The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-05-11
WAS THE 1906 CAMPAIGN ONLY A
DREAM?


! In 1906 the democratic national con-
vention adopted a platform, one Of the
lplanks of which follows: But for this
decision by the supreme court tthe
adverse decision to the income taxi
there would be no deficit in the reye-
nue. under the law passed by a DEM
ocratic congress in strict pursuance
of the uniform decisions of that court
for nearly one hundred years. that
court having in that decision sustain
ed constitutional objections To its en-
actment which has previously been
ioverruled by the judges who ever sat
on that bench We declare that it
is the duty of congress to use all con-
Istitutiolal power which remains after
the decision, or which may come from
Its reversal by the court as it may
thereafter be constituted so that the
burden of the taxation may be equal
lily and impartially laid, 10 the end that
wealth may bear its due proportion OF
the expenses of the government"
That plank was denounced by re-
tors, and democrats were called an
archists" because they presumed TO
"criticise the courts"
The editorial remarks of the New
York Tribune made after the decis-
lion of 1896 were fairly representative
of the tone employed by republicans
generally in the treatment of the Chi
cago platform. and particularly that
plank above quoted. The Tribune
said that the democratic movement OF
1896 was malicious conspiracy
against the honor and integrity of the
nation" and added:
Its nominal head was worthy of
the cause Nominal. because the
wretched. rattle pated boy posing in
vapid vanity and mounting reSound-
ing rUttenness, was not the real leader
of that league of hell. He was only q
.puppet in the blood-imbrued hands Of
-, the anarchists. and --------,
revolutionists, and other desperadoes
! of that stripe But he was a willing
puppet Bryan was willing and eager
Not one of his masters was more apt
! than he at lies and fOrSeries and bias
phemies and all the namelesS iniqui-
ties of the campaign against the Ten
/ Commandments. He goes down with
/ the cause and must abide with ii in
the history of infamy. He had less
provOcation than Benedict Ar
mold, less intellectual force than
/ Aaron Burr less manliness and
courage than jefferson Davis. He
was the rival of them. all in deliber-
late wickedness and treasc7 10 the
public His name belongs with theirs,
neither the most brilliant nor the most
/ hateful in the list. Good radiance to
it all. to conspiracy and conspirators.
and tor the full menace of reputation
and anarchy aginst the honor and the
life of the republic.
/ ON April IS 1906. Theodore Roose-
welt. elected To the presidency OF the
United States as a republican, sent
! to congress in special message deal
ling particularly with the decision Of
Federal Judge J. Otis T. Humphrey in
the beef trust case. Mr. Roosevelt re-
ferred 70 tine Judgment in the beef trust
lease as "a miscarriage of justice" Mr..
Roosevelt also said II can hardly be-
ilievt, THAT the rule of Judge Humph-
rev vii he followed by other judges"
Referring To the tendency of the
times. Mr. Roosevelt said: The danger
nowadays is. not that innocent men
will be convicted of crime. but that
the guilty men viii go scott free. This
lis especially the case where the crime
lis one Of greed and cunning perpetrat-
ed by man of wealth in the course
of those business operations where the
scode Of conduct is at variance not
Imerely with the code of humanity and
morality. but with the code as estab-
lished in the Law of the land" Refer
ring to Judge Humphreys decision.
Mr.. Roosevelt said: Such interpreta-
ton of the law comes measurably near
making the law a farce"
The plank in tahe restaoisnhrdlua
The plank in the democratic nation
al platform Of 1896 for the adoption
of which democrats were denounced
as anarchists is decidedly tame in
com parison with the language used by
the president. elected as a republican.
in commenting upon the decision in
the beef trust case.
In 1896 democrats pointed in "A mild
way to the fact that the courts decis-
ion in the income tax ease was out of
harmony with the uniform decisions
for nearly one hundred years, and eX-
pressed the hope. by implication. thar
the court as Hereinafter constituted
might reverse the decision. But Mr..
Roosevelt was not ~ all mild in his
arraignment OF Judge Humphreys de-
cision. a miscarriage Of Justice" he
called it, and he added such interpre-
tation Of the law comes measurlbly
near making the law a farce"
Yet some of the very republican ed
jtors who in 1896 denounced rs an
archsts" democrats who had indulged
in the very mild reference To the in
come tax decision are now enthusiast
ticalIV commanding the president Of