Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-01-26
ARE WE REPUBLICANS, OR ARE
WE FAcTloNlsTs?

Are we republicans, or are We rae
tionists? Is the republican party OF
the great state of Iowa going to pre-
sent a solid front in the republican ma
tional convention and thus maintain
and perpetuate the paramount influ-
ence which it now exercises in the af-
fairs Of this nation or are we going to
have the most bitter factional fights
that has ever distracted the party in
this state and thus go into the national
convention, divided, disunited and out
of harmony with the sentiment that
will inevitably control that body ?This
is the problem which the republicans
of Iowa are facing today and it is a
most serious and important one.
The Courier reiterates and empha-
sizes the opinion, which it has al
ready expressed, that there is abso-
lutely no occasion for dissension. di
vision or factionalism. in the ranks Of
Iowa republicans with reference to the
selection of delegates to the national
republican convention this year. Iowa
republicans are simply unanimous for
the nomination of Theodore Roosevelt
for the presidency They have so
declared in two state conventions and
this declaration has carried with it ac-
ceptance of and asquiescence in the
ideas of President Roosevelt as applied
to the tariff and other great principles
of the republican party The last
declaration made by Iowa republicans
in favor Of the nomination of Mr..
Roosevelt was made several months
after the President had delivered his
famous speech on the tariff at Mime.
apolis on the 4th day of April. 1903.
This speech was accepted by Iowa re-
publicans as presenting the funda-
mental doctrine of the party upon this
subject. the declarations of the Iowa
state platform were modelled upon it
and because of this fact this state
rolled up magnificent majority of ov-
er4 $4,000 for the republican candidates
In the November election.
Are the republicans of Iowa going to
repudiate Mr.. Roosevelt's well known
ideas on the tariff at this time? We
say mo-" most emphatically mo" In
order that the public may recall with
exactness, just what President Roose-
welt did say in his Minneapolis speech
the Courier republishes elsewhere In
this issue, the utterances in full upon
the tariff as made by the President
upon that occasion. Here are the
most salient Of the declarations which
he then made.
The general tariff policy to which
without regard to changes in detail,
| believe this country is irrevocably
committed. is fundamentally based
upon recognition of the differences
between the cost of production-that
is the cost of labor-here and abroad
and of the need to see to it that our
laws shall in no event afford adyan-
tage IN our own markets to foreign
capital over American capital, to for
elgn labor over our own labor"
Is there anything in this declaration
upon which the republicans of Iowa
cannot solidly unite? After stating
that we need to treat the tariff as a
business proposition from the stand
point OF the interests of the country at
large, that our tariff policy must be sta
Bile. that sweeping and violent changes
would be disastrous. Mr.. Roosevelt
mokes this significant declaration:
Yet, on the other hand, where in
dustrial conditions SO frequently
change, rs with us must of necessity
be the case. it is a matter of prime i'm
portance that we should be able from
time to time to adopt our economic
policy to the changed conditions. Our
aim should be, to preserve the policy
of protective tariff in which the ma
ton, as whole. has acquiesced, and
yet wherever and whenever necessary,
to change the duties in particular par
agraphs or schedules as matter of
legislative detail. if such changes are /
demanded by the interests of a nation !
as whole"
It was in accordance with this idea