Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-09-12
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE DIS
cussEs OPPOSING PARTY
PLATFORMS
WILL NOT THROW MUD.
Candidate Says He IL Not One o.
Those Who viii 1elittIe or MIS-
represent Forces Opposed
to Him. a

New York Press club last night Ques
toned the ability of leaders OF the
progressive party, If elected, to carry
out any part of the policies OF its
platform. Much Of the speech was de-
voted to an analysis Of the progress
sive party plans, although he gave
some attention to the record OF the
Republican party and predicted vic.
tory for united democracy. He SAID
in part:
81 have come here tonight for the
purpose of discussing just as candidiy
as possible the political situation; and
III hope that in doing so l shall do IN
Justice to no one. l am not one OF
those who believe that the right tao
tics in politics Is to deprectate the
men you are opposed to and to BELT
tie and misrepresent the forces with
which you have to contend. 1t ought
to be a frank, straightforward and
fair determination Of what It Is we are
to agree upon and do, and how we are
to do it in the great field of our COM
mon action My feeling about my own
candidacy for the presidency is that
if I cannot be the peoples spokesman
I don't want them to vote for me.
want to feel, if I am elected to the
Office Of president, that I am speaking
the purposes and impulses and tudg-
ments of the people Of the United
States. We are men, we are not poll
ticians. We do not live our lives at
the polls. We are interested in politics
only as it is a means Of adjusting the
| law to serve our life as 1t should be
served. s.s
II want to discuss the three parties
now seeking your support. l know
there are more than three parties in
the United States, and it is not out
! Of any disrespect to the parties that
have commanded only small number
of votes in the past that leave them
out of the reckoning for the present.
Let Jus consider first, the repubn-
can party. There Is a great deal Of diff
ference between the republican party
and certain groups of gentlemen who
have been allowed to lead and direct
the republican party The republican
party, as represented by these men, Is
the very party which has got us into
the difficulties we are now trying to
get out Of. do not have to prove that
because we have got into these diff
culties In the last fifteen years, and
during the last fifteen years that par
ty has been in power II 1t did not get
us into these difficulties, who did?
Mark you, am not saying that the
leaders of the party knew that they
were doing us an evil or that they in
tended to do us an evil. For my part,
l am very much more afraid Of the
man who does bad thing and does
not know 1t is bad than of the man
who does bad thing and knows 1t is
bad; because think that In public
affairs stupidity is more dangerous
than knavery; because harder to fight
and dislodge.
These gentlemen, whatever may
have been their intentions, linked the
government of the United States with
the men who control the big finances
Of the United States. They may have
done it innocently, or they may have
done it corruptly, without affecting
my argument at ALL Provided you ad-
NIT that they tied the government of
the United States to the big financial
interests of the United States, you
have admitted my point. And they
themselves cannot escape from that
alliance.
Here is the old question Of cam
paign- funds: If I take hundred
thousand dollars from group OF men
representing a particular interest that
has a big stake in certain schedule
, of the tariff, take it with the know
ledge that those gentlemen will ex-
pect me not to forget their interest In
! that schedule and that they will take
it as point Of implicit honor that
should see to it that they we're not
damaged by too great change In that
schedule. Therefore, if I take their
money, I am bound to them by a sort
of tacit pledge of honor, and If
desert them change the whole char
acter of the government.
THE men am interested In are the
men who never have their voices
heard, who never get line in the
newspapers, who never get a moment
on the platform, who never have &C.
! cess to the ears Of governors or OF
anybody who is responsible for the
conduct of government but who go
silently and patiently to their work
every day carrying the burden Of the
world. How are they to be understood
by the masters Of finance, If only the
masters of finance are consulted? The
masters of finance ought to be con-
suited, because they are part of the
people of the United States, but they
ought to be consulted only in proper
ton as they are part of the people Of
the United States.
There is a large body Of republi-
cans now in open rebellion. And
what interests me about them and
draws me to them is that they are in
revolt because their consciences could
not stand what was going on That
third party deserves your careful con-
sideration when you are debating the
question which party you are going to
support would be ashamed Of my
self If I did not realize and admit that
some of the sober and finer forces Of
this country are now devoted to the
promotion of this new movement and
party have known the insurgent re-
publicans long time. They first be-
gan to crop up in that supposedly
backward state of New jersey great
many years ago. There we called
them the New Idea republicans, when
the iasa Mat what the republicans
55