Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1912-11-05

Il
declared they wanted nominated
and there Is no room to doubt but
that the national committee and the
national convention, in defiance of
this expressed wish, forced the nom
ination Of man whom they ought
to have known could not be elected.
They wanted to control the organ
ization and get rid of the republic
cans who had such peculiar notions
of letting the people have some
thing to say. That is the reason of
the revolt, which is vastly different
from. the reasons cited by Mr..
O'Connell and Mr.. Porter.
Mr.. O'Connell reminds one of the
observation of Senator Dolliver in
the state convention two years ago
when he referred to the gentlemen
whose mental apparatus had not
been working for twenty years, po-
litically speaking. Mr.. O'Connell
declared that "the repubhcanism of
Fremont and of Lincoln was good
enough. The old kind of republic
canism was the republication that
should be revered" It is all right
to revere the record of the past, but
the party must face the issues of the
day and live not only upon it's
ancient record but upon Its recent
achievements. Never before the Taft
administration had the attorney
general been authorized to prepare
an administration measure upon so
important a proposition as railroad
regulation and republicans told by
the president that if they did not
support the bill just as it came from
the hands of the attorney general
they were not in fact republicans.
This was notice that no amend
ments by republicans would be toll
Grated. But Senator Cummins led
in support of a very important
amendment, requiring railroads to-
show the reasonableness of a pro-
posed increase of rate before it is
put into effect. This is the most
important feature of the present
rate law and IL the republican party
had not progressed since the days of
Lincoln and Fremont such legisla-
ton would be impossible. The ele-
ment of the republican party to-
which Mr.. O'Connell belongs sought
to defeat it, just as they seek to de-
feat every measure of importance
that Is against the direct interests
of the big corporations, and just as
they will attempt to defeat such
Legislation so long as men Of the
type of Guggenheim, Crane. Pen
rose. Wickersham, Taft, Root and
Archbold run the party.
Mr.. O'Connell got out his blud-
geon at the close of his address and
presumably thinking Of Senator
Cummins) warned republicans who
deserted the head of the ticket what
they might expect two years hence
when wanting something" Butt
there are several hundred thousand
republicans in Iowa who do notI
want anything except good govern
ment and that class of republicans
cannot be whipped into line by the
threat OF the branding iron in 1914
or 1916.
When Mr.. O'Connell was expaciat-
ing upon the loyalty of standpatters
to the ticket no matter which fac-I
ton won in state contests he must
have found it difficult to suppress al
smile. Wonder If he forgot Of
Cummins winning by only 100000
when Taft had carried the state by
$4,000. Wonder If he had forgot
ten that standpatters freely claim-
ed then that Cummins would have
been defeated but for the votes Of
democrats. A large number of stand
patters do stand by the ticket, as a
rule, but the men who lead in theI
councils of standpatism are mott
among them.
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