The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-09-20

United States Senator, he dell
 achievements of Woodrow Will
 tration. MT. Cummings speech
 bursts of approval, follows: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention:
 We have come to a critical period | in the progress of our country and of I the world. It does not require the l gift of prophecy to know how v1tally significant the present era will be in | the history of the human race. The | foundations of the governments of practically all the great civilized na- | tions of the world have been shaken. A conflict of arms, vast, disastrous, overwhelming-has afflicted human l ity. Property values, beyond estima- | ton, have been destroyed, millions of l lives have been sacrificed, and the smoke that still hangs over the bat tlef1elds of Europe is so heavy that no l man can yet discern the vision of the 1 day that is to be.
 America is the only great nation of the world that is now at peace. Our people are aboundingly prosperous. The toilers of our shops and fields and counting houses may go in peace and comfort to their various tasks with no fear that they may be sum- moned to the lines of battle, and with no sudden clutch at the heart which comes from the realization that be- loved ones are our memories! Only a few months ago the fires of the tn- ternational conflict crept close to our door. There have been periods with
 in the last year when the slightest misstep, the smallest miscalculation, 1 the least act of imprudence upon the part of our Chief Executive, would
 have plunged our country into great and devastating war. These perils we have escaped. There are certain
 uneasy and impulsive statesmen who regret that our country has not play ed more heroic role, and they ex- perience a deep sense of shame and humiliation at what they profess to regard as our international disgrace" r If to uphold, in the time of war. the standards of peace is vacillation; if
 amid a troubled and perplexed and distraught world, to pick up and re- store the broken fragments of interna- tiopal law, is to play shameful part in history; if. when all the world Is af1ame with war, to keep a hundred
 million people free from its devastat-
 ing scourge, is policy of inaptitude,
 then God prosper it and teach it to
 the monarchs of the old world.
 No matter what the verdict of to-
 day may be, history, in recording the
 deeds of the servants of peace and
 humanity, will grant a foremost place
 Uo-o hiS h Sslr
 have been huddled more burdens than
 have ever before been placed on the
 shoulders of mortal man. He came to
 his high office charged with the mis-
 sion of carrying forward program
 of domestic pr6gress. The atmos-
 phere of public affairs had grown fet- i'd with corruption Privilege had ta-
 ken possession of every branch of the
 public service. The leaders of the
 Republican party, who were respon- sible for this condition were denounc- ed by no one more vigorously than
 by people of their own household. The clutch that privilege had obtained upon the Republican party made it for that party to carry forward any work of reform. This was the condition which existed in our country when the Democratic party was entrusted with power.
 The accomplishments in the way of domestic reform achieved under the leadership of President Wilson consti- tute miracle of legislative progress.
 The Payne-Aldrich tariff, which had been a hiding place of privilege, was revised; the clements of graft were eliminated and tariff commission was provided, so that future revisions might be conducted upon a business basis without reference to political or partisan neceSfties. An income tax was passed thereby, relieving our law of the reproach of being unjustly burdensome to the poor. Pan-Amer- icanism was encouraged and expand ed; the great reaches of Alaska were opened up to commerce and develop ment; dollar diplomacy was destroy ed; the lobby was driven from the Capitol; Workmen's Compensation Act was adopted: a child labor law was enacted; the Federal Trade Com mission was created; the Clayton Act was adopted; the Smith-Lever Bill for improvement of farm conditions was passed; the Parcel Post and the Rural Free Delivery were developed; a Corrupt Practice Act was adopted; Good Roads Bill and Rural Cred-1 it Act were passed; appropriations for the Army and Navy we're provided more munificent than ever before known in a like period in our coun- try or in any other; the Vreeland-Al- drich Currency Act was made work able by proper amendments, and the Federal Reserve System established.
 Had any one, three years ago, had the temerity to predict 50 complete and successful a record of legislative reform, he. would have been regard ed as an irresponsible visionary. And vet these things are accomplished facts, and, to the forward-looking cit izen, plead eloquently for the Demo- cratic cause.
 Which of the acts mentioned would MT. Hughes repeal if he could! Which of the policies adopted would he reverse? We have progressed far into the campaign and yet no one can answer that simple question. The Republican candidate has not seen fit to answer it. The acts are so mani festly in the interest of the public that he has neither the courage to de- nounce them nor the candor to admit their worth. But there was yet an- other task that events had set for the President.
 When it seemed that the limit of human endurance had been reached, and after every conceivable interna- |