Mexico weekly ledger., 1908-07-16

ing ana scurrying In all directions
throughout the land. High officials.
drawing m~unihcent salaries. hastened
hither and yon TO obey the sovereign will.
Some went to the south to organize the
OFFICIAL retalners there that they might. IL
possible, tease or coerce the recalcitrant
colored brother into line, and 10 devise
plans to capture conventions by whatever
tactics the exigencies might require
Others went north and east and west 70
put the machine in melton. until a nun
dred thousand onIcehoiders were in the
held The Republicans OF Missouri know
what happened here, Practically every
Federal official In the State was an ac-
tive. dictatorial, noisy Taft p~ropagandlst.
scarcely could a county. much more a
district, convention be assembled with
out the ever-awlng, assertive presence
~ an oHrciai representative Of the White
Clty Journal n otner Republican or
kans cried out in vehement protest, but
tne ponderous machine rolled steadily on
IKE Juggernaut crushing out all OPP
Gar OF the Honge. gnawed his big che
root more v~iciously than ever and looked
on m amusement, for once impotent n
helpless. n Fairbanks, Knox. Hughes
and such old warehouses; as Crane. Car
ter, Cullom and Kerens were bowled
over like ten pins. The like Of il has
never been seen In American politics.
The machine was irresistible, The Presi-
dents triumph was complete. He nomi-
mated his protege, n 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 l 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 O~fnceholders with
the sinister and selfish and 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 a
president openly and extensively using
the great powers Of his great office, and
Oh employing a stupendous force OF sal
aried subordinates, to compel the seiec-
ton of his choice to the Presidential suo-
cession. None would deny TO the Presl-
dent the privilege of a preference. nor the
right WITHIN conservative limits to ex-
press 1t. That is a right inherent In him.
not as President but as citizen. Against
that 4 make no protest, but / do pro-
test against the President aggressively
using the tremendous power and infu-
enee OF his office. n aggressively direct
ing the organization OF a vast official
machine, to force his Individual choice
OF a successor upon the country. Such a
course Is vioiative Of historic usage, and
violative also OF the civil service law
which forbids "pernicious activity by
public officials In politics. Moreover, It Is
lntoierabie as a matter Of good taste and
precedent. II 1t can be successfully ac-
complished today, IL can be successfully
accomplished hereafter, and so. If per-
United TO go unchallenged, it may be-
come the rule for one President after an
other IN mama hfa Gtaoraaunr Tkok d,
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
f%oretell. Hear what the Hon. Henry F.
Cochems Of Wisconsin had to say In his
speech nominating Senator LaFollette for
President before the Chicago convention.
Roosevelt should be neither his heir nor
his crown prince" And further he said,
III there be danger of Merchandising the
government by an election to a third
force against the wisdom Of a second
term incumbent debating the candidate
for the third term" That is Republican
authority. OF all things IL is most i'm
portant that the supreme right of the
American people TO voice their viii al
the ballot-box should be absolutely free.
Therefore, II Is Of the utmost conse-
quence that this extraordinary and vulgar
taAAehb0 "a GAEkAAhNC HQWEI SIDllu Ud III
stantly. rebuked, and that this arrogant
stride In. executive assumption and usur-
patton should be rudely checked In IL
rles In this fashion should be taught tina
they must afterwards account to an In
dignant people.
OF Judge Taft as a possible President
1 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
tory wealth, are without dread Of his cam
didacy. They hav tested him on the
bench and in other stations, n they are
without fear. Instinctively an honest
man. with intellectual qualities of a high
order. he. is yet deficient in combative
force and by nature unfit for uncom-
promising resistance. Those mighty in
huences the people dread the most will
be behind his candidacy, and IL 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. j. Pierpont Morgan arrived in
New York from Europe on the day fol-
lowing Mr.. Taft's nomination at Chicago.
To an Associated Press reporter he ex-
pressed himself as pleased at the choice
Of the Secretary of War. remarking, 1T
feared the idiosyncracies, the broncho
methods and the impetuous outbursts of
Roosevelt, but they are not much alarmed
about Taft. The Wall street sentiment
when he SAID Eve think TAFT has sense
enough TO stan hitched." He Inherited
Roosevelt's policies. so-called, but what
he will do with them no man can pre-
diet. About all we can say is that he is
be elected, all we can do is to hope for
the best
BRYAN.
- 49,. -x- -.
little to an American audience. If ever
a name in fact was a household word,
1t is the nam of Bryan. He Is not only
the most conspicuous living American,
but the most nlustrious 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
audience who most nearly represented
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, courageous and
devoted, and utterly incapable of pre-
tense. double-dealing or littleness. But
to eulogize Bryan is s~uperfiuous. 1t Is
but commonplace to praise him.
What a contrast between his nominal
ton and that of Mr.. Taft Bryan's
nomination was not in the remotest de-
gree the product of official Intervention.
force or intrigue. 1t Is the product of a
spontaneous demand of the people. From
every section Of the Union the unmas-
tered, ~untrammeled masses called to him
for leadership. Stalwart 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 owe him.. They
know him to be a man of exceptional en-
dowments-a student, thinker, philoso-
pher-a man familiar with the govern
ments and civilizations of the world, and
one who correctly c~omprehends both the
constitutional form and true spirit of
American institutions-but, withal, a
man of simple habits and simple life.
But, above ell, they believe him to be
faithful and true. And SO buoyed by
this high faith In this illustrious man It
is no wonder that the Democratic null
titudes, who toll for an honest livelihood.
who believe In equal opportunities for all
men and In the faithful administration OF
public affairs, should have again sum-
moned him to the arduous responsibilities
of leadership. His candidacy Is not the
product Of a President, but of the peo-