The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1912-12-17
SHORT OF THE MARK.

Editor Grove Wilson of the Red
wood Gazette makes a strong plea to
the republicans and progressives to
get together, under the plea that there
is no strength in division. Editor
Wilson advances clever arguments
why the progressives should come
back into the republican party, but it
seems to US that they fail of reaching
their mark because grounded on weak
premises that the tariff is the big
issue and that the political success of
the democrats is the most obnoxious
of results to both republicans and pro-
gressives.
The tariff has lapsed into second
airy place as an issue. Altho the dem
ocrats preach tariff for revenue only,
they go to that length solely to con-
vince the radical downward revision
voters. The democrats will never re-
duce the tariff below protective
basis, as the history of the coming
democratic administration will prove.
A large proportion of the democrats
are in fact higher protectionists than
even the moderate progressives. Dem
ocrats from the east and south can
not get away from the Importance of
the protective tariff principle to their
constituencies, and they never will
Again, if we are to believe the atti-
tude of the progressives upon many
important questions bearing upon the
very roots of theories of popular gov
eminent, the success Of the democrats
IS no more obnoxious to them than the
success of the republican party as at
present controlled. There is no gain
saying the fact that the vote for
Roosevelt by no means represented
the full vote of former republicans re-
belling against Taft and the republi-
can organization; and the Roosevelt
vote itself was consciously one that
made for Wilson's success.
The big issue today around which
all others cluster, is, "Who is running
this country, anyway, and why? ?" Or,
to put it another way, "Shall the gov
eminent be administered by and for
the whole people?"
1t seems to us to be useless for the
Gazette to plead with the progressives
to come back into the republican fold.
Those who want the progressives back
would better first clean up that~fold
and make it habitable for progress
sives. There is no more reason today
why the progressives should tackle
the job of cleaning up the republican
party than there was two months ago,
when the Gazette was supporting
Roosevelt. Conditions are exactly the
same now as then. The same national
committee stands ready to boss the
nomination of the next republican
nominee for the presidency, and the
same men head the republican party
organization in the state of Mime
sofa.
Just why the outlook for cleaning
up the republican party is any better
than it was when the progressives,
after long effort, threw up the job, is
hard to see.
OF course the Gazette's argument
of strength in union appeals to those
who wore the progressive label for
office-seeking purposes only, and they
are already leaning towards the old
party; but that doesn't concern those
who belong to the progressive party
from principle.
As it stands today, there is more.
encouragement for the progressives to
unite with the democrats than with
the republicans, and that isn't saying
much for the democrats, either.
The situation S up to the republic
cans, not to the progressives, and a
mere urgent invitation won't solve it.
-Owaonna Chronicle Journal.