The Washington herald., 1912-02-18
THE POLITICAL SITUATION

Through the mist and fog of the po-
litical situation some things can now be
clearly seen.
First of all, President Taft and his
managers have determined upon def
mite line of policy. They are appealing
to the substantial interests of the coun-
try with the promise of business stabil-
ity i'll the event of the reelection of
President Taft.
In line with this policy, and to prove
that he is not a reactionary, Mr.. Taft
has taken pains to show that he
has been progressive within limits re-
garded by him as safe In other words,
he presents himself as a conservative
progressive rather than as a radical
progressive. Already the business in
terests-and this term includes every
merchant, little or big. and every man
who has a dollar stored away-are re-
spending favorably The situation re-
calls the campaign of 1896, when Mark
Hanna. with remarkable political sagac-
ity. accomplished the apparently I'M
possible by successfully swapping horses
in the middle of the stream. If
that campaign had been fought solely
upon the tariff issue, Mckinley would
have been defeated and Bryan elected,
as Cleveland had been. The injection
of the silver issue into the contest gave
Mark Hanna his opportunity. He I'M
mediately touched the sensitive pocket
nerve. Bryan was defeated because a
majority of the American people were
afraid that the free coinage of silver
would in some way depreciatc such
property or money as they might pos
sess.
1t is true that the pocket nerve has of
. late been made to vince through the
high cost of living. There is a very
general revolt against this condition, and
the country may decide that the cleo
ton OF a Democratic President is the
proper panacea. The point to be en-
pilasized. however, is that the Ameri-
can people do not elect men of radical
ideas as their Chief Executives. With
all our ebullition and occasional run
ming after strange gods. there is a
solid substratum of the population
which, in the end, controls national af-
fairs. The country may loudly demand
reforms, and yet, at the same time, it
will not place an unsafe man in the
White House 1t is this well-grounded
sentiment in the people which makes
them sometimes suffer the ills they have
rather than fly to others that they know
not Of
Thus it is that the administration
managers do wisely in insisting that
strength and stability in business cir
cles are vital factors in the solution of
the present political problem
But while admirable political sense
has been manifested in this policy of
appealing to the business interests,
some recent utterances of the Presi-
dent are. to say the least, open TO seri-
Gus objection.
Mr.. Taft has, upon more than one
occasion, in his zeal to protect the
judiciary against the operations of the
recall, shown marked distrust of the
great mass of the American people
His veto of the Arizona Statehood bill
plainly intimated this lack of confidence,
but in his speech before the New York
State Bar Association, he revealed
plainly his convictions on the subject
There are those who do not believe"
he said, that all people are fitted for
popular government. The fact is, We
know they are not Some of us don't
dare say so, but l do" And then he
added that the institution of the judi
ciary would be protected and continued
independent of the majority or of all
the people"
And again, in his address before the
New York Republican Club, Mr.. Taft
denounces the nationwide movement
toward larger degree of popular gov
crnment as an effort Ito make the se-I
lection of candidates, the enactment of
legislation, and the decision of courts
depend upon the momentary passions of
a people necessarily indiferently in
formed as TO the issues presented, and
without the time and study and that
deliberation which gives security and
common sense to the government of
the people"
In saying these things. Mr.. Taft isl
certainly blind to the handwriting upon
the wall He cannot have been inn
pressed with the tremendous stride
which democracy has made in this
country during the past few years. IT
is certainly not without significance that