Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1907-04-03

eboe VII Dtyd WouiU lnlnk NJ
useless 20 run, inasmuch as Roose-
welt has stolen all his thunder and
he bryant recently has been boom
ing Roosevelt in his paper. the
Commoner.
lt ould be rather embarrassing
for Mr.. Bryan to run against a man
who has been advocating (cven
though it had string to IT'D
every theory and idea that Bryan
has advocated in tine last ten years
with the exception of the silver
question, and that is a dead issue.
There are other men in the Dem
ocratic party who are mentioned
rs Presidential possibilities. In
the socalled conservative class there
are ex-Attorney General JudSon
Harmon, of Ohio, and Judge Gray.
of Delaware. Judge Gray would
be preSona non grata to- the advo-
Gates OF Mr.. Bryan because he
went off with the Democratic op-
position TO Bryan in 1896 and 900.
Judge Harmon did the same thing
In 1896, but returned to the fold in
1900. Both of them probably
would be met by the same stay at
home vote that so crushingly de-
feated Judge Parker in 1904.
Many leading Democrats who,
before they left here after the adj
Journment of the Congress, talk, d
to me anent the political situation
and outlook, gave it as their opin-
ons and | coincide with them, that
the two great issues for the Demo-
Gratis to advocate in the next cam
paign would be tariff reform and
reduction and incidentally the con
troll and destruction of the trusts
of the country who are doing bust
ness in restraint of trade, and State
right as opposed to the idea of
Secretary Root and President
Roosevelt. As the case stands to-
day. the present administration
stands forthe present tariff wall and
the maintenance of the trusts meath
Its shadow, and as rank and broad
as species OF extreme Federalism
as was ever advocated by Alexander
Hamilton. Are we to have State
sovereignty or a strong centralized
government Think it over.
The so-called war between the
President and the big railroad
manager Is tempest in teapot.
lt is all sound and fury signifying
nothing. \ lot of these railroad
buccaneers, who got all they want
ed out of this administration last
year when the railroad rate bin
was passed, just as | said they
would when the President laid down
allowed Aldrich to have his amend
ments put into the bill and when
he went back on Bailey and Tillman
and Chandler, have been over here
putting up poor mouth TO the
President and talking through the
administration papers to the effect
that they have been begging the
President not to sit on them so hard
1t would mash all the water out of
their stocks. What they really
have been doing is to beg the Pres
ident, after patting him on the
back, to get the State legislatures
to go slower on them and to advo-
cate In message to the next Con-
gress that all transportation shall
be declared interstate commerce
and shall be placed under the con-
troll of the Interstate Commerce
Commission. They have got that
machine grabbed, and they konw
1T Is an easier matter to control it
than to control all the State legis-
latures. In other words, they are
assuring the President of their
support of his idea of centralized
government, thus eliminating the
power of the States to control and
regulate their own rates of trans
portation within their own borders.
That is the combination between
the railroads and the present Re-
publican administration to emascu-
late the power of the State govern
ments that the people of this coun-
try are up against, and the sooner
they take cognizance of that fact
the better prepared they will be to
beat it.