Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-06-19
Political Unrest.

| The outlook, political and Industrial,
is full of complexity. There have been
strikes in New York, Boston, Chicago,
San Francisco, Evansville, Buffalo,
Washington City, and other trade CEN
tiers, and also an important strike on
the Erie railroad system. Some of
these are still unsettled. and there Is
promise of strike involving the tele-
grnphers, line men and other electrical
workers. In fact, there has not been
| so profound state of unrest among
the working men since 1892; and this
condition Is aggravated by the dis
charge of large number of the en-
ployers of the New York Central rail-
road, and prospective retrenchments by
other railroads.
There has been rioting in San Fran
cisco, New York and Evansville. The
Japanese question has also been
brought to the front again by reason
| of an attack upon a japanese restau-
rant and bathing house In San Fran
cisco; and this incident has intensified
the feeling aroused among the laboring
men by the action Of the Federal adj
mlnistration in the controversy over
the admission of Japanese to the public
schools for white children in that city.
The unfavorable reports from the
crops throughout this and other coun-
tries are also cause of grave forebod-
ings. The cost Of living is advancing
rapidly and those with fixed Incomes
and thousands of wage-earners are feel
Ing the pinch OF poverty.
| The disclosures of fraud and graft
among the managers of great corpora
lions, municipal, financial and Indus
trial, serve to irritate the people against
the politicians and corporations, gen.
orally.
Several points in the policy Of the
Federal administration are calculated
to arouse bitter feeling among labor
ing men. One of these Is the virtual
abrogatIon of allen contract labor law.
Another Is the Republican plan, now le-
galized, of loaning hundreds of millions
of public money to bankers without In
terest, practice which amounts to
subsidlzing bankers, as class, Mt the
expense Of the taxpayers Of the coun-
try; thus widening the gulf between
the rich and the poor. Still others are
the administrations avowed advocacy
Of the ship subsidy scheme, and the
hostile attitude of the Republican lead
ers in Congress towards tho pilots. who
have for years been struggling fol ex-
istence against the assaults of the
Maine ship trust; and finally the hos
tility of Republican leaders to the leg
lslatlon demanded by the representa-
tives of organized labor.
Mr.. Roosevelt's continued talk about
class feeling" and the wickedness Of
encouraging such feeling, has greatly
stimulated class feeling. He has made
1t plain that he himself experiences
that feeling; for out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh. Peo-
pie talk very knowingly about what
l-they themselves feel. Men who are
forever referring to laborlng men as
fsthe mob, ana forever denouncing7 'la-
Dor leaders" US Mr.. Roosevelt does, are
unconsciously engendering class feel
ing which can result only In political
and industrial disturbances, II not in
revolutionary outbreaks. The people
are resenting it.
The bitter fractional strife which the
President has brought about by his eff
forts to transmit the presidential office
to one Of his favorites, as IL 1t We're a
personal chattel to be disposed of by
him us legacy or bequest, shows that
other classes besides the mob and its
labor leaders" are beginning to feel
the sting Of his insolence and presump-
lions and portend the disruption of the
party which placed him at the head
of the government.
So long as the people were all pros
porous and busy, they seemed willing
to condone his mistakes and even to
ratify his usurpatlons; but when they
see danger ahead and feel the begin
nlngs Of hard times, they remember all
these things, and draw conclusions un-
favorable to the President and his par
ty. But his office gives him great pow
er. The mercenary Republicans Of the
South are ready still to do his bidding !;
and it may be that with their aid he
may overcome the opposition of such
men as Foraker, Cannon, Hughes and
Fairbanks. More power to him! All
of these men except Hughes have been
his henchmen in the past, and they de-
serve to be his victims in the future. If
1t should so turn out, however, they
will not, In role Of whipped spanlels,
stand as well with the people next year
as they did in 1904. If Roosevelt has
his way, he will crush every self-re-
specting man In his party, high or low.
And In that case, the Democrats will
return again to power. If he should
be unsuccessful In his project of doml-
mating the next national Republican
convention, he will undoubtedly use his
power to wreak vengeance on his sue
cessful rival And In that case the
Democrats will return to power. The
present situation is very favorable for
Democratic victory In 1908. But to
win, Democrats must unite and to draw
together all who believe in Democracy
is the important work for all patriots.
Wheat Prices and Politics.
There is one feature of the abnormal
rise in the price Of wheat that 1t will
be well for farmers in marketing the
remnant Of the last years crop to bear
in mind. The European market price
Is now below the price here, when the
freight and expense of shipping is TAX
en- into consideration. That should re-
suit in checking exports Of both wheat
and flour and If the weather conditions
continue to improve in the extreme
northern states and. Canada, 1t would
seem probable that the price Of wheat
In the United States must come down
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