Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1908-06-18

parent The violent counsels Of NO
lent men, who aimed II the destrue-
ton 81 property and the overthrow
Of Law, began to DO heard and hark-
ened to. The great order.loving. IN
dustrious masses OF the American peo-
pie turned away from these advocates
Of violence, but. 1t the same time. de-
manded that their government should
give them, in lawful and reasonable
ways, the protection to which they
were entitled. against the dangers they
Justly apprehended.
The great duty Of fulfilling these
righteous demands, like all the great
public services OF the last half cen
fury, was imposed upon the Republi-
can party and they have not fiinched
from the burden. Under the lead OF
the president, the Republican party
has grappled with the new problems
born Of the new conditions, The re-
spouse Of the people tosthe policies
urged by the president has been 30
emphatic that 1t has been made clear.
once for all, that the government Of
the United States 10 never to be DOM
mated by money and financial inter
ests, and that the political party
which permits itself to be ruled by
them is thereby doomed to defeat.
Laws Must BE Enforced.
Nothing Is more destructive to the
respect for law-the chief bulwark OF
civilized society-than to place laws
upon the statute book In order mere
ly to still public clamor and satisfy
the people but which It is never in
tended to enforce. The worst laws
imaginable are those which are al
lowed to rust, unused, because, II en-
forced, they might interfere with vest
ed abuses or curb the rich and power
full.
The president has enforced the laws
as he found them on the statute book.
For this performance Of his sworn duty,
he has been bitterly attacked. 1t was
to be expected. Vested abuses and
profitable wrongs cry out loudly when
their entrenchments are carried, and
some one is sure to be hurt when the
bayonets Of the law are pushed home.
In the great American electorate, mon
ey has few votes but 1t can command
many voices and cause many birds to
sing. The result is that the president
IL the best abused and the most popu-
lar man in the United States to-day.
He has been more abused than any
president except Washington, Lincoln
and Grant. He possesses the love
and confidence of the American peo-
pie to degree never equaled except
by Lincoln and Washington. May 1t
not be said, in sober truth, that the
fearless performance of sworn duty
lie not without its exceeding great re-
ward!
Laws That Have Benefited Country.
But the work has not ceased with
the enforcement Of existing laws. A
Republican congress and Republi-
can president have placed new laws
upon the statute books, designed to
carry out the Republican policy Of
government regulation in safe, rea-
sonable and effective manner. The
Elkins law, aimed at preferential re-
bates, which have been the curse OF
our transportation and our business;
the railroad rate law, which made the
supervision of railroads more etfec'
tive, and the pure food law, which
has been, in the highest degree, beneh-
cent to the masses of our people, are
all monuments of the policy and the
labors of the Republican party.
The president, who has led his
party and the people in this great
work, retires, by his own determine
ton, from his high office, on the fourth
Of March next His refusal of re-
nomination, dictated by the loftiest
motives and by noble loyalty to
American traditions, is final and ire
vocable. That man Is no friend to
Theodore Roosevelt and does not cher
ish his name and fame, who now,
from any motive, seeks to urge him
as a candidate for the great once
which he has finally declined. The
president has refused what his coun-
trymen would gladly have given him;
he says what he means and means
what he says, and his party and his
country will respect his wishes as
they honor hfs high character and
great public service.
Party Pledged to Policies.
But, although the president redres,
he leaves his policies behind him. To
those policies the Republican party
stands pledged. We must carry out
a. we have begun, regardless alike
Of the radicals Of reaction and the
radicals Of revolution. We must hold
fast to that which is good while We
make the advances which the times
demand.
We ask for the confidence and sup
port Of the American people because
we have met the problems Of the day
and have tried patiently to solve them.
We believe in the maintenance OF
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