The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-07-03

Significance 10 NOT rorger rnar senator
La Toilette Is yet young man as pol.
itics goes. having reached his fifty
third birthday the day before this con-
vention assembled. He still holds his
state organization and the devoted sup
port Of a vast majority of the voters
Of Wisconsin. Very wisely-and I say
this as lifelong Democrat tele-
grapted to the nominee of his party his
assurance Of his support OF the ticket,
but explicitly reserved his rightlto crit.
icise the platform. how useful Sem
ator La FolIette's aid under these cir
cumstances may be to Mr.. Taft is yet
to be determined, but the support thus
extended keeps La Toilette Irregular"
and when about four years from noU
we observers of politics gather at. an
other Republican convention the, 'little
giant of Wisconsin willSbe a factor. to
be reckoned with. q, =. ~
The Famous Three P!anlss.
Before this campaign is over there is
going to be much said in debate on the
stump and in the newspapers concern
ing the three plauks Of the, La Toilette
platform which were offered fora spe-
cial vote OF" the floor OF the convention
and each one of which was voted down
by the we'll disciplined forces Of Taft.
Reduced to essentials, these were the
planks:
First-Compulsory publication Of all
campaign contributions, with the names
of the contributors.
second.-The official valuation Of tho
physical properties Of Interstate rail-
roads.
Third-The election Of United States
senators by direct vote Of the people.
The Republican party has gone on
record as opposing all three of these
propositions. A convention which
proudly boasted that 1t was dominated
by President Roosevelt voted down
these planks, although some months
ago Mr.. Roosevelt urged in message
to congress the publicity Of all cam
paIgn contributions and the valuation
Of railroad property. 1t is true that as
the time for election drew near neither
of these issues was mentioned In the
volley Of presidential messages to con-
gress, and the influence Of the presi-
dent was not eXerted In the slightest
degree to save either measure, which
he had earlier recommended, from the
hostility Of his friends at Chicago.
What it all means is so clear that q
mere statement of conditions leads to
the inevitable inference. The Repub-
lican party faces In this campaign
crisis in its existence. 1t Is at odds
with the people. 1t goes to the country
with a record of eXtravagant incompe-
tence and impotence in two successive
congresses absolutely controlled by Its
leader. 1t is torn with internal strife.
and its leaders greet each other with
smiles on their lips and hate In their
hearts. But it looks back to the days
of 1896 and remembers that it has
been schooled in the art of winning
elections by the brute force Of money.
So it nominates a ticket intended to
produce money. 1t puts at the head
Taft, one of whose brothers controls
all the public utilities of Cincinnati
and who is in touch with all the
fnanciers of the Ohio valley. Another
brother is the attorney for the Guggen-
helm brothers. who created and now
possess the smelter trust and who next
to the Standard Oil company are the
strongest plutocratic force in the Unit
ed States Having enthroned Taft. the
convention proceeded to nominate for
vice president James S. Sherman or
New York, himself rich man. the as
sociate Of Wall street magnates and a
man generally credited with having
raised that S2iG.C00 from insurance
companies and speculative bankers
which Roosevelt asked his ''practicar'
friend, Mr.. Hartman. to get for use in
the last two days Of the 1904 cam,
paign.
Does any one think that party so
openly bidding for contributions from
high fnanciers would declare for pub
licity in its financial methods?
The men from whom the Republican
party will seek to get its funds are
the men who either own railroads or
gamble in their stocks. If the party
asks for an official valuation Of the
physical properties on which these
stocks and bonds are based, what
chance would it have Of getting contri-
buttons from this class Of tinanciers!
The whole strategy is as clear to the
intelligent mind as polished piece OF
rock crystal.
Future of tho la Ealletta Plarkl.