Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1906-07-10
The Republican Party.

The Republican Party.
An epitome of what the republican
party has done, collated by the n. \
Tribune, is going the rounds of the re-
publican press and was copied, with APP
proval, by the local stalwart organ last
week The principal evidence of great
ness in this alleged history is the cate
gorical enumeration of elections carried
by the party, ten out of thirteen since
its organization as national party.
The principal truth stated is the facts
of success at the polls, the remaining
assertions being either unimportant,
misleading or false. As demonstra-
ton of record to be proud of it is ex-
tremely silly. Space will not permit an
examination of all the claims.
Counts four and five, relating to the
election of Grant, make no mention of
the appalling corruption of his admin
istration, which smelled to high heaven
and lost to the party many of its ablest
and best men. Few decent Republicans of
today like to recall the events of the
Grant regime 1t stands unparalled in
our history prior to the Mckinley
Rooseyelters.
Count six says, in 1872 they elected
Hayes and "endorsed'' civil service re-
form. No honest, well-;nformed man
today believes they elected Hays; they
committed political burglary after the
event, one of the greatest crimes ever
perpetrated against representative
government Zach Chandler, chair
man OF the national republican COM
mittee, in expressing his contempt for
Hays, scornfully characterized it as
petty larceny.
Count seven fails to mention in the
election of 1880, the sending of the in
famous carpet Dagger and scoundrel,
Dorsey, from New York, with large
sum of money to purchase the vote of
| Indiana, nor vice-president elect
] Arthur's cynical allusion to its acquisi-
ton 'by the judicious use of soap"
The Star Route frauds, it passes in
ominous silence.
Count eight makes a feeble attempt
to cast halo of glory about, the cam
paign of 1894, when they nominated,
but failed to elect the "plumed knight"
a self-confessed criminal and discredited
politician.
Count nine says, ''The election of
Harrison on platsorm supporting a
protective tariff and opposing trusts,
ETC." 1t omits the preference for free liq-
uor and tobacco and dear clothing and
other necessities of life. An 'epitome,"
doubtless, does not afford space for the
proud boast of Matt Quay, chairman of
the national republican committee,
1--WE told the manufacturers if they
would give us the money to carry the
election we would let them make their
own tariff law, and we did it." This
was the famous Mckinley bill in the
framing of which, Mckinley, La.ol
lette, ct. al, were merely clerks to
register the wishes of the greedy pro-
tectionists. Lack of space, doubtless,
does not permit mention of the famous
fiat frying" proposition, or of float
ers'' and "blocks of five" and good men
over them who should let none get
away.
Count L says, In 1886 they elected
Mckinley, and averted the financial
ruin that would have followed" etc.
1t does not mention the sixteen or
eighteen million dollar corruption fund
contributed by the great monetary in
terests, nor $l,S00,0O0 surplus at the
close of campaign in which money
had been poured out like rain. 1t
omits the needless war with Spain, the
queen having granted every demand
made upon her by us, and eagerly be-
sought our ambassador to use every
possible means to avert war That
needless and wicked war and its latter
math of vainglorious weeds has cost
us more than billion of dollars and
entailed conditions of which no one can
forecast the cost or consequences.
Count eighteen boasts of the election
of Roosevelt by the biggest majority
ever given a president. 1t fails to note
that a million and half of voters staid
at home, not caring enough for Teddy
to take the trouble to vote, and that the
Bryan-Hearst democrats voted for
Roosevelt to show the reorganizers, as
they called them, that they were not
the democratic party. The rough
riders apparent popularity is the re-
suit of indifference on the one hand
and of party division and spite on the
other Had the democrats been united
and the stay-at-homes voted their senti-
ments, Roosevelt would have been
showed under. John Morley, the great
English statesman, justly characterized