He then proceeds to review
those acts in detail. and scatters through
ms 12,OoU~word letter scores of interro-
CATION points, asking the Democrats
what they are going TO do different. or
what different they would attempt If
charged with power. As to Panama, he
says he would be derelict in his duty if
he used a false construction of the con
stitution as a 'shield for weakness and
umndity. or as an excuse for govern
mental impotence"
The letter charges the Democrats with
insincerity in and conflict Of criticisms
an matters such as the settlement of the
coal strike and the prosecution of the
merger suit that shows no chance for CO.
herent action or constructive legislation
Ii they are given power As TO the money
question he declares the only real way
to Keep the question from becoming nm
settled is to keep the Republican party
in power.
In defense of the protective tariff pol
icy the President says that some Demo
Gratis seem anxious to prove that it is
safe to give them partial power. as they
could do no mischief then. In connec-
ton with the tariff he discusses the
trusts, and says the evils connected with
them can be reached only by rational
effort, along the lines taken by Congress
and the executive during the last three
years. The tariff is made the leading
feature of the letter.
1t is set forth that the present execu-
uve thinks the present regular army is no
larger than the country requires and as
to the Philippines he says that to retraee
our steps would be to give proof of an
intlrm and unstable national purpose"
Points from the Letter.
Following are leading paragraphs from
the Presidents letter:
1t is difficult to find out from the utter
ances of our opponents what are the real
issues upon which they propose to wage
this campaign. 1t is not unfair to say
tuaA, HstNlAiS dDHHuOueu most OF the prln-
clples upon which they have insisted dur
ing the last eight years. they now seem at
a loss, both as to what il is that they real
~ DelleYe and as to how firmly they shall
assert their belief in anything. In fact, it
IS doubtful If they venture resolutely to
press single issue; as soon as they raise
one they shrink from ii and seek to explain
II away. Such an attitude is the probably
inevitable result OF the effort to improvise
convictions: for when thus improvlsed it is
natural that they should be held in a ten
tative manner.
There Is not a policy, foreign or domes.
tic which we are now carrying out which
II would not be disastrous to reverse or
abandon.
We base our appeal upon what we have
done and are doing, upon our record of adj
minlstration and legislation during the last
seven years, in which we have had com
plete control of the government.
If continued in power we shall continue
our foreign policy and our handling of the
navy on exactly the same lines In the fu-
ture as in the past.
The fundamental fact is that in popu-
lar government such as ours no policy Is
irreyocably settled by law unless the peo-
pie keep In control of the government men
who believe in that policy as matter of
deep-rooted conviction.
On some Of the vital questions that have
confronted the American people in the last
decade our opponents take the position
'-'t'N - tiiS bSot poSSibtS way " EuH-
Yey their views
To say that action against trusts and
moLopolies should be limited to the appli-
cation of the common law is equivalent Ia
saying that the national government should
take no action whatever to regulate them
Undoubtedly it would be possible at the
present time to prevent any OF the trusts
from remaining prosperous by the simple
eSpedient of making such n sweeping
change in the tariff as to paralyZe the in
dustries of the country. The trusts would
cease to prosper, but their smaller com
petitors would be ruined and the wage.
workers would starve while 1t would not
pay the farmer to haul his produce to mar
ket.
The expenditures of the nation have been
managed in a spirit of economy as far re-
moved from waste as from niggardliness
and IN the future every effort will be CON
unued TO secure an economy as strict as is
consistent with efficiency
So far from having slapped the founda-
lions OF free popular government at home
by the course taken in the Philippines we
have been spreading its knowledge and
teaching its practice among the peoples to
whom 1t had never before been more than
an empty name.
At 10 time In the history of this or any
other country has there been an era so pro
ductive of material benefit alike TO work
ingmen and employer. as during the seven
years that have just passed