The Washington herald., 1912-08-04
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

THE POLITICAL SITUATION.
President Taft's speech of acceptance
has been received with general approval.
II is characterized as an admirable doc
ument, presenting concisely the achieve
ments of the Taft administration and
plainly defining the issues upon which
the campaign is to be fought.
These issues are the avoidance of a
political revolution and business pa
ralysis. Mr.. Taft would have the Re
publican party stand squarely upon the
Constitution, avoiding all the nostruns
which a-rant demagogues suggest as a
remedy for existing evils. He does not
believe, of course, that the Constitution
is an unchangeable and unalterable doc
ument, for he himself suggests that
amendments may be made from time
to time as circumstances demand and
in orderly fashion He points out, how
ever, that the men who would now vio-
late the Constitution are in reality So
cialists at heart and that the principles
which they avow are revolutionary and
dangerous.
There is one epigrammatic utterance
in Mr. Tafts speech, which, like all
epigrams, expresses mach truth in little
compass. He says that the opponents
of the Republican party, both the Roose-
veltians and the Democrats, "are going
in 4 direction they do not definitely
know, toward an end they cannot def
nitely describe" This, in nutshell, is
the inherent weakness of the Roosevelt
position. 1t offers nothing practical. The
rule of the people, so-called, will not
reduce the high cost of living and the
recall of judges will not expedite the
settlement of litigation. Mr.. Roosevelt
announces that his speech in Chicago
this week will be the greatest deliver
ance of his life. 1t will be unique, how
ever, if it is anything more than words
or if it offers programme which, even
if carried into effect, will result in
actual accomplishment
The Republican leaders who gathered
at the White House last week did not
minimize the gravity of the pending
contest AT the same time, President
Taft's utterance, and, especially his at
titude of determination, much encour-
aged them. They accepted with en-
thusiasm the gage of battle which Mr..
Taft threw down TO their opponents
and seemed to think that the. standard
was one under which they could fight
together until election day.
There is, unquestionably, some foun-
dation upon which TO make deter
mined struggle. The Republican sd-
ministration has been economical and
efficient in its management of govern
mental affairs, it ha. secured the en-
actment of beneficial legislation, it has
been marked by unexampled prosperity
In addition to this, it stands opposed
to radical theories of government and
to the revenue tariff policy of the
Democrats. In the present disturbed
state of the public mind, however, no
one can predict positively that the safe
and sane voters will be in a majority
next November. Much can and will
be done between now and then to edu-
cate the people to a real understanding
of the issues, an endeavor in which
President Taft's speech will be an i'm
portant factor. The Republican man.
ayers take hope as they remember the
conditions in 1896, when, If the election
had been held in August, Bryan would
have been overwhelmingly chosen. They
believe that conditions will change be-
tween the present August and election
day.
One of the most interesting develop
ments of the week has been the de-
cision of Mr.. Roosevelt and his man
ayers to ignore the colored RepubIi-
cans in the South. The Roosevelt
party in that section is to be a white
mans party. This one fact demon
strates that the Roosevelt movement is
largely one of political expediency.
Mr.. Roosevelt first of all, wants
votes. He knows that it is antipathy to
the colored man which has kept the
South Den,ocratically solid. He knows,
too, that if there is to be any breaking
up of this solidity it must be accom-
plished by catering to anti-negro preju-
dices. In Mississippi the Roosevelt fol-
lowers do not hesitate to place the
legend, white mans party" upon their
banner, and although some colored
progressives have met and elected dele
gates to Chicago the edict has gone,
forth that they will not be recognized.