Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1916-11-03

can law has not kept pace with American
sentiment; that our law has been holding
us rigid and immovable. until class has
begun, in free America. to be anayed
against class; until what was legal has
begun to play more important part in
our thoughts and determinations than what
is human and right: and until America
has begun to lag instead Of lead in recon-
Cling what is with what ought to be.
A new age has dswned upon us while
those who were attempting to lead US were
stumbling along with their heads over their
shoulders, intent upon preserving the con-
ditions Of day that is gone. America
had changed and the whole world had
changed. Our commerce and industry had
grown to such bulk that the domestic
markets Of which our former leaders were
always so solicitous were glutted and we
were bound. unless we were to burst our
jacket, to find free outlet into the mark
cts Of the world. The time had come when
our commerce needed freedom and would
be throttled by further restraints. We had
acquired foreign possessions. had been
drawn into the politics Of the world.
had begun to play part which could not
be played by provincials but must be played
by citizens Of the great world OF nations.
And yet we had not altered our policy or
our point of view. The GREAT European
xuo has aarNtoA aE laaaa ta ak
one thing. that the world itself had changed
that it had become at once too big world
and too little a world to submit its desti-
MES to the hostile rivalries and ambitions
now Of this and again Of that member Of
the great family of men too compact, too
intimate in its contacts, too universal in
its ways Of intercourse. to make il any
longer possible to limit the effects Of any
nations action to single. separate sphere
where the rest would be untouched. An in
evitable partnership of interests have been
thrust upon nations. They are neiehbors
and must accommodate their interests to
one another. or else disturb the lives and
embanass the fortunes Of men everywhere.
No wonder that in such an age men in
America should be cried awake and feel
once more. as they felt them in the days
when their great republic was set up. the
compulsions Of humanity and of Justice
These are the freshenine winds blowing
out Of the life Of mankind everywhere.
that have brought on a new day in Amer-
can politics. We have looked once more
very critically at our own laws and our
own practices and have set about to square
them with the actual conditions of our life
and the life of the world
Four years ago there were two parties
in the field whose programme was con-
ceived under the influence Of these great
forces Of progress and adjustment. the
Democratic party and the Progressive party.
This year there is but one. the Democratic
party. In the presidential election Of four
years ago some fifteen millions votes were
cast. OF these. nearly ten and half mil
lion were cast for the candidates Of the two
progressive parties. only three and a half
millions for the candidate Of the Republi-
can party, the party which fingered in the
old ways and felt none of the new impulse
Of new day. More than two-thirds Of
the voters Of the United States favored
then, and favor now. programme whose
object is to serve the changing needs Of
humanity and progress.
The Democratic party was entrusted
with the task. These powerful forces Of
the new age were put under its direction.
And under that direction what have they
accomplished They have put both the
business and the life of the country upon
new footing. They have released the
financial credit. upon which commerce and
production alike depend. from the control Of
small groups of financiers and bankers at the
speculative centers. They have released
the commerce and industry of the country
from the domination Of those who were
building up their power by selfish and unfair
methods Of competition. They have sup
piled those who wished to conduct their
business in conformity with the spirit Of the
laws with friendly guidance and delivered
them from a nervous fear of the courts.
They have released our foreign trade from
the shackles Of tariff contrved in the inter
est Of special groups Of favored producers,
and have created Tariff Commission in
tended to substitute public for private in
fuences. facts for theories and pretensions,
In all future legislation with regard to
duties and restrictions on imports. They
have made provision for the immediate
and systematic development of our carry
ing trade on the seas. They have at last
supplied the means by which the nation
may be bound together. materially and
spiritually, by network Of good roads upon
which both commodities and sympathies
may move freely from community to COM
munity They have put the farmer upon a
footing of perfect equality with business
men and men Of all other callines in re-
spect of his access to commercial credi,
have placed great bureau of the Govern
ment at his service in seeking and finding
his best markets have protected him by
the establishment Of definite standards in
the sale of his products. and have put the
scientific knowledge Of the world at his
disposal by practical demonstration at the
expense of the Government upon the farms
themselves. They have emancipated the
laborers Of the country from the unjustified
restraints which the courts had put upon
them by mistaken applications of old law
to new circumstances and conditions. They
have released the children of the country
in large part from hurtful labor; have
sought to safeguard the lives and health Of
our laborers in dangerous occupations: and