The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-11-14

During the late campaign Speaker
Clark, who is n strong candidate Ill
the race for tho Democratic nomina-
ton for the presidency next year.
made a number of speeches in the
middle west states. Whom the speak
or is stamping i'll Missouri he just let's
himself go, and he does not always
put OH the brakes when he crosses
over into Kansas. 1t was to a crowd
of w%l,oorins Kansas Democrats tina
he said that President Taft dug his
political grave when he vetoed those
special session tariff bills. The mer-
its or dement's of those vetocs arc not
considerations in this discussion. Mr..
Clark had Il right as has every other
citizen to propllcsy CT the political
effect of the acts of a public servant
1t was his qualification Of the state
ment that deserves attention.
The king of England has the same
veto power as tho president Of the
United States has" Mr.. Clark stated,
but no king of England has dared
to veto a bill in wo'hundred years."
Sometimes it seems as though the
less Mr.. Clark knows of what he is
talking about the more loudly and
positively he talks about it. Here we
find him palming off on those inno-
cent, open-moutaed Kansas Demo-
Gratis AN analogy which my even
moderately wcll-rcad man knows to
be altogether superficial and falla-
cio,ls. The ghost Of the kings veto
still walks in tho old commentaries.
but the veto power itself died ana
was buried a very long Tim ago. The
presidents veto is a living power III a
living and written constitution. James
Madison, who has been considered a
pretty good Democrat, was largely
instrumental in putting it there; he
was convinced If its necessity. Alex
ander Hamilton said that it would
..incrcase the chances in favor of the
community against the passing Of bad
laws through haste, inadvertence or
design" 1t has been i'll use from
President George Washington's day
to this day: no dust of desuetude mas
gathered on ii. Andrew jackson cm-
ployed it freely and vigorously: 80
did Grover Cleveland. whose election
to the white house is said to nave
been recently spoken of by Champ
Clark as the greatest political call
amity IF the Christian era-or words
to that effect. Grants veto OF the
Ereenback bili and Hayes veto OF
the silver-coinage bill arc two menu
orablc Instances Of the use-in the
country's interest-of the power
which Speaker Clark views with such
voluble alarm.
And to think that there are per-
cons like John Temple Graves who
actually advise the Democratic party
to nominate Mr.. Clark for the posi-
tion of presidency of the United
States! If after a quarter of a CEN
tury in public life Mr.. Clark does not
have a. better knowledge of h diff
ference between the power of the We
to in this unit and in England he
10 not qualified for the highest office
within the gift of the people. Or if
he does know and palmed off that
Kansas speech humbugery to deceive
the unthinking and catch the popular
favor, he is too cheap a man to ell
trust with the dcstinies OF ninety mill
lion people.
This speech is on a par with those
ne has delivered concerning the de-
sire of ninety per cent Of the people
Of the United States to annex Cana
da. They are not the %utterances Of
the careful. thinking statesman but
rather of the cheap variety Of the
denagogue.