Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-08-01
GATHERED BY THE WAYs1DE
[By Ora williams.l

his convention speech in Council Bluffs
to that hoary old canard which made
1t appear that some time somewhere
| Senator Cummins had declared that
the worst republican Is better than
the best democrat" or words to that
effect. The canard has assumed vari-
Gus forms. 1t has been much used by
street corner politicians. 1t was sur
prise to many that a member OF con-
gress should have dignified 1t by pre-
senting it with any show of serious
ness to a state convention. OF course
he knows very well. for he has been
something of reader Of the papers,
that Senator Cummins has denied the
statement most vigorously not once
alone but more than once and on every
occasion. Still, the story had the high
authority of the Hearst Chicago Amer
| lean and probably this was sufficient
to give it standing for all time despite
the record to the contrary. But since
the story has bene revived it may be
worth while to know just what the
4 senator did say which formed the sole
basis for the Hearst canard
| The speech to which reference was
| ton Club, Chicago, in October. 1910. 1t
was one of the most interesting ad-
dresses ever given by the senator. He
spoke from manuscript carefully pre-
I, pared. He did not deviate one meas
ure. Every one knows that Senator
Cummins can come nearer tt. following
f: the exact wording of a manuscript
than almost any other speaker of ma
IF 0hor
ter of this address he followed his text
! literally. He said some sharp things.
That it made some pers ons vince goes
without saying. That they desired to
break the force of his argument was
natural. That they distorted what he
said was almost inevitable. The writer
has carbon copy of the address which
he secured before 1t was delivered.
Some excerpts from this speech seem
TO be timely.
Standing precisely where have
stood thru years OF weary struggle"
said Senator Cummins in his Hamilton
Club speech, advocating with all the
strength l have the same principles,
the same doctrines, the same policies.
which l have done my best to sustain
place between the members of our
party, I am more profoundly con-
WINGED than ever before not only of the
necessity of administering the af-
fairs Of this country thru the in
rather than thru the fundamentally Of
the democratic party; and l assert.
with all the sense Of responsibility that
4 a ~ ar Nh W. h..e rx;,- a..
best years to the service Of his fellow
men, that the welfare, happiness and
prosperity Of the common people can
not be secured or promoted thru demo-
cratic supremacy. Assuming the per-
sonai honesty Of every candidate. and
by that l mean the purpose to do. I'M
der all circumstances and against all
influences. what he believes to be right,
appeal for the election OF all republi-
can candidates. no matter what their
individual views may have been with
respect to the public MEASURES which
have been or are now proposed"
That paragraph was the sole basis
Of the story that the Iowa senator had
grossly insulted all democrats by I'M
pugning their honesty and questioning
| their honor 1t was spoken four years
ago. 1t will repay reading again: for 1t
| is wholly in line with The attitude OF
Senator Cummfns every hour before
and since. AT the time this speech was
delivered, be it recalled. the Aldrich
tariff bill had been passed. and those
who refused totsvote for 1t had been
placed under the boycott and ban as
punishment. and the question before
the people was the election of a new
congress. The dramatic incidents OF
1912 had not been as get but dimly
foresnadowed. Continuing Senator
Cummins said:
There is an honest, stable and
reasonable basis upon which all repub-
leans can come together without the
loss OF their self respect: with free
dom of opinion, and without attempt
| ing to obliterate from the memory of
an intelligent and patriotic people the
happenings of the last few years Ny
mission here is to define what that
basis is and to show that il furnishes
a foundation for a political structure
commodious enough to house every
man who believes in the fundamental
principles OF the republican party as
they have been held for more than
half century, and as they have been
| exemplified in every republican plat
form from the time of John c. Fremont
and Abraham Lincoln to Theodore
Roosevelt and William H. Taft. The
political philosophy Of the existing sit
uation can be embodied in a single
sentence: the misapplication of
sound principle is temporary evil
but any application of an unsound
principle is a permanent wrong. 1t Is
easy to correct a mistake; it Is impos-
sible to reform a vicious theory. Do
not Imagine that 1 intend to leave the
subject with these glittering generan-
ties. The people are thinking deeply,
and they will act intelligently, but they
will not adopt doctrines which are
fundamentally bad In order to express
their dissent from the misuse of doc
, trines which are fundamentally good |
would despair Of the perpetuity Of freN
institutions If believed that the voters
OF the republic would thus employ the
priceless franchise Of their manhood"
The theme of Senator Cummins in
this notable address, which caused
such modification to those who did not
agree with him, was the fundamental
difference between the principles Of the
two parties as applied to the present
day political problems; and he referred
TO three Of them as conspicuous above
all others, namely, interests regulation
OF business, the tariff and conserya-