Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1916-10-28
How the President Provoked a Condition of
War with Mexico Details Of His
Broken Promises
Extravaganza Piled on Extravaganza Evils Of
Secret Caucus

exists in the archives at Washington.
| shall make some statements to you
which would possibly upon their face
seem exaggerated, and, therefore, l
have taken the precaution to bring
with me in this campaign either the
record or the reference to the record
of any statement of facts which | shall
make. l would not want to make the
criticism which | may make upon
some of these matters upon mere
assertion of my own, and | say to you,
therefore, that ] shall not discuss these
matters other than upon the actual
happening and the record as recorded
in the archives of your capital.
BROKEN PROMISES.
The President, some time ago in his
acceptance speech, stated that the is
sue in this campaign was that of the
faithful performance of the pledges
upon the part of the party In power.
Perhaps ! might read his exact words:
Boosting is always an empty bust
ness, which appeals to nobody but the
boaster, but | have no doubt of what
the Democratic party has accomplish
ed. 1t has merely fulfilled the prom
Uses which it made to the people four
years ago. The Republican party,
says our honored President, was put
ure, practical failure and moral fall
ure."
Now, my friends, that presents the
issue which / am going to call to your
attention for a few minutes. 1t Is a
fair presentation of it, and the Presi-
dent was entirely correct in submitting
the proposition as he did, and 1 am
sure that my Democratic friends will
expect the Republican who presents
the other side to present the record
concerning which our President was
speaking and so l want to quote as
my text for this evening an extract
from the most famous work of modern
fiction, the Democratic platform
adopted at Baltimore four years ago.
Laughter)
| am not going to refer, as you
might suppose, to the one-term plank
in the platform. On the question of
keeping that pledge we haven't cared
much about the one-term plank, for
always felt that in all probability the
Republicans would see that 1t was
kept. (Applause.)
Neither am l going to refer to what
is known as the free tolls plank. You
remember that we built canal for
five hundred millions dollars, and we
had supposed in building 1t that we
were providing competitive trans
portation system as against land trans
portation. 1t was, therefore, the opin-
ion, both of the Republicans and Dem
ocrats, four years ago that 1t should be
free canal. And our honored Presi-
dent in the campaign four years ago
said that 1t was a free canal and
should be a free canal, because the
farmers of the country should have
system of transportation for the
carrying of their freight to and from
their places of residence in compe-
ttion with the land transportation of
the country. However, that plank was
afterwards, l might say disregarded,
and the free-tolls law was repealed.
But these are not the matters about
which l am going to talk, or upon
which l am going to dwell, because
there are one or two planks about
which l want to speak which are in
this campaign more important.
GUISE OF THE CAUCUS.
First, l will read this one. as fol-
lows: 1.-THE Democratic party offers
itself to the country as an agency
through which the complete overthrow
and extirpation of corruption, fraud
and machine rule in American politics
can be affected" Our President in
speaking upon this plank four years
ago said: Legislation as we now-a-
days conduct 1t is not conducted in
the open; it is not threshed out in
open debate upon the floors of our
assemblies. 1t is on the contrary
formed, digested and concluded in
committee rooms" Observe the fol-
lowing sentence: at is in committee
rooms that the legislation not desired
by the interests die. 1t is in the COM
mittee rooms that legislation desired
by the interests Is framed and brought
forth" and then he proceeds in his
own way, with his remarkable capacity
for stating a proposition; to explain
the great fault of secret legislation;
that it Is a system by which corrup-
ton is maintained and sustained in the
capital, and he proceeds to say that
no matter could be of greater concern
to the people of this country than that
all laws of whatever nature be framed
in the open, after thorough debate,
and in the full gaze of the hundred
millions of people.
/ want to say to you in refer
ence to that plank that there has
not been a single measure OF any
importance whatever which has
actually been framed and shaped
States since the fourth day of
March. 1913.
Our fathers, when they framed this
government, framed a Congress that
operated in the open and all laws were
supposed to be framed in the open
after amendments had been offered
and adopted, after full discussion, and
| repeat without fear of successful
contradiction that not a single impor-
tant measure has been enacted or has
been framed and shaped by the Cong
ress itself as Congress since the
fourth day of March. 1913. Well,
then, you say where has 1t been form
ed 1t has been framed in secret
caucus, behind closed doors, from
which the press is excluded, from
which the public is shut out, and the
record of which no man knows nor
can know. If you were interested as
constituency in knowing who offered
an amendment to the Underwood bill,
and how it was voted upon; how IT
was shaped or framed If you were
| interested in knowing how the Federal
Reserve Act was shaped or formed,
YOU would have no means in the world
of acquiring that knowledge, because
| It was framed exclusively in secret.
| That is to say, 1t could not be changed
without the approval of the caucus.
For fear that you may suppose that
| am exaggerating that statement, i
will read you statement from dis
| tinguished Democratic Senator, man
of exceptional ability, and one OF the
| leaders of the Senate while one OF the