Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-09-02
Continued From Page One.)

standing in their way.
at is hard doctrine" said he, "only
for those who wish to get something
for themselves out of Mexico" At an
other point the president said:
Interested in Oppressed.
Mistakes I have no doubt made IN
this perplexing business but not in
purpose or object" He declared at an
other point:
II am more interested in the for
tunes Of oppressed men and pitirul
women and children than in any prop
erty rights whatever"
At the outset of his references to the
legislative achievements OF his party
the president enumerated the laws
placed on the statute books relating to
business including tariff revision, anti
trust laws, revision of the banking
and currency system. rural credits, re-
Mobilization OF the merchant marine
and creation of the federal trade COM
mission.
''what other party has understood
the task so we'll or executed it so intel
ligently and energetically?" he asked.
What other party has attempted it at
all? The republican leaders appar-
emily know Of no means of assisting
business but protection. How to slim
ulate it and put it upon a new footing
of energy and enterprise they have not
suggested"
At the conclusion Of his review Of
the party record the president de-
clared.
This extraordinary recital must
sound like a platform, list Of san
guine promises; but it is not. 1t is
record of promises made four years
ago and now actually redeemed in con-
structive legislation Then, later he
said: I'VE have in four years come
very near TO carrying out the platform
of the progressive party as we'll as our
own; for we are also progressives-"
The presidents address was some
five thousand words long, one of the
most lengthy he has delivered on any
occasion since taking Office. The ad-
dress of the president follows:
Senator James, Gentlemen Of the
Notification Committee, Fellow Clu-
zens: I cannot accept the leadership
and responsibility which the national
democratic convention has again, in
such generous fashion, asked me TO
accept without first expressing my
profound gratitude TO the party for
the trust it reposes in me after four
years of fiery trial in the midst Of af-
fairs Of unprecedented difficulty, and
the keen sense of added responsibility
with which this honor fills q had al
most said burdens) me as l think OF
TIE great ISSUES VI AdIlOIdA llAC e1AiO
policy involved in the present and i'm
mediate future conduct Of our govern
ment l shall seek, as ] have always
N sought to justify the extraordinary
II confidence thus reposed in me by
q striving to purge my heart and pur-
pose of every personal and of every
misleading party motive and devoting
every energy I have to the service or
the nation as a whole, praying that 1
tho al an n
support of all forward-lOOking men at
every turn Of the diff cult business.
''FoC 1 do not doubt that the people
of the United States will wish the
democratic party TO continue in con-
troll of the government. They are not
in the habit of rejecting those who
have actually served them for those
who are making doubtful and conjec-
tural promises of service. Least of
all are they likely to substitute those
who promised to render them particu-
lar services and proved false to that
promise for those who have actually
rendered those very services.
Roasting is always an empty bust
ness, which pleases nobody but the
boaster, and 1 have no disposition TO
boast of what the democratic party
has accomplished. II has merely done
it's duty. 1t has merely fulfilled it's
explicit promises. But there can be
no violation Of good taste in calling
attention to the manner in which those
promises have been carried out or in
adverting to the interesting fact that
many of the things accomplished were
what the opposition party had again
and again promised to do but had left
undone. Indeed that is manifestly
part Of the business of this year of
reckoning and assessment. There is
no means Of judging the future except
by assessing the past. Constructive
action must be weighed against de-
structive comment and reaction. The
democrats either have or have not un-
derstood the varied interests of the
country. The test is contained in the
record.
!. What is that record? What were
the democrats called into power to do?
What things had long waited to be
done, and how did the democrats do
them? 1t is a record of extraordinary
length and variety, rich in elements
of many kinds, but consistent in prin-
ciple throughout and susceptible Of
brief recital.
1.-The republican party was put out
OF power because of failure, practical
failure and moral failure; because it
had served special interests and not
the country at large; because, under
the leadership of it's preferred and
established guides, OF those who still
make it's choices, ii had lost touch with
the thoughts and the needs of the ma
lion and was living in past age and
under a fixed illusion, the illusion of
greatness 1t had framed tariff laws
based upon fear of foreign trade, q
fundamental doubt as TO American
skill, enterprise, and capacity, and q
very tender regard for the profitable
privileges OF those who had gained
control OF domestic markets and do
nestle credits; and yet had enacted
antitrust laws which hampered the
very things they meant to foster,
which were stiff and inelasic, and in
part unintelligible. 1t had permitted
the country fhrnnQhnILf the long ner-