Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-09-06
PUBLIC OPINION

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EDITOR EVENING NEWS:
l hope that Mr.. j. P. Holm will
pardon an inexperienced voter for
| replying to his article In today's
NEWS. After a very careful perusal
of his we'll written letter am forced
Ito the conclusion that his advice Is
not good.
The object of Mr.. Holm's article
is to induce Democrats to vote for
| Mr.. Roosevelt for president. His
first reason Is that no citizen should
be 30 affected by blind party bias"
| Even the more ignorant of US rec
ognize the truth of this statement.
We know, without outside assist
ance, that we should vote with de-
liberation. The error In Mr.. Holm's
logic seems to lie in his belief that
a Democrat who votes for Wilson
will vote blindly. ! should like Mr..
Holm very distinctly to understand
| county go to the polls next November
to express their choice for the pres
idency, the great majority of them
will be free, deliberate, patriotic
Americans, recognizing no political
master, but their own consciences.
| Most of them will vote for Mr.. Will
son. And l do not think that even
Mr.. Holm can believe that the thou
sands of regular Republicans who
will vote for Mr.. Wilson are either
degraded or blindly biased"
Many of US, after monthssof care
full elaboration, have decided that
We ear best serve the nation by
casting our ballots for democracy's
candidate, not because we are owned
by any party, or by any individual,
but because we believe most sincere
ly in the principles of the Democratic
party. We believe in the freedom of
the Individual. We believe that the
Republican protective tariff is the
worst form of special privilege, a
supporter of monopoly. We believe
that the Democratic candidate is a
man of unusual ability and match
less courage, whose brief experience
in politics has shown him to be his
own master. Nor do we share Mr..
Holm's fear that his opposition to
the bosses will spell political obli-
WON to him.
Mr.. Holm's argument on the tariff
| doOoIAOh 10 NV iAi'
chief argument for protection seems
to be thai the protection system has
built up Perth Amboy, a statement
which he does not and cannot prove,
for the simple reason that it is not
true. And as far "a scientific tariff
based on the protective principle"
we have had quite enough of scien-
tifc tariff reduction by Mr.. Taft.
Mr.. Holm's next argument in ia
vor of Mr.. Roosevelt is that a pine
apple will not grow on the western
bad lands. Doubtless my ignorance
of pineapple culture. coupled with
my unfamiliarty with the western
bad lands, will explain why am not
convinced by this argument. Per-
haps 1t means that Mr.. Wilson is the
pineapple and the rest of is Demo-
Gratis are the bad lands. If so, We
are grateful for the compliment.
| can find no other argument adj
yanced by Mr.. Holm except that I'VE
are facing the dawn of a new day"
This statement is as trues as it is
beautiful. But we Democrats be-
lieve that when the new sun of po-
litical liberty rises in its majesty
above the eastern hills (f | may con-
tinue the beautiful figure of speech
referred to above) 1t will find Wood
row Wilson in the presidents chair
at the head of an honest and progress
sive party, fighting effectively to
make the American people the mas
ters of their own political destinies.
Mr.. James Bryce, in his American
Commonwealth, says: in a country
so full of change and movement as
America new questions are always
coming up and must be answered.
New troubles surround a government
and a way must be found to escape
from them; new diseases attack the
nation, and have to be cured. The
duty of a great party is to face these,
to find answers and remedies, apply
ing to the facts of the hour the
doctrines it has lived by, so far as
they are still applicable, and when
they have ceased to be applicable.
thinking out new doctrines conform
able to the principles which is rep
~resents."
We intend to follow this advice. at
the risk of being called "blindly
biased" And meanwhile w proph-
esy that our party will successfully
and political equality many, many
years after the ~ephemeral Roosevelt
movement has sunk into defect and
political oblivion.
WILBUR LA ROE. Jr.
Sept. s. 1912.