Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-03-21

Xtt anu tue lctuSESulp. lie iScthOSi at-
&c party is more in sympathy with the
new tendencies than the Republican
Its free forces are the forces of prog
ress and of popular reform
Both parties are of necessity break
ing away from the past, whether they
will or no, because our life has broken
away from the past The life of
America is not the life it was twenty
years ago. 1t is not the life it was
ten years ago. We have changed our
economic conditions from top to bot
tom, and with our economic conditions
has changed also the organization of
our life. The old party formulas do
not fit the present problems. The old
cries of the stump sound as if they be-
longed to past age which men have
almost forgotten. The things which
used to be put into the party platforms
of ten years ago would sound anti
quated now You will note, moreover,
that the political audiences which now
adays gather together are not parti-
san audiences. They are made up of
all elements and come together, not to
hear parties denounced or praised. but
to hear the interests of the nation dis
cussed in new terms-the terms of the
present moment.
Restoring Representative Government.
1--WE have so complicated our ma
ehinery of government, we have made
it so difficult, so full of ambushes and
hiding places. so Indirect, that instead
of having true representative govern
ment we have a great inextricable
jungle of organization intervening be-
tween the people and the processes of
their government, so that by stages,
without intending it, without being
aware of it. we have lost the purity
and directness of representative gov
eminent. What we must devote our
selves to now is not to upsetting our
institutions, but to restoring them.
Undoubtedly we should avoid ex-
element and should silence the dema-
gogue. The man with power, but with
out conscience, could. with an eloquent
tongue, if he cared for nothing but his
own power, put this whole country into
a fame, because the whole country be-
lieves that something is wrong and is
eager to follow those who profess to be
able to lead it away from its difficult
ties But it is all the more necessary
that we should be careful who are our
guides. The processes we are engaged
in are fundamentally conservative
processes. If your tree is diseased it
is no revolution to restore to it the pu-
rity of its sap, to renew the soil that
sustains it, to re-estahlish the cOndi-
tons of its health. That is a process
of life. of renewal, of redemption.
"There is no ground for alarm, there
fore We are bent upon perfectly
definite program. which is one of
health and renewal.
LET us ask ourselves very frankly
what it is that needs to be corrected.
To sum it all up in one sentence, it is
the control of politics and of our life
by great combinations of wealth. Men
sometimes talk as if it were wealth we
were afraid Of as if we were Jealous
of the accumulation of great fortunes.
Nothing of the kind is true. America
has not the slightest jealousy of the
legitimate accumulation of wealth
Everybody knows that there are hum
dreds and thousands of men of large
means and large economic power who
have come by it all perfectly legiti-
mately not only. but in way that de-
serves the thanks and admiration of
the communities they have served and
developed But everybody knows also
that some of the men who control the
wealth and have built up the industry
of the country seek to control politics
and also to dominate the life of com
mon men In way In which no man
should be permitted to dominate. n
The Bipartisan Machine.
"In the first place, there is the no.
torious operation of the bipartisan po-
litical machine. | mean the machine
which does not represent party prin-
ciple.of any kind, but which is willing
to enter into any combination, with
whatever group of persons or of poll
ticians, to control the offices of locali-
ties and of states and of the nation
itself in order to maintain the power
of those who direct it. This machine
is supplied with its funds by the men
who use it in order TO protect them
selves against legislation which they
do not desire and in order to obtain
the legislation which is necessary for
the prosecution of their purposes.
1.-THE methods of our legislatures
make the operations of such machines
easy and convenient, for very little of
our legislation is formed and effected
by open debate upon the floor AL
most all of it is framed sin lawyers
offices. discussed In committee rooms
passed without debate. Bills that the
machine and its hackers do not desire
are smothered in committee: measures
which they do desire are brought out
and hurriad through their Massage n