Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1908-08-12
Bryan's Acceptauce.

cannot accept the nomination which
you officially tender, without first ac-
knowledging my deep indebtedness to
the democratic party for the extrsor-
binary honor which i. has conferred
upon me. Having twice before been q
candidate for the presidency, in cam
paigns which ended in defeat, a third
nomination, the result of the free and
voluntary act Of the voters of the psrty,
can only be explained by substantial
aud undisputed growth iu the principles
and policies for which,, with multi
tude Of others, hsyeA contended. As
these principles and policies have given
me whatever poliIics! arength possess
the action of the cor Se1tion not ouly re-
news my faith in tsess. but strengthens
my attachment TO l.
| shall, in the ne. ASature, prepsrs
more formal reply ar not fication,
and in that letter OF ptance, will deal
with the platform tail. 1t is suf-
6cient, at this time, assure you that
am 10 hearty aeco Ih both the let
ter aud the spirit 90 platform. l
endorse 1t in Who'll IN In part, and
shall, if elected, ref rs declarations
as binding upon me.
The distinguished Ai4aesmsn who re-
ceivtd the republican domination for
president said, In BIZ, cation speech:
"The strength of tb lblican cause
| in the campaign at the fact that
we represent the POI senlisl to the
reform of known alb. b the contin-
uance Of liberty and, rosperity, and
that we are dttsrmid our platform
unequivocally declarl ynaintiin them
and cary them or.
1 accept the chsllene1 and chsrgs thst
the republican pariy' responsible for
all the abuses whicfy, DOW exist in the
federal government. IUd that it is i'm
potent to accomplish the reforms which
are imperst,vely Heedsd. \ Our
platform declares thSs the oveishadowing
ssuo which manifesis i.sef in all the
questlo now under discussion, is "5hsll
the people rule" No matter which
wsy we turn; no matt r to- what subject
we address ourselves, tie same question
confronts us: Shall the people control
their own government and use that gov
ernmeut for the protection of their rights
and for the promotion of their welfare -?
or shall the representatives. of predatory
wealth prey upon a defenSeless public,
while the offenders secure immunity from
snbservient officials whom they raise to
power by INSCRIPTIONS methods This
is the issue raised by the "known abuses"
to which Mr.. Taft refers.
He then referred to the message sent
to Congress last January in which Mr..
Roosevelt says:
Certain wealthy men of this stamp,
whose conduct should be sbhorrent to
every man of ordinarily decent con-
science, and who commit the hideous
wrong of teaching our young men that
phenomenal business success must ordi-
| narily be based on dishonesty, have,
during he last few months, made it aP-
parent tlat they have banded together
TO work fer Reaction. Their endeavor
is to overthrow and discredit all who
honestly administer the laW, to prevent
any additional legislation which would
check ard restrain them, end to secure,
If possible, freedom from all restraint
which will permit every INSCRIPTIONS
wrong doer to do what he wishes uncheck-
ed, provided he has enough money. -
What an arrsignment of the predatory
interests
Is the presidents indictment true
And, If true, against whom was the in
dic.ment dirscled2 Not against the
democratic party.
Mr.. Taft says that these evils have
crept in during the last ten years. He
declares that, during this time, some
"prominent aud influential members Of
the community, spurrsd by financial
success and In their hurry for greater
wealth, became unmindful Of the COM
mon rules of business honesty and fidel-
itg, and of the limitations imposed by
law upon their actions"
During all this time, 1 beg to remind
you, republican officials presided in the
executive department, filed the Oabi-
net, dominated the Senate, controlled
the House of Representatives and occu-
pied most OF the federal judgeships. y
Why were these "known abuses" per-
mitted to develop, Why have they not
been corrected2 II existing laws are
sufficient, why have they not been en-
forced2 All of the executive machinery
of the federal government 10 10 the bands
of the republican party. y Gan MIR.
Taft promise to be more strenuous in
the prosecution of wrong-dOers than the
present executive? Can he ask for
Isrger majority In the Senate than his
party now hast Does he need more
republicans in the House of Representa-
tives or speaker with more unlimited
authority
The presidents close friends have
! been promising for several years thtt he
would attack the iniquities Of the tariff.
We have hal intimstion that Mr.. Taft
was FESTIVE under the demands OF the
highly protected industries. And yet
the influence OF the manufacturers, who
have for twenty-five years contributed
to the republican campaign fund, and
who In return have framed the tariff
schedules, has been sufficient to prevent
tariff reform. AS the present campaign
approached, both the president and Mr..
Taft declared in favJr OF tariff revision,
but set the date OF revision after the
election.
A few years ago the republican lead
ers 10 the House OF Representatives were
coerced by public opinion Into the sup
port of an antitrust law which had the