Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-12-12

/ Spirit winch cDUue1nuS all dishonesty,
/ whether in rich man or in poor man, wheth-
1 er it takes the shape of bribery or of black
mail. But much can be done by legislation
which is not only drastic but practical.
There is need of a far stricter and more
uniform regulation of the vast insurance
interests of this country. The United
States should in this respect follow the
/ policy of other nations by providing ade-
/ quate national supervision of commercial
! interests which are clearly national in char
1 acter.
! Revenues and Expenditures.
| There is more need of stability than of
| the attempt to attain ideal perfection in
! the methods of raising revenue: and the
| shock and strain to the business world GER
| tain to attend any serious change in these
! methods render such change inadyisable I'M
less for grave reason. There must be
| something like general agreement among
| the citizens of the several States as rep
resented in the Congress, that the change
| is needed and desired in the interest Of the
| people as a whole; and there should then
| be a sincere, intelligent and disinterested
| effort to make it in such shape as will COM
| bine, far possible, the maximum of
good to the people at large with the mini
| mum of necessary disregard for the special
| interests of localities or classes Unless
| our expenditures can be kept within the
revenues then our revenue laws must be re-
adjusted.
| 1t should be considered whether It is not
! desirable that the tariff laws should pro-
vide for applying as against or in favor of
| any other nation maximum and minimum
| tarln rates established by the Congress, so
/ as to secure p certain reciprocity of treat
| ment between other nations and ourselves.
Our Currency System.
| Every consideration of prudence de-
| mands the addition of the element of elias
ticity to our currency system The evil
| does not consist in inadequate volume
| of money, but in the ridigity of this vol
| ume, which does not respond as it should
| to the varying needs of communities and
lpf at L.
| some provision should be made that will
| insure a larger volume of money during
| the fall and winter months than in the
| less active seasons of the year; so that the
| currency will contract against speculation,
and will expand for the needs of legiti-
| mate business.
Purity of Federal Elections.
The power of the government to protect
| the integrity of the elections of its own
| officials is inherent and has been recognized
and affirmed by repeated declarations of
! the Supreme Court There is no enemy of
| free government more dangerous and none
| so insidiOus as the corruption of the cleo
! torate. / recommend the enactment of a
| law directed against bribery and corrup-
| ton in federal elections. Such a law
should include severe penalties against
! him who gives or receives Il bride intended
| to influence his act or opinion as an elect
or; and provisions for the publication not
only of the expenditures for nominations
| and elections of all candidates, but also of
all contributions received and expenditures
made by political committees
In political campaigns in a country as
| large and populous as ours it is inevitable
| that there should be much expense of an
| entirely legitimate kind This, of course
| means that many contributions, and some
| of them of large size, must be made, and
| as a matter of fact, in any big political
! contest such contributions are always made
| to both sides. 1t is entirely proper both
to give and receive them, unless there is
| an improper motive connected with either
| gift or reception. If they are extorted by
any kind of pressure or promise, express
| or implied, direct or Indirect, IL the way
of favor or immunity, then the giving or
receiving becomes not only improper but
criminal. If it is possible to secure by law
! the full and verified publication in detail
| OF all the sums contributed to and expend-
! ed by the candidates or committees of any
| political parties the result cannot but be
| wholesome.
All contributions by corporations to any
political committe or for any political pur-
| pose should be forbidden by law; directors
| should not be permitted to use stockhold-
| ers' money for such purposes; aud, more
| over, a prohibition of this kind would be-
! as far as it went, an effective method of
! stopping the evils aimed at in corrupt prac-
| tees acts.
The Coming Hague Conference.
The first conference of nations held at
| The Hague in 1899, being unable to dispose
| of all the business before it, recommended
the consideration and settlement of a num-
| Der of important questions by another con
| ference to be called subsequently and at an
early date. In October 1904, at the in
! stance of the Interpariiamentary Union, l
| issued invitations to all the powers sigma
| tory to The Hague convention to send dele
| gates to such Il conference and suggested
| that it be again held at The Hague. From
| all the powers acceptance was received,
| coupled i'll some cases with the condition
| that we should wait until the end of the
war then waging between Russia and ia
lNTRarNn Of rlf.,An
after the treaty of peace which so happily
| terminated this war, in a nc presented
| to the President Sept 10, through Am
bassador Rosen, took the initiative in rec
! ommending that the conference be now
! called. The United States government in
| response expressed its cordial acquies-
| cence. We assume that all civilized govern
| ments will support the movement, and
This renders it proper at this time to say
| something as to the general attitude of this
| government toward peace. A wanton or
| useless war, or war of mere aggression
| in short, any war begun or carried on in a
| constituencies spirit, is to be condemned
| as a peculiarly atrociOus crime against all
| humanity. We can, however, do nothing
| or permanent value for peace unless we
! keep ever clearly in mind the ethical ele-
| ment which lies at the root of the prob
| lem. Our aim is righteousness Peace is
normally the handmaiden of righteousness;
| but when peace and righteousness conflict
then great and upright people can never
for moment hesitate to follow the path
which leads toward righteousness, even
though that path also leads to war. There
can be no worse foe OF mankind in gen
| eral and of his own country in particular,
than the demagogUe of war, the man who
| IN mere folly or TO serve his own selfish
| ends continually rails at and abuses other
nations, who seeks to excite his country
men against Foreigners on insufficient pre-
texts who eXcites and infames a perverse
| and aggressive national vanity, and who
may on occasions wantOnly bring on CON
| flict between his nation and some other ma
ton. But there are demagogues of peace
| just as there are demagogues of war,
and in any such movement as this
( senttal not to be misled by 0n3 set
| of extremists any more than by the other.
| No object is better worthy the attention
| Of enlightened craftsmanship than the es-
! adjustment of a surer method than row
exists of securing justice as between ma
| lions. both for the protection OF the little
| nations ana for the prevention- If war be-
! tween the big nations. II" this aim we
| should endeavor not ouly to avert blood
| she'd but, above all, effectively to strength
/ en- the forces of right The golden rule
| should be. and as the world grows in
morality it will be the guiding rule of con
| uuct among nations as among individuals;
/ though the golden rule must not be con-
| strued in fantastic manner as forbidding
| the exercise of the police power This
| mighty and free republic should ever deal
!
| basis OF high honor, respecting their rights
| as jealousy as it safeguards its own.
ExpOunds the Monroe Doctrine.
| One Of the most effective instruments for
! peace Is the Monroe doctrine as it has been
| and is being gradually developed by this
| nation and accepted by other nations No
! other policy could have been as efficient in
| promoting peace in the western hemisphere
! and in giving TO each nation thereon the
| chance TO develop along its own lines. If
| we had refused to apply the doctrine TO
| changing conditions it would now be com
! pIetely outworn. would not meet any Of the
| needs of the present day. and indeed would
| PROBABLY by this time have sunk into com
| plete oblivion. 1t is useful at home and
| Is meeting with recognition abroad because
we have adapted our application Of 1t to
| meet the growing and changing needs of
| the hemisphere. That our rights and inter-
| ests are deeply concerned in the maintenance
| Of the doctrine is so clear as hardly to need
| argument. This is especially true in view
| of the construction of the Panama canal
| There are certain essential points which
must never be forgotten as regards the
| Monroe doctrine 1t must be understood
! that under no circumstances will the Uni
| ted States use the Monroe doctrine as Il
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