The Falls City tribune., 1904-09-30

OF the CONSTITUTION was not bau l'oih Z"
legal standpoint. but when he cane to
deal with the question OF trusts he seem
ed to nave forgotten that he was respond
ing to a nomination from a national con-
~vention. which had selected him TO act as
President of the United States. in which
capacity he would have 10 execute Unit
ed States laws only, and would have alb
solutely nothing to do with the common
law. This ~allusion of Parker TO the
common law. AZ a means OF attacking
the trusts. has been a source OF surprise
and amaZement 10 the profession all over
the country. Judge Parker's decisions in
New York State have always taken high
rank. and it was this which made the
amazement all the greater. We could
not understand how it could possibly be
that any good lawyer could have made
such a blunder. and we have been forced
to the conclusion that Judge Parker alb
solutely forgot that he was writing on
a national topic. This is only an in
stance going to show the unwisdOm of
taking a man off the bench for a political
position. especially such a position as
that of President OF the United States.
Experience Necessary.
ITO administer the affairs Of the gov
successfully. experience u just
as necessary as it is to run a hotel or q
railroad. A lawyer in active practice IL
necessarily thrown i'm to a large extent
with the ordinary business affairs Of the
country. but with a judge OH the bench
it is entirely different. He deals with
matters of abstract right and wrong.
and all his training goes to remove him
from business problems. In point of
fact. the successful judge in Il court of
last resort should be as far removed
from the influences of daily life as posi-
bic. The ideal judge is a legal machine.
settling abstract principles of law. where
as the ideal President is exactly the oppo-
site. He executes the laws as he finds
them, suggests new ones to meet new
conditions. and acts as the personal rep
resentative of the people who make the
laws. 1t is not his business to interpret.
but to do, and the things which make a
man a good judge make him a bad Presi-
dent, and vice versa. Parker would new
er have made that awful blunder if he
had had any recent experience in Con
gress or in an executive position at
Washington, where he would have been
in touch with current opinion on this
subject. l don't wonder that Ra0se-
Welt picked him up Oh this, and. IN nay
opinion, the Presidents paragraph about
the common law as applied to the federal
control of trusts is a most luminous ex-
position of the powers and the limitations
OF the federal government. But it's GER
tainly O knockout blow for Parker"
The Tariff Issue.
Il was glad to see" said a successful
looking man, who explained later on thai
he was a manufacturer In northern Yer
mont, Il was glad to see that the Frfsl-
dent made such a point Of the tariff
issue. We had a dose Of Democratic free
trade theories up our way about ten
years ago. which we will never forget.
We are so near the Canadian border
that we get the worst of every reduction
in the tariff rates. We have to enter
into competition with the cheap labor
of Canada. When the Wilson tariff bill
went into operation. just ten years ago,
it shut up my factory inside Of six
months. and l tell you. gentlemen. |
didn't open again until after Mckinley
was elected and the Dingley tariff law
went into operation. Ii was a time of
panic, as you know. thousands of labor
ing men were glad to work for any
wages. and yet. at the same time, l could
not run my factory and compete with the
Canadians. who flooded our part of the
country with goods made by the cheapest
labor. such as could not secure even
in those times OF starvation. There are
some places far in the interior where
freight rates protect them from foreign
competition in times OF free trade. bat
those of us who are near the border are
the first to feel this competition. | got
it in the neck ten years ago. and got il
good and hard. If there weren't any
other issue between the two parties. |
would vote for Roosevelt. because he and
the Republicans generally stand for the
protection of American manufactures
against the competition Of the cheap Ia
Dor, not only Of Canada, bnt of the
world M large, We all believe in reci-
prociiy which is reciprocal, and not in
free trade under tbs gHlse Of reciprocity.
Roosevelt's story of the disastrous effects
of the Wilson tariff OF 1894 IL not over
drawn in the slightest particular. and l
am glad 10 see that he has kept the
tariff issue to the front, because in all
this talk Of imperialism and extrava-
cance and the trusts, and one thing and
another. people seem to forget that the
Republican party is pledged to protec-
ton. and that the Democratic party is
pledged 10 free trade. We haven't for
gotten that up our way. however. and /
tell YOU. gentlemen, that the big Repub-
lican vote in Vermont was largely. if not
entirely. produced by the determination
of our people to put themselves on rec
ord against the free trade principles and
platform Of the Democrats"
It's frank. it's honest. and its fair
said the clergyman TO & seat-neighbor in
the interior OF the car. when they were
discussing the same letter of accept
ance. I'm not much Of a politician my
self. but | have been very much impress
ed with the extraordinary honesty and
the tenacity Of purpose shown by the
President in his letter Of acceptance.
Comparing it with the speech Of Judge
Parker, in accepting his nomination, /
cannot see how the people can hesitate
very long in making their choice"