The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1909-09-28

candidate last year: like Cleveland he
had so served a state that Republic
ans supported him and he was a pow
errul influence in the section which
decided the contest. After condolences
to his family and friends it cannot be
too soon to remember that he left a
message to his people which has now
become the inheritance of the whole
coun y That message was SO i'm
poTtant in Itself and so portentOus to
the Republican party that President
Taft had already taken occasion to
enter a defense and was credited with
having q final word in his sleeve
which he did not produce at Mime
apOlis because OF Gov. Johnson's ill
ness.
That message embodied the charge
that the Middle West was being ex-
plotted for the profit of the East-that
the legislation advocated and secured
by New England was unjust to the
West-that it was the duty Of the
western states to enter protest and
begin agitation to defend themselves
agains. wrongs that eliminated in the
present tariff which the president was
then coming West to defend.
II justice and fair dealing is to be
expected and if the full intent and
meaning of the constitution is to be
preserved, Governor johnson left this
as his last word and most important
legacy 10 his party and his country.
He was a man who had struggled up
from poverty to a commanding posi-
tion in business life and in the conf
dence of his people. Time and time
again such messages have been de-
livered by those about to die and the
Republican party has always failed to
heed: isn't IL time that the govern
ment was made to heed? IL We may
listen TO Lincoln he told us that
danger, oveTshadowfng that of the
slavery he destroyed. was yet to be
met in the love of wealth which Sc
cured special privileges to crafty its
greed. Blaine pointed US to the South,
and stated the duty OF taking the
ShaCkIes on our commerce that we
might cease to prey on each other and
take a stand abreast of the modern
world. Mckinley, a few minutes be-
fore he fell, declared that we could
not hope for permanent prosperity
without a commercial marine. De
spite the warnings Of Lincoln and
Blaine and Mckinley, the Republican
party has changed its policies in moth
ing-it is the party Of prescription, OF
special legislation, of local and per
SOQal IaNOTlIlSLU W1lI0 10 LuSo0s IL
Taft is to follow Roosevelt, we are
now to add the doctrine that the war
is to be kept hot at home in the
struggle of class against class.
The logical consequences OF the
blindness of the party III power IS the
proclamation of Gov Johnson that IL
is the duty Of the Middle West to be-
gin a struggle of defense against
class legislation and prOscriptive poll
cies. The South has been fighting the
good fight for two generations and the
West went with the East. Because
the West Joined the East IL was pos
Sible to exploit the South With the
erection Of factories and mills in the
South the interests Of this section
may ally themselves with the East at
any moment and then the West must
make her own fight. The West is an
empire within itself-With five hum
dred million acres of improved farm
lands and with ten billion dollars of
farm property; producing fifty-five
per cent. Of the grain of the country:
with three billion dollar crop and
nearly One-half of the gold stock in
the banks and treasury reserves; with
manufacturing interests nearly equal
to those OF Germany. Why is it that
New England can write the tax laws
for her benefit and to the cruel iuiUs-