The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-06-26

wrath of a patriotic and intelligent people.
 '-Tiae man who. may have deservea
 defeat at Chicago once recognized the
 third term tradition and acknowledg-
 ed It's application to his situa ton. On
 the eve of hia triumph, in 1904. he
 said: The wise custom which nlnits the President to two terms reSards the supstance and not the form and under no circumstance will be a
 candidate or accept another nomina- tion.'
 sPeradyenture he was honest with his soul and he may have confessed to r to. resort to sordid devices and shame less impor rtunities to gain his amni- ton If Ho, he was in mental condl- tion to srealize to- the full the danger to the Republic Involved in settine bulwark against the, assaults of men whose ambition chokes their patrio. tism and whose selfish desire tor per sonal victory and power throtnee these moral ecrup1es with which they may once have been endowed. would the man who threw hte nai in the ring and sought to club his opponent out of the ropes in his aent for a third term rest satisffed with his achievement? Clearly hts lust or power would have known no such limitations. A third term would but have whettled his desire for more and as the terms slipped each renewal would discover greater injury tosouf constitution, to the form of govern. meut established under 1t ana every legal curb on his imperious vs,t,;+;.n., VIII; limitation which shall prevent imperi, alistic souls from, forcing personei cnntinuation h office for long per- iods or for life and the personal ee. lection of a successor n o1!sce. An0 the constitutional provision snnt,v snOn,1 as, U sailed tradition. The provision should limit to single term. .,.. s"The average of duties under tne tariff of 17S9 was 1-2 per cent. Ncwsth average is bQ per cenI: .x twcrsincreases during the wal, the first to an average of 57 1-2 per cent: fi1k aecoud to- 4T per cent. Tnat hirh average, then excused only ny !. fhe exigencles Of the war, as exceeo- ed now, as the average Is nearly eo
 psa ..fhe S1 Republican party has thus xeared the machinery of government fo enrich the few at the expenee or the many. That increase Of 6O per cent. in tho average has taken thou. sands of millions from the genera tion of swollen fortunes
 ssAn awakening of the people led the Republican national convention o1 1908, by its platform, to pronise a revision. As a result the PresiTena signed the Payne-AIdrich bill.
 ocratio House which aroused the on. thusiasm of the people and inspired them with a justifiable hope of early benefits. For the ills that How from that tariff increase from an average of 20 per cent. to 50 per cent. the the continuance of that rate against l the efforts of a Democratic Congress. a Republican President is to blame: \ "On one occasion, a President of the United States has. been known to
 solicit the financial campaign assist
 whose railroad the executive depart
 ment might hold either stern or a mild, and gentle sway. The Presi- 1 dentdal attitude was gentle and polite l but hrm> and insistent.
 Idkes the hypocrites of old, who loved to pray standing in the syna- gogue and .son. the corners of the street, who prated of their virtues and gave thanks that they were not as other men.
 s"The reason for the encouraging of inactivity by the Republican officials 1 is plain. The tarin benehciaries. were and for many. years had been con- tributors to campaign funds of the party which, In turn, protected the l special privileges enjoyed by the do- nors. But competition prevented In
 some instances the collection from the 1 the tariff. To secure 1t all tempted 1 the cupidity and stimulated the in- ] genuity of the beneaciarfes.
 In this great country which boasts ] of a wealth of 0S0 billion as against ! so billion for Great Britain and Ife- | land. 85 billion for France and 50
 billion for Germany, all are conscious 1 that a large part of our wealth has been secured by small percentage of our population and that the cost of 1 living rises faster than the average income.
 "The cause of all this is to be found
 in the tarin statutes and In the com binatfons restraining trade and cona- l petition, created for the purpose of wringfng from the public every dollar
 which the tariff statutes make pos-
 sible.
 "The same party which shut out foreign competition was found willing to permit the formation of combfn- ations which effectually cut of home competition. Need it be said that Ju6 pEOyeCIeQ luIeTeSl6, TOT Lu68e lar.
 ger privileges made larger contribu- 1 tions
 I've are indebted to the President 1 for the evidence that his predecessor having first enjoyed an interview with, George w. Perkins, restrained his att torney general from bringing suit against the Harvester combination. Whatever excuse may be offered, the only truth is that the Replblican national machine has received the moneys of the corporate and indtvid- l ual benehc1aries of the tariff and combinations and in return has com- 1 pel1edf Congress to keep high the tar- l if rate and their attorney generals l to close their eyes to r11e violations of I law.
 Tn the light of all tho testimony l and of these admissions. I submit
 that the jury of the people should l find as a general verdict that the
 failure of the executive and legisla- l tive branches of government, both federal and state, to protect tlTe peol pie from the special privilege hunters and graft seekers is deep3y rooted x - -