Arizona republican., 1916-08-07
1t Hurt

ton of MT. Hughes in favor of a fed eral equal suffrage amendment, indi- cates that that declaration was body blow. producing something more than grunt, excruciating pain and weak ness. Mir. Pittman affects to find an inconsistency in the declaration and that accusation is based upon the fact that the republican national platform which had been accepted by Mir Hughes favors the adoption of equal suffrage by states MT. Hughes could not very well have found that to be an insuperable objection to his accep- tance of the platform. He had no part in the making of the platform. More over, the platform did not estop the party candidate or republican ma jority in congress from going farther. and favoring a federal amendment. We will concede that the republican plank On the subject of equal suffrage, pre- cisely like the plank of the democratic national platform, is idle and meaning less. Of course. both national parties, whatever the views of a majority of might have been, if they said anything the delegates to their conventions at all would have said they favored equal suffrage by states. That is a matter with which neither of the na- tional parties has anything to do. Twelve states have already granted equal suffrage and the other thirty six could do so regardless of any action by the national parties. Both parties might as well have adopted a plank expressing some view regarding equal suffrage on the planet Jupiter
 We have said that the equal suffrage blanks of both platforms on the sub- ject were meaningless We should qualify that. The democratic plank means that the democratic party is actively opposed to the federal amend ment. The democratic majority in con gress had expressed it's hostility. The president had expressed his hostility. The democratic national platform was made to fit the president; the president dictated the platform in every essen tlal particular.
 The republican nationai platform was constructed to fit no candidate. At the time of its adoption it was not . known who the candidate would be. Mir. Hughes had made no declaration on this or any other issue. But he has now declared most unequivocally in favor of federal amendment granting equal suffrage
 We must regard it as an exhibition of "gall' on the part of Senator Pitt man to attempt to point out an incon- sistency between MT. Hughes straight forward and unsolicited declaration and the republican plank. If that is in consistency what word must be coined to describe the attitude of Mir. Wilson toward two blanks of the Baltimore platform-the plank limiting a presi- dent to a single term and the plank providing the free passage of American vessels through the Panama canal. MT Wilson not only accepted these two blanks. one of them indirectly affecting himself, but he made campaign issue of the free tolls plank and supported it in campaign speeches. He made capi- tai of the fact that the last republican congress had opposed free tolls. Yet within six months MT. Wilson was op- posing free tolls in a special message to congress.
 MT. Wilson not only made no recom- mendation to congress to take action to give effect to the one.vsrm plank but within two years after his inaugura tion he was plainly campaigning for a renomination.