Los Angeles herald., 1908-08-13
Other Issues Later

Shall the people ruler" 1 repeat, is
declared by our platform to be the
overshadowing question, and as the
campaign progresses 1 shall take oc-
casion to discuss this question as it
manifests itself in other issues for
whether we consider the tariff ques-
ton, the trust question, the railroad
question, the banking question, the la
Dor question, the question of imperial
ism, the development of our water
ways, or any other of the numerous
problems which press for solution, we
shall find that the real question in
volved in each is whether the govern
ment shall remain a mere business
asset of favor seeking corporations or
be an instrument in the hands Of the
people for the advancement of the
common veal.
If the voters are satisfied with the
record of the Republican party and
with its management of public affairs
we cannot reasonably ask for a change
in administrations; it, however, the
voters feel that the people as a whole
have too little influence in shaping the
policies of the government; If they feel
that great combinations of capital have
encroached upon the rights of the
masses and employed the instrument
talities of government to secure an
unfair share of the total wealth pro-
duced. then we have right to expect
verdict against the Republican party
and in favor of the Democratic party;
for our party has risked defeat-aye,
suffered defeat-in its effort to arouse
the conscience of the public and to
bring about that very awakening to
which Mr.. Taft has referred.
Only those are worthy to be intrust-
ed with leadership in a great cause
who are willing to die for it, and the
Democratic ply has proven its wor-
thiness by it's Wefusal to purchase vic
tory by delivering the people into the
hands of those who have despoiled
them. In this contest between Dem
ocracy on the one side and plutocracy
on the other, the Democratic party has
taken its position on the side of equal
rights and invites the opposition of
those who use politics to secure spe-
cial privileges and governmental ia
voritism Gauging the progress of the
nation, not by the happiness or wealth
or refinement of a few, but "by the
prosperity and advancement of the av-
erage man." the Democratic party
charges the Republican party with be-
ing the promoter of present abuses, the
opponent of necessary remedies and the
only bulwark of private monopoly The
Democratic party afflrms that in this
campaign it is the only party, having
a prospect of success, which stands for
justice in government and for equity
in the division of the fruits of in
dustry.
Defender of Honest Wealth
We may expect those who have COM
mitted larceny by law and purchased
immunity with their political influence
to attempt to raise false issues and to
employ 1.-The livery of heaven" to con-
| L.
no longer deceive. The Democratic
party is not the enemy of any legiti-
mate industry or of honest accumula-
TONS 1t is, on the contrary, a friend
of industry and the cteadfast protec-
tor of that wealth which represents a
service to society. The Democratic
party does not seek to annihilate all
corporations; it simply asserts that as
the government creates corporations it
must retain the power to regulate and
control them, and that 1t should not
permit any corporation to convert it.
self into monopoly. Surely we should
have the cooperation of all legitimate
corporations in our effort to protect
business and industry from the odium
which lawless combinations of capital
will, If unchecked, cast upon them.
Only by the separation of the good
from the bad can the good be made
secure.
| The Democratic party beekS not rev.
olution, but reformation, and / need
hardly remind the student of history
| that cures are mildest when applied at
once; that remedies increase in sever
| ity as their application is postponed.
Blood poisoning may be stopped by the
loss of finger today; 1t may cost an
arm tomorrow or life the next day.
So poison in the body polite cannot be
removed too soon, for the evils pro-
duced by 1t increase with the lapse of
| time. That there are abuses which
need to be remedied, even the Repub-
lican candidate admits; that his party
is unable to remedy them has been
fully demonstrated during the last len
years. / have such confidence in the
] intelligence as well as the patriotism