The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-01-30

TOPEKA DAILY 8yA1
sity. and the further fact IL that, from
. purely partisan standpoint. the war
In Europe was q Godsend to that de-
moraliSed organization.
Ideas Old and New.
The presidents main contention,
leads US to the conclusion that, il we
would keep pace with advancing civil
lixati0n, IL we would meet the exigen-
cies of the occasion as they arise. we
and shifting theories Of government
He thus expresses It:
The trouble with the Republican
party 10 that it has not had q new
idea for thirty years. 1 am not speak
ing as politician. I am speaking as
q historian. 1 have looked for new
ideas in the Republican ranks. They
have had leaders from time to time
who suggested new ideas. but they
never did anything to carry them out;
and 1 suppose there was no. harm in
their talking, provided they could not
do anything i
"And then he adds. and am bound
to believe him sincere ss in 4, the hest. state,
seems as II the remark cannot be
otherwise than facetious:
And therefore when it was neces-
sary to say that we had talked about
sary to do. and the time had come to
do them. it was indispensable that a
Democrat should be elected president.
Il do not know just what he means
q real. fundamental principle, agree
with him, for in that sense the Repub-
lican party has not had a new idea in
thirty years. But II he mean the
adaptation of certain fixed principles
to the changing needs Of q people. then
l disagree with him utterly. for his
tory clearly shows that no political
party in the life of any country ever
more fully applied its theories Of gov
eminent to meet new conditions as
they arose. or ever more completely
adapted it's principles to meet the
changing demands of the hour, than
the Republican party in the United
States.
lTne Republican party has never
really had but five fundamental ideas
OF government since it's birth. one
moral, three commercial or industrial,
and all of them based upon the fifth.
which was the perpetuation OF the
Union, and it still clfngs to them as all
that are essential for the proper solu-
ton of every problem that today con-
fronts and perplexes us as people.
laese ideas were announced by
Washington. and, as far as possible.
executed by Hamilton, and were de-
Tended by Webster and were repro
mulgated by Lincoln. and /. together
have constituted the enduring highway
upon which we have marched for fifty
of the grandest years in all the his
tory of man.
''And it is an undisputed fact of his
tory, that the Democratic party has
opposed every one Of these principles.
most Of the time bitterly. and has
never failed to obstruct in every pos
sible way the administration OF these
policies in the affairs OF our govern
ment.
The Money Question.
ever swerved in its fealty to the cause of
money. to the doctrine Of the faithful dis
have rather lifted higher the standard
that his successors grasped when Lincoln
fell. 1t was this thought that inspired
that no repudiator of one farthing of our
republics debt shall be trusted in any
public place
at was this thought that inspired this
party of ours to champion the cause of
resumption, to place beneath the dollar Of
Be based and in which II it should be re- re-
deemed ~,
liam Mckinley. at . time that tested the
coherent power of our party, the integrity
| OF the nation and the moral fiber OF its
citizenship to to-, champion the cause Of the
tenance OF the honor OF the land.
Federal Reserve Act.
THE president in his recent speech.
| boosted that his party had used sound
| federal reserve act. and I think that they
are entitled to credit for having made
an honest effort to improve the currency
For party that opposed the issue of
bonds during the Civil war, and in 1868 in
s sisted on their repudistion: for party y
and 4. and opposed their redemption IN
1873: 4 and 6: and then insisted on an
for party that violently opposed the
adoption of the gold standard in 1896 and
| advocated the free and unlimited coinage
OF silver and gold at the rate of 1S to L;
for party that denounced in unmeas-
ured terms both in congress and out. the
passage Of the Vreeland emergency law
the imasination in describing the un-
sspsakable woes that would Inevitably be-
then within the last eighteen months faced ICED
squarely about and took advantage Of the
provisions of this same law to save the
structive revenue legislation: for a party
| that has always been regarded in the
business world as unsafe in all monetary
questions and unsound on all currency
| problems, they did very well indeed to
pass the law to which the president so
or success depends upon the integrity and
| the patriotism of it's administration, for,
while it is true that most Of it's assuredly
sound provisions were taken bodily from
the Aldrich PLAN yet 1t cannot be denied
that others were added that are not SO
surely wise: and 1t should be remember
ed. too. that this plan AFFORDS opportun-
tiles for the initiation OF the currency that
would crafty even the cheap money
wnim of William Jennings Bryan himself;
and That It throws down the bars to the
most inviting field for political exploita-
ton ever opened up in this country; and
ly into the location of the various reserve
Inks and the appointment of the men to
control the system than in any other mat
Importance n NJ
OF our nation. and that. If we may judge
me future ut by the past. no opportunity to
stupendous system will be overlooked by
those in charge of our governmental af-