Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1914-10-29
PROGRESSIVE FACTS
versus
REPUBLICAN Fiction.

$4,000 votes. Was there any
Progressives then to help elect
Democrats? No. Did a major
lily of the voters rule, and was
Mr.. Tilden permitted to become
president? No, for he was count
ed out and a majority of the vo-
ters were robbed of their will
and suffrage by barely one single
party vote in the electoral college.
Oh, but you say according to the
constitution of the United States
it is legal to elect presidents that
way. Well, it may be legal, but
| is it right? We venture the as
sertion that every fair.miuded,
square-dealing, self-thinking,
honest person in the nation will
agree that it is not right or fair.
Then, conceding that to be true,
why has the Republican party
not gotten an amendment to the
constitution so we can elect our
president by a direct vote of the
people? With a few exceptions
they have had a Republican pres
ideut and a Republican majority
in both houses of congress ever
since 1860. Now this is no po-
litical dope. 1t is history, wheth-
er you like it or not, and proba-
bly, the first seeds of the Pro-
gressive party we're sown in the
minds and hearts of honest Re-
publicans, as we'll as honest DEM
ocrats, in 1876 when the Repnb-
Ilican Electoral College deprived
Tilden of the presidency and a
large majority of voters their
choice for president through
what we might call the legality
of a technicality of the constitu-
ton of the United States.
In 1S77-1879 the Democrats
had a majority of 3 in the senate
and 9 in the house of representa-
tives. In 1S79-1SS1 the Demo
Gratis had a majority of IL in the
senate and 10 in the house OF
representatives, and still no Pro-
gressives to help elect them.
But there was getting to be a
big lot of honest Republicans
who were becoming badly dis
gusted with their party and were
helping elect Democrats. From
1S93-1895 the Democrats had a
ma jority of 6 in the senate and
1874 in tine house of representa-
tives, and still there was no Pro-
gressive Democratic Aid So
ciety" heard of. Let as come on
down to March 4, 1909, and what
we find is this: Taft, who was
iuaugurated president of the
United States, had beaten Bryan,
the most popular Democrat since
Tilden's time, over 1869, 900
votes; and Bryan had nearly
200, 900 more votes than elected
Wilson 4 years later, and Wilson
probably was given a half
million Taft votes during the
last few days of the campaign in
order to beat Roosevelt. Mr..
Taft was elected on the record
and recommendation of Mr..
Roosevelt, as further evidence
will show. And he inherited
this popular majority by and
through Mr.. Roosevelt's great
fame and achievements. And
such was great and exceeded all
previous history.
Then in November, 1910, what
happened? The Republican
party in full control of all
branches of our national govern
ment, in this election lost New
Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts,,
and other rockribbed Republican
states. Among them was Ohio,
the presidents own home state.
The president went and stumped
the state and pleaded for an en-
dorsement of his administration,
and got it by Ohio giving Judson
Harmon, a Democrat, nearly
eighty-fve thousand majority.
The first off year Ohio had gone
Democratic since the early COS.
Was there any Progressive party
in 1910 to help elect the Demo
Gratis? No, we'll then who was
electing Democrats all these
years, while there was has all
this time been more Republicans
than Democrats? It was the
same class of voters who has
transformed a Republican con-
gress to a Democratic congress
several times since Samuel J.
Tilden was so unjustly deprived
of his fairly won Office of Presi-
dent of the United States-by
the Republican leaders. In plain