New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-11-11

Mr.. Hughes as millions OF Ameri-
cans have not waited upon candi-
date since the days OF Abraham
Lincoln.
And who 1. there that has for
gotten the chill that came with the
first words of Mr.. Hughes? Who Is
there who can or will forget the
sense Of disappointment, Of grief, Of
establishment, that came with the
opening addresses Of the new can
didate? A world was on fire; abroad
the whole fabric of human society
was in the throes Of tremendous
struggle; at home the very founda-
tons of our unity and our existence
we're threatened, and In the face of
all this the man 10 whom we had
turned for deliverance could find no
Drawer word and no loftier sentiment
than those which have fallen from
the lips of cart-tail orators since po-
litical campaigns began.
We asked him to give US just a
little Of light and Of leading; we
asked him to speak just one word
that should put courage and self
respect and old-fashioned patriotism
into our hearts, and he talked TO us
Of jobs, patronage, postoffices and
place-holders. We asked him to give
us an echo Of those ideas and ideals
which had stirred the Progressive
Party and made its great revolt one
of the most memorable and hopeful
things in our national life, and he
responded with the gross and sordid
materialism of the campaign orators
who twenty years ago spoke to the
order of Mark Hanna.
The Republican Party in Conven-
ton assembled had failed the nation.
The candidate of the Republican
Convention, once he took the field,
could only express in words what
the Republican Convention had cx-
pressed in deeds. We who had
hoped for a leadership which should
hurst apart all that had shackled
and bound us, we who hoped that
there would be a clear voice of Am
ericansm, found in the words of Mr..
Hughes a cause for sadness unlike
that found in all that Mr.. Wilson
had said and done in the years of his
Presidency. We found it there be-
cause in Mr.. Hughes's word and
purpose we perceived the denial of
the remedy we had hoped for. Of
Mr.. Wilson we could believe and say
that he nisrepresented America and
that the true America would speak in
its own time. But when Mr.. Hughes
followed the course Of Mr.. Wilson,
we were compelled to recognize that
there was no longer any warrant
for the faith held in our hearts and
proclaimed to Europe by our words
that there was an America which
was the old and the true America.
Long before the campaign came to
its close most men realized that no
issue was at stake and no decision
would be had on those questions
which the honor of the country they
loved demanded should find settle
ment. Those who had criticised
Mr.. Wilson most severely for his
handling of the German affair
found themselves driven to decide
whether they would join Mr.. Will
sons German-American foes in sup
porting Mr.. Hughes or end by sup
porting the man whose every act in
the foreign field had been unsatisfac-
tory TO them. We who felt that Mr..
Wilson had misrepresented his
country stood sadly before the writ
ten and spoken words Of Mr.. Will
sons opponent, who denied us the
remedy we had longed for, hoped
for, believed would come.
So much for the past. Looking TO
the future, is it not possible even to-
day TO perceive that the fate that
overlook the Wing party in 1852
now threatens the Republican party,
which succeeded to its estate? The