Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-08-19
FROM ROOSEVELT'S "CONFES-
SION OF FAITH"
FROM
First Installment.l


To you, men and women who have
come here to this great city of this
great state formally to launch a new
party, a party of the people of the
whole Union, the national progress
sive party, | extend my hearty greet
ing. You are taking a bold and
greatly needed step for the service
of our beloved country. The old par
ties are husks, with no real soul
within either, divided on artificial
lines, boss-ridden and privilege-con-
trolled, each tumble of incongru-
Gus elements, and neither daring to
speak out wisely and fearlessly what
should be said on the vital issues of
the day. This new movement is
movement which proposes to put at
the service of all our people the col
lective power of the people, through
their governmental agencies, alike
In the nation and in the several
states. We propose boldly to face
the real and great questions of the
day, and not skillfully to evade them
as do the old parties. We propose
to raise aloft a standard to which
all honest men can repair, and under
which all can fight, no matter what
their past political differences, if
they are content to face the future
and no longer to dwell among the
dead issues of the past We propose
to put forth a platform which shall
not be a platform of the ordinary
and insincere kind, but shall be a
contract with the people; and, if the
people accept this contract by put
ting us in power, we shall hold our
selves under honorable obligation to
fulfill every promise it contains as
loyalty as if it were actually enforce
able under the penalties of the law.
Economic Revolution" Surging.
The prime need today is to face
the fact that we are now in the
midst of a great economic revolution.
There is urgent necessity of applying
both common sense and the highest
ethical standard to this movement
for the better economic conditions
among the mass of our people and
not one of revolution. 1t is, from
the standpoint of our country. wick
ed as well as foolish longer to refuse
to face the real issues of the day.
Only by so facing them can we go
forward; and to do this we must
break up the old party organizations
and obliterate the old cleavage lines
on the dead issues inherited from SO
years ago. Our fight is a fundamen-
tai fight against both of the old cor
rupt party machines, for both are
under the dominion of the plunder
league of the professional politicians
who are controlled and sustained by
the great beneficiaries of privilege
and reaction. How close is the alli-
ance between the two machines is
shown by the attitude of that portion
of those northwestern newspapers,
including the majority of the great
dailies in all the great northeastern
cities-Boston, Buffalo, Springfield,
Hartford, Philadelphia and, above
all, New York-which are controlled
by or representative of the interests
which, in popular phrase, are con-
veniently grouped together as the
Wall street interests. The large ma
Jority of these papers supported
Judge Parker for the presidency in
1904; almost unanimously they sup
ported Mr.. Taft for the republican
nomination this year; the large ma
1ority are now supporting Professor
Wilson for the election. Some of
them still prefer Mr., Taft to Mr.. Will
son, but all make either Mr.. Taft or
Mr.. Wilson their first choice; and
one of the ludicrous features of the
campaign is that these papers sup
porting Professor Wilson show the
most jealous partisanship for Mr..
Taft whenever they think his inter
ests are jeopardized by the progress
sive movement-that, for instance.
any electors will obey the will of the