The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-09-21

HIeHL o1 uISloydlty on my part TO Tn
older principles of Democracy unde
which l have striven always to do M
| public duty in matters large and small
. when | say that there is large indica
, ton that the coming years will bring
!, forth new aseendency of those sam,
principles, perhaps under a different
panoply, and perhaps with reincor
poration of the decayed fragments OF
an organization that failed to serve its
purpose. No political party in any
country has ever been wrecked by con
tinued consistency with the principles
that originally made it a power, the
rocks on which it fell invariably being
the errors of opportunists. The pres
ent campaign as side feature will
have long step in the progress to
the readjustment to first principles,
and it is propitious indeed that there
is no issue of such gravity that those
| principles are needed to determine it.
Never has there been safer time for
the rehabilitation to proceed.
When it became apparent that Mr..
Taft would be the nominee of his
party, that Mr.. Hearst and his party
would make clean-cut effort for EN-
placement as a national factor and not
endeavor to gain any immediate ad-
vantage for themselves by any such
process as fusion, in fact would seek
to destroy Organism, or rather Mr..
Bryan s hold on the Democratic party,
not by forcing the hold to relax, but
by lessening that which he had to hold,
conjecture as to. the result in the No
vember conclusions could be of but one
sort among sensible men. With the
several other parties disorganizing, re-
developing, and pro-creating, the Re
publican party is certain, though with
a considerably lessened strength, to
move on to a safe victory sustained
by the popular support of reforms
which should not rebound to its glory
solely, those reforms having been the
work of decent men of all parties
There is fear on my part of being
misunderstood in what | am about to
say, but surely the faiF-minded man
must realize when he considers my at
titude toward my own party, all now
matter of immutable record, that it is
prompted by a sense of simple fair
ness. Personally and officially / have
had the opportunity of knowing many
things concerning Mr.. Taft that were
not matter of general knowledge, and
with keen interest I have watched
his large share in the conduct of our
national affairs in very recent years.
His excellence as a Federal Judge in
Cincinnati is something not to be UNI
derestimated or overemphasized, for
should he come to the presidential
chair the qualities which made him a
Judge of high ability, which [ know
him to have been, will be the most
needful to him as President of the
United States His high ideals of hon
esty and of relative justice, his great
capacity for severe labor. and his hui
morous wisdom in the face of the Sc
rious problem are attributes equally
valuable and commendatOry to peo-
pie seeking him in whom they may re-
pose the trust of their c Elective in
terests while they turn their increased
attention to their pressing individual
demands.
Whatever may be said as to the
events of the past ten years which
are alleged to have made us world
power. there remains small opportunity
for controversy over the essential tea-
lures of our conduct in the face of the
problems brought to face us by those
happenings. Now, from being self
contained and compact in our political
geography and federated in our com
mon interests wherever our dominion
was established, we have become ex-
tended and have increased the span OF
the arch of our structure, and must
undertake to equate the widely differ
ent concerns of individuals and commu
mites antithetical as to race, traditions
and modes of life, and antipodal as to
location on the face of the earth'
Dwelling on the unwisdom of prema-
,ureIy acquiring colonies IS fatuous'
the national duty is neither to help
those colonies for their exploitation nor
~ COST them off to avoid the burden
Of their responsibilities. The ques-
tions involved are no more matters TO
no narrowed through the mill OF FOIL
tics than is the policy of the Panama
Canal something to be stamped either
as Republican or Democratic. 81
These questions are fruitful OF
+rouble and perturbation. and the prl-
mary requisite of the man or men VINO
must deal with them is an abundant
knowledge of the people of the outiy-
inc domain. That Mr.. Taft is possess
cd of this knowledge as is no other
man in the country is hardly to be de-
MED. granted that he has had eXtraor-
binary opportunities, he has shown nm
self able to improve those opportunl-
ties in a manner which it is not ex-
travagant to say will be his broadest
claim so far to enduring fame when
the acute visual distortion Of the pres
emit and opportune shall have gwen
Mace to the memorable perspective OF
history in which the relative values OF
nublic deeds to public duties are com
nIe+elv clarified and announced TO pos
taritv, The misery and misfortune
which an ignorant or obstinate admin
istrator. no matter how high the eth
zeal standard of his motives. could en-
tail upon our wards of the Paelfc ana
caribbean are appalling to conten-
Mate: were his administration to be at
fault in any other particular, IN those
things Mr.. Taft s record shows him to