The Washington herald., 1915-12-17
A Warni.x.

by maintaining for the time being the air OF
chastened humility that has draped them not un-
becomingy for the last three years. Their fortunes
still hang in the balance and any undue exhibition
of arrogance or efrontery by the Bourbon heneh-
men of the old Republican machine type may bring
them face to face with another luster Of nnoeuous
desuetude. Republicanism of a certain type will
be welcomed to the seat of government. But men
of the stripe of Barnes and Penrose and Cannon
and Lorimer and Galnger and men who. like Root
and Taft and Fairbanks arc rightly or wrongly as
sociated with them in the public mind can only
burgle their way into Office. And burglary is a
silent profession.
Because all men in this country speak the same
language and eat pie and reverence the Consttu-
tion and eTy Cobb it is enormously assumed that
they share the same philosophical and political
ideals or that if there is difference it is super
fetal only The civil war should have taught US
better Politically and philosophieally the East does
not understand the West and the West does not
understand the East and the fact that the trains
leave New York hourly for all points West of the
Rockies does not make bit of difference. And as
the old line Republicans are essentially an Eastern
product and burdened with rather less than the
average understanding they do not realize how I'M
possible they are to the West or to what lengths
the West will go to defeat them. If they were
capable of learning any lesson the DETECTION OF
California, one of the strongest Republican States
in the Union to Roosevelt in 1912 should have
provided it 1t did not The Republican party
ID NrhIc
will not occur again when in fact he was merely
the first ntmation of philosophical and political
cleavage which sooner or later will compel COM
plete readjustment of party shibboleths. In the
West men like Taft and Root and even Burton
and Weeks are thought to represent precisely the
same brand Of Republicanism that Barnes and Pen
rose do. There is no objection to them personally
but strong dislike of the political ideals they are
supposed to represent.
The difference goes deeper than the tariff albeit
the tariff is in the bone of contention West
and East alike want prosperity and West and East
alike, as far as the Republicans concerned, be-
lievc thoroughly in protection and high tariff
But there is this distinction. The East thinks in
terms of capital Let business prosper, especially
big business" and all will be we'll. In vague
the wageearner and consumer, will get their share
The West thinks the small man should share in
the prosperity in some definite way and Of right
Even Lazarus, they say, probably had his bellyful
when Dives had put over good thing. but that
did not make him, any the less beggar. They do
not feel that the wage-earner should have only the
crumbs that fall from the rich mans table. They
believe in high tariff believe that the manufac-
turer and capitalist should not be required to
pete with outsiders But they also think that they
should share with the people at large. And the
rich do not share their prosperity unless they must
The banks for example, do not raise the wages of
because the tariff that makes it flourish raises the
cost of living for the wage-earner
Three years ago the Progressive party based
lis hopes of success promises made to its fol-
lowers that they would make Republicanism that
is to say, the high tariff principle, a channel of
prosperity for all sections of the community, not
as a matter Of accident but a. matter of right
The poor mans share OF the benefits should not
have to filter through the fingers of the rich before
it reaches him. 1t is immaterial whether they had
a valuable scheme to achieve this end or not
1t is what the people OF the West arc looking
for and what they will ultimately have. They arc
not particularly obsessed with names and persons
as the old Republicans seem to imagine, and the
removal of Roosevelt and the Bull Moose party
has not for moment changed their fundamental
ideas in this regard.
Therefore let the Republican standard bearers
not be too free to assume that the West, weary of
the husks of hard times prepared to bound,
weeping tears of repentance, across the threshold
of their fathers, Barnes and Penrose ct al Super
fcially all that to be requisite for Republi-
can success in the next Presidential election is
that they shall nominate a man who will be free
from the taint of standpat Republicanism. who has
been brought up in more liberal atmosphere than
that which surrounded the administration of Prcsi-
dent Taft. But it is not only question of names
The West will be satisfied with a President who is
not expressly labelled Progressive" They will not
accept one who is not a progressive at heart or
from whom they cannot expect progressive legis-
lation.
A Difference IN the Viewpoint.
1t is absurd for the American press to talk
,ho EpoI,nd'S "naoer" hIock,dc &c mt