The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1914-05-29
Borah Tells DUTY.

| state upon whose paJrlOLlC SOIL tlt
Republican party was organized ant
among whose virile and progressive
people its great principles and poll
cies have borne their richest fruit.
never tire of reading of that gather
ing and the plain, simple but power
full resolutions adopted by those
men gathered there under the
oaks" You will recall that portion
of the resolution which says: Resell
we'd, that in view of the necessity OF
battling for the first principles OF
Republican government, and against
the schemes of aristocracy, the mos
revolving with which the earth was
ever cursed or man debased, we will
cooperate and be known as Republic
| cans until the contest is terminated.
''Since the hours of the adoption
of that resolution the Republican
party has fought it's enemies from
without and its enemies from with
in. 1t has been no less successful
with the one than with the other and
has been threatened about as often
by the latter as by the former. More
than once men have tried to utilize
it's vast power, the strength and
worth of it's traditions and its pres
tige, for purely selfish purposes. But
in every instance, in due time, vo-
ters have called a reckoning and the
leaders have responded to the call.
| ask you today, especially the
young men, eager and restless for
the conflicts Of life just ahead and
who feel the inspiration which comes
from approaching tasks to be brave
" met, to remember that those who
have stood with the party and re-
solved when it was weak to make 1t
strong, when it was wrong to make
it right, are those who have won the
highest honors, and above all and
better than all performed the great
est services to their countrymen.
Now, turn back the pages of his
tory which have been written, per-
manently written, since Schurz and
Curtis and that class of well mean
ing and able men who so misjudged
the effective forces Of politics that
they bolted the Republican conven-
ton and pronounced the Republican
party as boss ridden and corrupt
declared that the great party Of Lin
coin had come and performed its
tasks and was no more. What has
that party done since then?
1T has since then enacted the in
terstate commerce law creating the
Interstate Commerce Commission,
the anti-rebate law, the Sherman an
thrust law, the employers liability
act. the law providing for compensa-
ton for injuries to government en-
ployees, the postal savings bank law,
the parcels post law, the standard
requiring railroads to report all &C
cidents, the eight hour provision for
all public works and all work done
under public contracts, the law COM
polling publicity of campaign contri-
buttons, the law providing for the
physical valuation of railroads, the
amendment to the constitution pro-
viding for the election of senators by
popular vote, the law providing for
the establishment of the bureau of
commerce and labor, and finally for
the creation for the department of
labor, making its head cabinet Of
ficer--a more remarkable, sanely
progressive policy of legislation you
will not find anywhere outside of the
great fruitful period when our gov
eminent itself was formed.
"A few bad men remaining in the
party can never destroy 1t and few
good men leaving 1t cannot force 1t
into moral bankruptcy. The former
will be controlled and directed IL
spite Of their wishes by the incalcul-
able power of an aroused public
opinion and the latter will be kindly
remembered. But the great work
when once the party conscience is
aroused will go on so long as the
vital to the welfare of the people.
And so, sir, notwithstanding the cri-
sis of those years, the great body OF
the voters arose and gave the party
that renewed lease of power and
prestige which have written into his
tory those years of constructive leg
islation second only to one other per-
iod on the history of the republic.
"Mr. Chairman, the Republican
party is coming back into power.
The proof of it Is on every hand. The
trend is unmistakable. / said a year
ago that the amalgamation which
would take place would be an ANAL
gamation of the voters, not the as
sumed leaders. l said Furthermore
that that was the only amalgamation
that was worth while. The men who
voted the third party ticket to the
number of four million for reasons
entirely satisfactory to them can
neither be questioned as to their in
tegrity of purpose or their patriot
ism. But that 1t was a protest and
not a manifestation of purpose to
permanently leave the party Is now
established by facts and figures
which cannot be doubted. | think it
worth while to call your attention to
some of those figures. In the New
Jersey state election last year no.
600 Republicans who voted the third