The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1915-08-05
A FRIENDLY EXPLANATION.

to Well-medn1uS republican oIoIoo
men and journalists to find that all
their talk and all their jeremiads
produce so little effect on the great
mass of Americans-the people who
hold down the jobs and pay the
grocery bills for the nation. We
should like, in a friendly way, to
venture a word of explanation, and
this without indulging in any demo-
cratic special pleading whatever.
The chief reasons why the republ1-
can medicine" does not work bet
ter than it does are two. The first IS
that any man of sense knows that
the factors in the general business
situation which he desires to see
changed are due to an abnormal
state of things, and that, with all OF
our growing things and our making
things here in this country, there are
elements of peril which can only be
removed by the ending of the war.
The European financial atmosphere
is tense with electricity. The lndus-
trial nations have put many mllllons
of men who were farming and trad
ing and running machinery year
ago to the Improbable task OF trying
to shoot each other and waste each
Others resources; and tens OF MIL
lions more who, one year ago, were
making things and raising things to
be sold at a profit to other men VINO
wanted to use them productivity are
now raising the same things ana
making the same things or others
somewhat like them to be used IN
sheer destruction, without a cents
worth Of profit to anybody. Now we
buy and sell in the world market to
the extent of more than $4,OOO,OOO,-
900 a year; and more than half our
Imports come from this War-torn
continent, while nearly two-thlrds OF
our exports go to it. The idea that
a war which threatens the collapse
of the credit of Europe could be con-
Quoted without the graVest efects on
the business of America is as fantas-
tic as the idea that the house of your
neighbor across the street could be
blown up with dynamite without
peril to your front windows. Sensible
men recognize this, and when Sena-
tor Sherman and other statesmen
who talk for Buncombe' attribute,
the factors Of business uncertainty
to the administration the average
citizen is not impressed.
The other chief reason is that the
republicans have not got any new
leaders or any new ideas, and the
country has tried out the stock OF
both which the party has on hand
and does not yearn to repeat the ex-
pertinent. We had Joe Cannon and
Reed Smoot and Elihu Root and Will
liam H. Taft and Will Borah and
Albert B. Cummins and the Hon. Jim
Mann on guard, for 10, many years.
They and their associates were retlr-
ed from the function of guiding the
activities of the government because
of the country's acute dissatisfaction
with their ideas and politics.
Have the republicans learned any.
thing? Have they gotten hold OF
anything new? If so, what is it?
What are the republicans prepar-
ing to go before the American peo-
ple with? What is their fiscal pol
icy? How would they revise the tar
if? the income tax? the internal rev.
enue schedules? What is their mill
tary and naval policy? What is their
financial policy? Would they revise
the Federal Reserve Act? II so, how!
What is their transportation policy?
Have they any railroad legislation to
recommend? or any legislation look
ing to the further development of the
merchant marine? Have the repub-
licans any foreign policy to suggest,
other than that of the president
The answer to these questions is
an eloquent silence. Now in public
affairs it is positive factors that
count, and the republicans are so far
bankrupt in ideas and real Leader
ship that they are not fulfilling the
duty of a first-class opposition, not
to speak of anything more formld-
able. II they will read these friend
ly counsels, stop trying to account
for the effect Of our share of the
burdens of war by abusing the ad-
ministration and deign to explain
how they expect to get anywhere I'M
der discredited leaders without any
attempt to grapple with the new is
sues Of new day, the experience
may not be pleasant, but it is bound
to be salutary.-St. Louis Republic.