The Republican journal., 1912-08-22
Frank w. Gowen
Writes From California on The Politica
Situation in the Nation.

To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL.
Having considerable business to transact
on the 9th of July rose that day at SUM-
rise. 1t was beautiful morning. Here
and there were soft clouds, with streaks
of red and blue in the sky, and the birds
who had slept during the night in the
orange trees and dreamed of the ''early
worm" were all astir singing their sweet
songs. Then, as took up the Morning
Tribune, the great, independent, pro-
gressive Republican newspaper of Cali
fornia, to scan the political news, and
soon after the Democratic Los Angeles
Examiner, the thought flashed over my
mind that SO years ago on this very day
a new political party was bora which
shook the nation from sea to sea with its
rallying cry of Free soil, free speech
and free men," The name of this new
party was the Republican party, and it
first beheld the light of day at State
convention held in Jackson, Michigan,
July 6, 1854. 1t was made up of wings,
free soilers and anti-slavery Democrats,
and l am proud to say that the State of
Maine, under the leadership of her great
sons, Fessenden, Hamlin, Morrill,, and
her adopted son, Hon. James G. Blaine,
who have written their impress large in
American history, has the proud dis
tinction of being one of the first States
in the Union after the Michigan conven-
ton to assemble in State convention
and officially adopt the name Republic
an" for their party.
In the national election of 1852 the
anti-slavery Wings throughout the ma
tSon, and especially in the northern States,
were very angry at the attitude of their
party on the slavery question, and SO
many of them voted for Hon. John P.
Hale, the Free Soil candidate for Presi-
dent, as to bring about the destruction
of the Wing party and the extinction of
the political aspirations of General
Scott. The old Wing party went down
to its political grave as completely as
did the old Federalist party in 1900
but the Democratic party, which swept
the nation with Pierce, carrying every
State in the Union with the exception of
Massachusetts, Vermont, Tennessee and
Kentucky, was as unsound politically on
the slavery question as the Wing party.
But the Wing party, being better party
than the Democratic party, or rather
composed of men of deeper political
conscience, had to give way to the Re-
publican party, which Numbered forth
with no uncertain sound that the power
of Congress is sovereign in the terri
tories of the nation and that slavery
must be forever prohibited in these
territories.
So today we see history repeating
itself and the scenes of 1852 again being
enacted. Ex-President Roosevelt and
other distinguished men of the Republi-
can party are now cutting loose from
their party and are organizing new
party to carry forward their principles,
and some of these principles are, to say
the least, rather Socialistic ideas. | re-
member that few years ago Roosevelt
denounced such ideas as dangerous doc
trine." Yet in spite of this, dispatches
from New York announce that Morgan
will unite with Perkins and Mccormick
in the fight for Roosevelt, and the steel
trust and harvester trust will spend
millions of money to place him in the
Presidents chair for third term. The
result will probably be the defeat of
Taft and the overthrow of the Republican
party. Then the Democratic party,
which has the weakest national plat
form in its history, will be left to fill the
offices, and Bryan, whose disgraceful at
titude at Baltimore will probably retire
him to private life, will be left to again en-
ter the service as reporter of the doings
of his party at Washington at ISL 200 a
day." used to think that Bryan was
honest in his views, but now regard him
merely as politician, and of late cheap
one at that. He claims to believe in the
Prohibition of the liquor traffic, which
took directly from the pockets of our
people in 1911 the greatest sum of money
ever known in our history, viz, So, 362,-
046,50 and added not a penny of real
value to the wealth of our land. Yet in
a national contest Bryan is as silent as
dead man upon this greatest issue in our
land today. He has denounced Murphy,
Taggert, Raynor and others in the Demo-
cratic party as gamblers and scoundrels,
yet for selfish political purposes he now
pats them on the back and affiliates with
them. What would have been said if
Christ, after having denounced the
Pharisees as hypocrites and scoundrels
as he did, had he for selfish rea-
sons turned around and patted these
"serpents" on the back and affiliated
with them? l don't wonder that the
Chautauqua societies are canceling
Bryan's engagements to speak before
them, for he showed himself at Balti-
more not only hypocrite but traitor
and a Benedict Arnold of American
politics. ooh, thou blind Bryan, cleanse