Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-01-06
: DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS.


it, So crushing was the defeat Of the
Republican majority that neither Mr..
Cannon in the House. nor Mr.. Aldrich
in the Senate has since been able to sum-
mon sufficient interest to rally their con-
gressional forces. 1t is doubtful il the
House Republicans will perform other
than the pertunctory and routine duties
compulsory at each session, for, when
they adjourn in March, they turn over
to the present Democratic minority
the entire machinery OF the House, and
Tor the first time in sixteen years they
become the minority IN the House o.
Repres santatives.
! DOubly disastrous has been this de-
feat to the Republican party, for the
dominant faction has beer driven from
the States to its stronghold in the White
House, and whatever Of Repubhcansim
remains intact on the field is Of the In
surgent breed, and OF no great stability.
President Taft is raactionary. Though
his leaders have been wiped out, he must
4 carry on the fight. Insurgency will die.
In a lew months the whole battle will
be on again from the White House and
against the reactlonary forces that will
rally around Mr.. Tat the Democratic
fight OF 1912 must be waged.
4 While Democratic success all along
the line was not more thar the DemOcra-
cy deserved, the victory is so widespread,
and complete and mOmentous as to re-
qulre a most comprehensive plan Of
procedure. In the formulation Of that
plan the best minds Of Democracy every
where have Instantly devoted them
selves. The question is, how much time
will 1t require to perfect that policy?
Every Democrat who places his coun-
try and his party above his personal am
bition will seek by consultation and COOP
Grafton to aid in the formation o. policy
which shall be reasonably satisfactory to
every section o. the country; policy
which shall promise the greatest good to
the greatest number. To reach that end.
members will need subordinate their
individual ambitions to the views o! :.
majority.
t- We have heard discussed many plans
ot action. Some have sugg S d that
a neral tariff bill be cons rue ed; the
Democratic caucus thus b ing pledg q
toarep2al o! the Paync-Aldrich tariff &nc,
atfrmatively, to the adop. ion o. an l.
tirely new tariff bill. 0thsls, equally
earnest in their endeevor t6 r move The
evils OF the Payne-Aldrich law, prorc2.
Il Iii ~ uC .ion &. Il Dill or ~. r, sc..,a-
ule, each to be acted upon parat ",
thus eliminating tha dangers Of log
rolling by localities Ur individual inter-
ests. Another plan that is not without
merit is the proposal lor a horizontal
reduction in the tariff rates, until the
schedules are gradually brought to a
revenue plane. And there may be some,
no doubt, who feel that it is unwise to
introduce t1riff bill at all. Also there
may be difference o. opinion as to
whether any step should be taken at this
tnal session Of the present Congress. 1t
will require careful, painstaking work
among the Democratic members to de-
eide upon the proper plan OF procedure,
but no Democrat should fail to read
Alright the lesson in the returns from the
last election. There were no personal
triumphs. The wave that swept tie
country and put Democratic majority
into the House Of Representatives start
ed on the day the extraordinary session
o! the Sixty-frst Congress closed. No
one can mistake its meaning.
The people voted for redress from ad-
mltted wrongs and to the correction Of
those wrongs the Democracy should at
once apply ITSELF.
In determining a method OF procedure
Democratic leaders must first interpret
the meaning OF the election returns. A
great deal has been said about the effect
OF Mr.. Roosevelt's presence in the cam
paign. No doubt he was factor. How
much Of injury, or how much Of benefit he
was to the Democratic party is an open
question. Men will disagree as to
whether Roosevelt made votes or lost
votes to the Republican candidates.
His New Nationalism" did not receive
to be sure, very enthusiastic recep-
tior. The graft issue prevalent in several
states, likewise, might be looked upon
as a factor; but above Mr.. Roosevelt
and apart from the corruption among
Republican Offieeholders there was a
powerful sentiment o. opposition to
Republicanism sweeping the country.
That opposition first found express
sion in the rebellion against the Cannon
whip in the House O. Representatives.
1t then spread into party insurgency, a
natural sequence o. events, showing a
determination on the part OF some OF
the abler and wiser heads in the Repub-
lican party to free themselves from a
body over which there was an apparent
impending doom.
From mild insurgency It spread to a
genuine stampede, and the cause rested
in the failure OF the Republican party 10
live up TO its promise OF a tariff revision
. downward, and the deliberate enactment
o. tariff bill in the interest o. the already
, 0Ver-protected trusts.
, Apart from the Democratic press and
leaders, such noted Republicans as the
/ late lamehted DolliveF, IOwas brilliant
son; Cummins, LaFollette, Bourne and
\ Beverage stated clearly from every cam
: paign stump that the Republican tariff
failure was the real issue OF the campaign.
! 1t is not necessary here or now to cite
more to prove that the real cause Of Re
/ publican defeat was the awakening OF the
people to the fact that the Republican
: party had revised the tariff in the inter
est Of the few, at the expense OF the many,
. instead'Of the other way around.
Accepting the tariff as the paramount
. cause Of Republican defeat, we must
conclude tAal the mandate Of this elec-
tion is demand for immediate action
locking to the undoing Of the wrong