Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-09-12

ExN0mOCTdCC SJdte COuVeuLlOu Opeuel At the auditorium last night. Fol lowing long established custom the nrst session was of preliminar.
 Character to permit of the organiza lion of the delegates into working body, and to select the committees
 which will prepare ticket and plat E form to be submitted at the session < to-morrow. The address of Mayor
 William E. Thoms, of Waterbury. as < temporary chairman, was especially
 cordial in view of the fact that to < the convention he was almost g
 Stranger.
 The attendance was practically the
 entire delegate body of 667. an inter. < 6ating fact for the reason that there Appeared to be no special contests for my places on the ticket.
 The convention hall presented a gala appearance, American flags in < terspersed with vari-colored stream
 CTS embellished the balcony front,
 while the stage was overhung by a
 canopy-like formation of blue and
 white.
 Shortly before 8 o'clock the dele gates began to arrive and the audi tOrium became the scene of anima-
 tiOn customary on such occasions.
 The seats directly in front of the stage were allotted to Middlesex, Fairfield, New Haven, Hartford and Holland counties, with Litchfield,
 New London and Windham counties
 In the rear.
 Chairman John J. Walsh called the { convention to order and in a few 5 words he introduced the temporary
 chairman, Mayor Thoms of Water
 bury, who was greeted with applause aS he walked to the front of the
 utage. He spoke in part as follows:
 Gentlemen of the Conventions: Tn the first place, I desire to ex-
 press my appreciation of the high
 honor you have conferred upon me
 In asking me to temporarily preside 5 over this gathering of the democrats
 of Connecticut We. meet again in state convention, once more united
 and harmonious party to pledge anew
 our allegiance to the great principles
 laid down by the fathers of the re-
 public. No time can be more fitting sto call to mind and strengthen our
 faith in the underlying principles of
 democracy than this, time when the minds of thinking men through out this commonwealth are deeply stirred by the revelations of corrup- ton that exists in high places in the political and financial world, the day of special privilege, when the spirit. If not the letter of that declaration of the greatest of all democrats is set at naught, the democrat who penned the lines, All men are cre- ated free and equal"
 The policy of the republican party Is one of special legislation, in the nation and in the state. Its tariff schedule taxes us for the benefit of others and its acts in this common wealth, where it has thrown away millions of dollars in franchises to private interests and now protects them in their monopoly, are part of the same consistent policy. the ex- tension of special favors by law to certain of the community.
 . Raps c. o. F. Spellbinders. Little will be said of all this by the spellbinders of the republican party, who will preach in this state the gospel of conservatism, of stand battery, representing most of them these very interests that profit by these special favors. They will tell you of the boundless heaven-sent | prosperity, the wonderful growth of | the country. the glorious history of the grand old party of moral ideas. | They may, very cautiously, speak of the few reform measures that were | driven through congress. against its will, by a republican president, after 1t had taken the sting out of them. | The speaker of the house of repre- may tell you of the beef | inspection bill, which, if newspaper accounts are to be credited. he tried | his best to block. and in which mat ter he finally succeeded in throwing all the cost on the government and relieving the beef trust of that ex- pense. millions of dollars a year.
 Secretary Taft may tell the people of Connecticut of our glorious colon ial development. but he will hardly talk about his Philippine tariff bill here. when four out of our five con gressmen voted against it and our junior senator smothered it in com mittee. Nor can our republican friends shout loudly over their in of the great insurance scandal. when our senior senator in congress boasts of the large sums his has contributed to the re- publican campaign funds. while at the same time it raises the rates of insurance throughout the state.
 Those economic principles work ,n. best that accomplish the greatest yo5d to the greatest number. which. rhfle making for prosperity. do moi ,onfine it to a few. but best dis ribute ft among our eigthy million ,eople- It is from this standpoint , hat we criticise the republican party or Its policy. the stand pat policy so ! Ibly advocated by Speaker Cannon. he national issue on which this cam ! ,aign Is to be made. the notion that he present tariff schedules are the 4 ummit of perfection. that any re ' 'ucti0n in the duties on iron and , teei- coal and lumber would over . urn the whole structure of our pros q erity- IL Is dificult to hear with pa [ Ience the argument that the steel i rust making net profits at the rate . ( 1eo millions of dollars a year. or i ve hundred thousand dolars evers z Tcrkinz day. Is in need of the pres a nt tariff to keep it a live and going q