Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1908-07-16

go forth and publish the Rulers will to
his faithful subjects. And forthwith the
trumpets sounded, and there was hurry
ing and scurrying in all directions
! throughout the land. High officials,
drawing munificent salaries, FASTENED
hither and yon to obey the sovereign will.
Some went to the south to organize the
official retainers there that they might, If
possible, tease or coerce the recalcitrant
colored brother into line, and to devise
plans to capture conventions by whatever
| tactics the eXigencies might require.
| Others went north and east and west to
put the machine in motion, until a hun
| bred thousand officeholders were in the
/ field. The Republicans of Missouri know
what happened here. Practically every
| Federal official in the State was an ac-
| tive, dictatorial, noisy Taft prOpagandist.
| Scarcely could county, much more a
district, convention be assembled with
| out the over-awing, aSSertive presence
| of an official representative of the White
| House. The GlObe-Democrat, the Kansas
| City Journal and other Republican or
gans cried out in vehement protest, but
| the ponderous machine rolled steadily on
/ like Juggernaut crushing out all OPP
position. Uncle Joe Cannon, the rugged
| Car of the House, gnawed his big che
root more ViciOusly than ever and looked
| on IN amaZement, Tor once lmpOtenI ana
helpless. And Fairbanks, Knox, Hughes
and such old warehouses as Crane, Car
| ter, CullOm and kerens We're bowled
| over like ten pins The like of 1t has
| The machiEe was Irresistible. The Presi-
| dents triumph was complete. He nomi-
| mated his protege, and made him the
| scion of our new Republican royalty.
With this situation, viewed solely as
| a Republican party condition, ought not
| perhaps to feel very deep concern. And
| yet I cannot view with indifference the
| spectacle of a great party, which for the
major part of a half century has domi-
mated the American Republic, having its
organization, its policies and its destiny
| taken bodily and by force into the hands
| of a trained army of ofdceholders with
! the sinister and selfish end of perpetual
| ing themselves in power. But over and
| beyond that is the universal question as
to whether the American people. without
| regard to party, endorse the notion OF
| President openly and extensively using
| the great powers of his great office, and
| of employing a stupendouS force of sal
AIRED subordinates, to compel the selec-
| ton of his choice to the Presidential sue
| cession. None would deny to the Presi-
| dent the privilege of a preference nor the
| right within conservative limits to eX-
press it. That is a right inherent in him,
not as President but as citizen. Against
| that I make no protest, but 1 do pro-
| test against the President aggressively
using the tremendous power and infiu-
ence of his office, and aggTeSSively direct
| OrSdnlZdIlOn OInCldi
machine, to force his individual choice
| of a successor upon the country. Such Il
| course is violative of historic usage, and
viOlative also of the civil service law
which forbids ''perniciouS activity" by
public officials in politics. Moreover, it is
! intOlerable as a matter of good taste and
public decency, and is dangerous as a
| precedent If it can be successfully ac-
complished today, it can be successfully
| accomplished hereafter, and so. if per-
mitted to go unchallenged, it may be-
come the rule for one President after an
| other to name his successor. That IN
| itself would border pretty close on to a
| species of monarchy, wherein the preSi-
| Dental will would be substituted for an
| untrammeled popular will, and to what
| that would ultimately lead no man can
| foretell. Hear what the Hon. Henry F.
| Cochems of Wisconsin had to say in his
| speech nominating Senator LaFollette for
| President before the Chicago convention
| He declared that the man who succeeded
| Roosevelt should be neither his heir nor
! his crown prince" And further he said,
| IF there be danger OF MeXicaniZing the
! government by an election to third
| term, that reason obtains with equal
| force against the wisdom of a second
| for the third term" That is Republican
authority. Of all things it is most i'm
pOrtant that the supreme right of the
| American people to voice their will at
! the baIIot-box should be absolutely free.
| Therefore, it is of the utmost conse-
quence that this extraordinary and vulgar
| misuse OF executive power ShOulu De IN
| stantly rebuked, and that this arrogant
| stride in executive assumption and uSur-
patton should be rudely checked in its
| incipiency. Those who win party victo-
ries in this fashion should be taught that
| they must afterwards account to an in
| dignant people.
Of Judge Taft as a. possible President
| have but little to remark. No one can
assume to outline with certainty what he
might or might not do. But of one thing
you may be sure, that the. tariff baron;
the trust magnate; the exploiter Of special
privilege, and all who represent preda-
! tory wealth, are without dread of his can
didacy. They have tested him on the
bench and in other stations, and they are
without fear. InstinctiVely an honest
man, with intellectual qualities of high
order, he is yet deficient in cOmbative
force and by nature unfit for uncom-
promising resistance. Those mighty in
! fiuences the people dread the most will
| be behind his candidacy, and if elected
| they will be forever grouped about him.
| and step by step he will become to a
large extent the creature of his environ
| ment. ]. Pierpont Morgan arrived in
| New York from Europe on the day fol-
| lowing Mr.. Tafts nomination at Chicago
| To an Associated Press reporter he eX-
pressed himself as pleased at the choice
of the Secretary of War, remarking, 1t
| is good, very good" The reactionaries
| feared the idiOsyncracies, the broncho
methods and the impetuous outbursts of
Roosevelt, but they are not much alarmed
about Taft. The Wall street sentiment
| was We'll expressed Dy Il prominent pIoAeI
when he said, I'VE think Taft has sense
enough to stand hitched." He inherited
| Roosevelts policies, so-called, but what
| he will do with them no man can pre-
dict. About all we can say is that he is
an uncertain quantity, and if he should
| be elected, all we can do is to hope for
| the best.
| OF Mr.. Bryan there is need to say but
| little to an American audience. If ever
| a name in fact was a household word,
it is the name of Bryan. He is not only
| the most conspicuous living American,
but the most illustriOus private citizen
of the world. And yet, great as he is, he
| is only a plain, unpretentiOus, everyday
| type of the common people. If you
| should ask any man of any party in any
his ideal of a Great COmmoner, his
mind would instantly revert to Bryan.
| All men know him to be honest and
able, faithful and gifted, coura geous and
| devoted, and utterly incapable of pre-
| tense, double-dealing or littleness. But
! to eulogize Bryan is superfiuouS. 1t is
| but commonplace to praise him.
| What a contrast between his nominal
! ton and that of Mr.. Taft! BryanS
nomination was not in the remotest de-
| gree the product of official Intervention,
! force or intrigue. 1t is the product of
| every section of the Union the unmas-
| tered, untrammeled masses called to him
| for leadership. StalwaTt efforts put
| forth to stem the tide were futile. As
well had the opposition tried to dam the
| Nile with bull-ruShes- The people be-
| lieve in the man and love him. They
| know him to be man of exceptional en-
| dowments-a student, thinker, philoso-
! pher-a man familiar with the govern
ments and civilizations of the world, and