The record. [volume] (St. Maries, Idaho) 1913-1918, 1916-07-14
HUGHES MUST SPEAK
philadelphia Record)

Mr.. Hughes has retired from
the maddening crowd and betaken
himself to his summer home, his
golf links and his pad of paper, to
compose the speech which he is
to deliver when he learns that the
Republican convention nominated
him for the Presidency.
What the situation demands of
him is perfectly plain; it will be
interesting to see how near he
comes to meeting the demands.
He has got to state the issues on
which he expects the country to
elect him, instead of the Presi-
dent. He has not done so yet.
The party platform does not do
so. Other Republicans have not
done so. We shall be glad TO be
proven mistaken, but we do not
believe Mr.. Hughes will do what
the situation demands.
Mr.. Wilson speaks through his
acts. His record is the import
ant thing, no ml..cr What he may
say. 1t is right that he should be
judged by what he has done or left
undone. Many persons are not
satisfied with the results Of what
he has done. But if it is
question of electing Mr.. Wilson
or someone else, it is essential to
know what someone else would
have done. Not one of the Re
publicans will tell what ought to
have been done. When the Re
publicans denOunce the Under
wood tarieff we understand what
they mean, for they do not try to
evade the real question; they
mean that duties ought to have
been higher, but the tariff is
cutting no figure in this contest.
The election must turn ON Mr..
Wilson's treatment of the Mex
lean issue and the issues raised
by the great war.
Henry Lane Wilson is not i'm
politics, so he speaks his mind |
freely, and says the President
ought to have recognized Huerta.
whose admirer, Mrs. O'Shugh- |
messy, says he didn't seem to |
mind whom he shot Huerta was !
blood stained military despot. |
who came to the Presidency bv
the murder Of Madero, which he !
either cOnnived at, or neglected |
the proper means Of preventing.
We do not believe that Mr.. Hughes
will tell American people that !
Huerta ought to have been rec
ognized and a movement for pop /
ular government crushed. even
with the support of the former !
American Ambassador and the |
wife of the more recent charge |
d'affeires..
In Europe the President has Sc
cured substantial concessions /
from Germany and Great Britain
particularly from Germany In
the matter of the submarine cam
paign. 1t took him a year to get
the concessions from Germany.
but it is better to be patient for
a year than to plunge into war.
and there is no reason to suppose
that we could have got more by
means of war than we have with
out it.
What is Mr.. Hughes going to
say? He will denOunce the ad-
ministratiOn for not preventing
the sinking of the Lusitania.
which could not possibly have
been done. But we doubt very
much if Mr.. Hughes will venture
to say precisely what Mr.. Wilson
ought to have done. He doesn't
know, and if he should say Mr..
Wilson ought to have done less.
he will not hold the Roosevelt
support, and if he says Mr.. VIII
son ought to have done more, he
will ALLEVIATE the German-Ameri-
can Alliance.
Mr.. Hughes is asking the Am
erican pjeople to put him in Mr..
Wilson's place on the ground
that he would have done better.
But what would he have done? He
has never told us. His support
ers have never told us. The Re
publican platform has not told
us what ought to have been done.
and we shall be greatly surprised
II Mr.. Hughes ventures to tell us
in his formal acceptance.