The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1908-02-14
TAFT OR BRYAN?

leans will have as their leader vii
liam II. Taft and the democrats will
be led for the third time by William
Jennings Bryan.
1t will be a great conflict, the out
come of which should be, and we have
the utmost confidence in predicting
will be, the triumphant and over.
whelming election of Taft.
1t is well to briefly recall the record
of these two men that the contrast
may be shown the more clearly.
During the past twelve years Mr..
Bryan has been almost constantly be-
fore the country. Twice he has car.
ried on strenuous campaign for the
presidency. The rest of the time he
has through public lectures and the
publishing of a weekly paper been
furthering his views on political mat
tiers and incidentally, through the I'M
usual gift of Uratory with which he
was endowed and the wide advertising
which his career has given him, been
adding greatly to his personal fortune.
For twelve long years he has been
going up and down through the length
and breadth of the land-with years
trip around the world taken on the
side which netted him 00O-talk-
ing, talking, talking. And what has
! hapn
all men of his kind he has INDUCED in
a dreary amount of platitudes. At the
rate of 5000 an evening he has told
the people that high ideals had great
value, that happiness results from
goodness and that beneficence and
good will are the basic principles,
which if cultivated will bring about a
universal brotherhood. But with them,
he has made pleas for the adoption of
financial fallacies which threatened to
paralyze the business of the country
and which by their absurdity and con-
tradiction of all commercial laws have
long since been laughed out of court;
power and advocated isolation as
national policy; he has opposed the
building up of a great navy; con-
demned hte Strengthening of the
army; openly urged the hauling down
of "Old Glory" in the Philippines;
stood for government ownership of
q dc i-,
guided and narrow conception of Amer
lean politics. During all this time he
has been a private citizen and has
had no opportunity to test his capacity
in any direction as an executive Off
Ger or leader in practical affairs.
During that same length of time
William II. Taft has been busy in the
service of his country, doing things.
And they have been great construc-
tive achievements. AS a member in
the cabinets of William Mckinley and
Theodore Roosevelt, he has been kept
busy improving the department affairs
under his control. In Cuba he helped
Philippines he did a work that history
will point to with much pride. Fol-
lowing the cruelties of Spanish rule,
he went among the Filipinos and made |
America respected and beloved, by his |
just and amiable control This was
done under most trying circumstances |
oil hA
among the great men of his times. |
Taft believes in his country. He be-
lieves 1t is the mission of America to :
help elevate and make free other peo- |
pies. He is for a larger America that
the world may be made better; he is
proud of its army and its navy; be- /
Ileves in government control that
guides individual enterprises; in a
sound currency; in all that makes for
progress. He glories in the past rec
ord of the republican party, is the
choice of Roosevelt and has large
views of Americas future.
Between such two men It is for.
tunate that the people can make a
choice, They best represent the two
parties There will be no question
where the line of cleavage is. 1t has
already been made. There is little or
no question what the verdict will be.
Not only republicans but patriotic
democrats will aid in the election of
Mr. Taft. The man who does things
will be chosen over the man who says
things; the big American will out
weight the little American.
The democratic New York Times
says: Many thousands OF eastern
democrats cannot agree with Mr.. Bry.