The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1916-09-08
RECKONING AND ASSESSMENT.

RECKONING AND ASSESSMENT.
The more the people of the country read and ponGer MI
Wilson'S speech Of acceptance the better they VIII e IKE u. III,
quent perusal will not diminish the respect ana rear WIN WIIon
the author of it is regarded by his opponents. IL Is an eAtnl%
ordinarily effective campaign utterance. Mr.. wilson Is IN '4 ne
highly favorable position of being able to make ms appear "
the country upon the basis, not OF promises DuC oI achIeYe-
ments. It is a year of reckoning and assessment ne points
TO a granite wall of constructive action by the Democratic Farly
and invites the Republicans to launch their assaults ana pea!
their heads against it. 1t is in truth, as we nave oIteh ptmleo
out, an astonishing body of achievement for one AdmlnlStra--
ton. We may question the policy Of a Government merchant
marine, OF the Farm Credits act, of some OF the LABOR enact
ments we NAV condemn the Seamen's bill, but against these
blemishes upon the record there are to be placed the long await
ed, constructive, and remedial legislation OF the Federai ne
the Trade Commission, and perhaps above all, as vital 10 te
nations safety, the great national defense measures just ell
acted.
innate upon the wisdom and capacity OF the last two Congress
es may well wonder that from such an unprromisinlg source
should have come laws that in their fruits OF beneht and IN
their response to public need lar Surpass NE wolAs u Smy
two Republican Congresses within the memory OF man. Per-
haps Senator GalHnger is right when he says that there never
has been such interference with legislation as unaer IMs Al
ministratiOn." That would explain, 1t would JUSTIFY MI. VIII
son in his appeal to the country for a continuance OF the oppor-
tunity of which he has made such effective use. This record
of Constructive action is presented in outline IN the pages. OF
Mr.. Wilson's speech of acceptance. 1t is the sort OF INSTRUCTION
the voters need. Every one OF them should READ IT, shouu ASK
himself whether it is not proof and and double proof against the
obstructive comment" to which the Republican candidate ana
his stump orators have resorted.
Mr.. Roosevelt may storm and MIR. Hughes may direct his
futile phrases against the Administrations course with Mex
leo, but the Presidents defense stands four square against
them all. We should not say defense, it is a defiance to those
who assal it. The American people like boldness in a candi-
date and Mr.. Wilson does not lack that quality. The guiding
principle of his Mexican policy has been his desire to leave the
people Of our sister republic free to achieve their liberties, to
rid themselves of the eternal pest of revolutions and dictators
and to establish a government created by themselves for them
selves. Mr.. Wilson sent troops into Mexico because there were
no military forces there to protect our border from attack. This
was not intervention with respect to any hope or plan OF the
MeXcans to establish a lawful government and restore order.
1t was an aid to them. If suspicious were %engendered and mis-
understandings created, they arose in some measure, doubt
less, from the Vaccinations of certain Americans pressing"
as the President says, for things they could never have got
in their own country" Outside Of that circle Of evil influence
nobody has proposed or desired interference in the United
States with the internal affairs of Mexico.
The Presidents justification of his policy in matters aris-
ing out of the European war is not less complete and effective.
He has not lost sight of the principle that, while money dam
ages for property destroyed may become the subject Of arbi-
tration after the war is over, the fundamental rights of human
iy, the irreparable loss of life, must "be checked and called
to account by direct challenge and resistance" That has been
his guiding principle. But what a hard and terrible example
he sets for his Republican opponent when he renews in a form
more courageous and uncompromising than anybody else has
phrased it his denunciation of those active grouDs and combina.
tons of men amongst us who were born under foreign flags
and whose passions and intrigueS injected the poison of dis.
loyalty into our own most critical affairs, laid violent hands IN
on many of our industries, and subjected us to the shame of
divisions of sentiment and purpose in which America was con-
demmed and forgotten The reckoning and settlement, he
says, are a part of the business of this year, to the end that
such transgressiOns may be forever hereafter impossible"
while the Republican candidate is slenced by his dread and his
managers dread of estranging the votes of these hyphen
groups and combinations. Woodrow Wilson speaks out like a
man and an American:
am a candidate of a party, but | am above all things else an
American citizen. neither seek the favor nor fear the dis
pleasure of that small alien element amongst us which nuts
loyalty to any foreign power before loyalty to the United States.
IL Is unSurpasSable. 1t makes Mr.. Roosevelts American
ism inaudible, although it was a roar of thunder compared to
his candidates timid and colorless declarations.
The Republicans will make no answer to this speech of
acceptance. They cannot. They will continue their utilities
of destructive comment" that does not destroy. thew will
dance the familiar campaign ~rgadoons about the impregnable
citadel of achievement within which the President stands, thev
will upbraid him in empty words. But every promise of reyer-
sal Of Democratic policies they make, every pledge of construct
i've work they may utter, will be a promise and pledge of re-
action. The President stands upon the platform of progress
achieved and made secure. Every assurance his opponents
NAV give to the voters of their intention to rndo hi. ,1- IN
confirm the people in their purpose to retain him for another
four years in the White House. New York Times.