The Alaska daily empire., 1915-01-30
FACTS JUSTIFY
 PRESIDENTS CHARGE

 1 Nothing In the Psoeldent'e Indian. 1 apols speech seeme to have couseo more irritation in Republican circlea that his remark that the Republican party had not had new idea ID lnir. ty years
 Yot this Is precisely what 4.O0l0vO I Republicans said in 1912. md tney not only said 1t but voted t. Why should i 1t be regarded as on exhibition or ol' l fensiye partlsonship for Q Democratic ! President to say ol the Republican party what 100000 Republicans have said of i. at the ballot box
 The Republican party Of l9lh is not i only reactionory but ,t Is even more reaOtlonary today than 1t was In 1912. Then, at least, the progressive leayen was at work Now the party has mcokly submitted to tho leadership Of i Penroso. and Cannon and Barnes and ] Gallinger. and conlesses to no princi. ple except the property principle
 Its attitude toward government is identical with Webcter's attitude as described by Emerson;
 He Is man who lives by his
 memory. no; man of faith end
 hope.
 All the drops of his blood have
 eyes that look downward, and his
 finely developed understanding on-
 ly works truly and with all It's
 forces when t stands for animal
 good that is. for property
 He looks at the Union as an
 estate, large farm, and is eN-
 collent ln the completeness Of his
 defense of it so far. What he
 finds alroody written he will de-
 fend. Lucky that some such had
 got well written when he came
 for he had no such faith in the
 power Of selfgovernment
 In Massachusetts in 1776, he
 would. beyond all question, have
 been Q refugee He praises Ad-
 ans and Jefferson, but it is 8 past
 Adams and Jefferson. 4 present
 Adams and Jefferson he would de-
 nounce.
 The Republican party stands where Webster stood It is the great cham pion of property and property rights and pioerty rivlleges It has no otb- CT dominating idea Why then should there be so much irritation against the President for defining its place inI contemporary politics?
 Every country needs one party that stands for property and property rights, provided the property princl- le is not carried Co extremes. That isl the Tory function In seltgovernmenul. The Democratic arty wrecked itself and almost wrecked the country once by carrying the theory Of property toI what it regarded as a logical conclus- lon The Republican party wrecked itself In 1912 and brought the country to the edge of a great political reyo- ]. lution by carrying its more subtle theo- ry Of property to a logical conclus' ion.
 After the Civil War the country soon tired of idealsm and 1t may again be | tiring of idealism. Ifit is. the Repub' | lican party and property rights will carry the elections In 1916. But there should be no false pretenses about it It will loo new triumph for the one idea that the Republican party has consistently represented since re- construction, and as historian. Mr.l Wilson could hardly be expected toI proclaim it as new idea.
 A truly consistent Republican would ! not be irritaJed by the Presidents rei- ! erences to his party He would be proud that the Republican party for three decades had neyed permitted sentiment to swerve 1t from its un- yielding devotion to property interests and property priyileges.-(Ncw York WorldJ