The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1913-12-04

The Socialists increased their vote
408, 610, and the Prohibitionists lost
1852, so that, in spite Of their over
whelming victory, the Democracy
suffered q marked loss in numerical
strength, while the natural Repub-
licans practically held their own and
there were 1,311,546 more natural
Republicans than there were Demo-
Gratis.
| With the most successful admins
tration in years behind them, with
golden prosperity blanketing the
country, with foreign relations never
in better shape, with sure victory
within their grasp, the Taft Republi-
cans mad with the lust Of power and
the Roosevelt Republicans mad with
the lust of ambition, refused all COM
promise and proceeded to commit hari
kari and disembOweled each other IN
the most approved manner, and the
greatest benefit accomplishing poll
tical organization that has existed
since the world began was relentlesly
sacrificed to make Democratic holt
day.
The most ordinary kind of common
sense would have dictated the placing
of both these men in the discard and
the selection of some strong, clean,
able man to lead the party to sure
victory, and the Republican party was
full of such men, or if that were not
possible, acquiesence, temporarily at
least, in the verdict of the legally
authorized convention. Instead of
that both factions, melted on by self
interest seeking leaders, refused all
compromise and proceeded to perform
the unnatural and uncalled for oper-
alton of swallowing themselves, in
which they succeeded beyond the
widest hopes and dreams Of their OPP
penents.
There was no radical difference in
principle, such as rent the party in
old populistic days. The Progress
sives"' could have adopted the Repub-
lican platform or vice versa and
ninety-nine out of every hundred anti
Democrats would not have known the
difference and would not have cared a
continental for the difference if they
had known it. The Republicans could
have fathered the Progressive plat
form with all its extras" without |
sacrificing any cardinal Republican
principle or tradition, and the Pro-
gressives could have cut off all the
fantastic trimmings with which
phrase making politicians embellish-
ed their party proclamation and adj
opted the Republican platform exact
ly as it came from the Chicago con-
vention and it would have stood for,
and expressed every cardinal national
idea for which they we're contending..
Outside of the self-seeEng blathef-
sixties in both divisions, ninety-nine
per cent of the -non-office seeking,
n-office-holding Republicans stand
for practically the same things and
believe in the same things in national
Oh, the pity of it. This great null
itude of country loving, party low
ing citizens, constituting more than
sixty-six per cent of the manhood
vote of the country, controlling the
House, the Senate and 378 electoral
votes, permitting themselves to be
separated into two. great hostile
camps by the limsy partition of red
oandana handkerchief, thus fully JUS
flying the contemptuous term "Suck-
sr" applied to them by Senator Till
nan.
In sharp contrast 60 this fool pro-
:eedure was the action of Democracy
lnder the guidance and leadership of
sDixie's" statesmen. Their Baltimore
outrivalled the Chicago
gathering in .turbulency, recrimina-
ion, vituperative assertion and
charge and counter charge of corrup-
lion and bossism, and all the charges
made there on both sides were true.
For more than week the delegates
ylared hate and defiance at each 9TH
er from their respective positionss,
and seemingly word would have
caused them to spring at each others
throats.
Champ Clark was the heart choice
Of a great majority of the Democratic
party for the presidency, measured
BY the primary vote, whenever such
primaries were held, he was an over
favorite; he had a large
majority of the delegates from those
depended upon to furnish the elector-
ial votes for the Democratic candi-
date. He had a clear majority of all
the delegates selected and held this
majority through days of voting. He
was only defeated by invoking an ar
chaic, antique, obsolete "two-thirdsv
rule adopted by the anti-bellum De-
mocracy for the express purpose Of
throttling the popular expression.
- : =