The Ontario Argus. (Ontario, Or.) 1???-1947, 1916-08-24
RRoKEN PROMISES.

niurky CLOUDS OF disaster are NJ out
to give wsy,o the clear atmosphere
Of a rejuVenated republic. Business
buried in the bottomiess sloughs Of
democratic ditbieasure 10 about 10 be
revivified by republican efficiency
It is thus we OF Mkheur county In
terpret the literary productions of
Hughes. Roosevelt. Lansing and Will
son. assuming that h. Is. Piper is cor
rect in his statement that Wilson
wrote the democratic platform.
while the Roosevelt denunciation,
the Hughes impeachment OF the ad-
ministration OF Wilson, are strong
and eloquent in their arraignment.
the logical and powerful Philippe
OF Lansing, speaking to the American
public through the medlumship OF a
note to Carranza, leaves little to be
said condemnatory OF the alleged d.
plomatic policy OF the past four years.
We are greatly enthused over the
diplomatic language OF the democrat
ic platform. II is as ambiguous and
as susceptible OF dual construction,
as Stimulating and pre-eminently sar-
castle as that great scrap OF paper"
better known as the democratic plat
form OF 1912. A lifelong republican.
we find but few changes to be made
here and there In the 1915 document
to make II, or portions OF II. seem
to III our ideas and concur with
some OF cur own beliefs.
Let w instance: In the opening
paragraph under head OF. record OF
achievement" they say: I'VE indorse
the administration OF Woodrow VIII
son. II speaks for itself Il Is the
best exposition OF sound diplomatic
policy at home and abroad" Dis
sentlng from the first sentence we
concur In the statement: 1T speaks
for itself" II the word sound II
added to by making it--sounding we
will concur In the last sentence. Yea
heartily concur. II has been the
most sounding administration since
Bryan's first campaign.
Yelled and gentle sarcasm was al
ways our delight, Gulliver-The
Tale OF a Tub-lludibras-Don Quix-
ote and Bryan's speeches have de-
lighted us. but coarse sarcasm. even
couched In elegant language and re-
fined metaphor is displeasing TO the
ear OF n countryman. Meaning this
I'VE challenge comparison OF our
record. our keeping OF pledges. and
our constructive legislation, with
those OF any party OF any time"
While the great composer OF this
sentence has taken In considerable
territory and covered more time
than Is usual. we insist that "our
keeping OF pledges" is the most sar-
castle sentence ever composed In
English. Carefully examining the
1919 plank we are constrained TO ask
for specific statements-What plank
has remained unbrokenf
"our revenues have been sufficient
In times OF world stress. and will
largely exceed the expenditure for
the current fiscal year" The first
is hardly correct or their book-keep-
ers have mis-stated the balances; the
latter being in the line Of phophecy
we presume the war tax Is TO be in
creased. In this connection pardon
us for asking information, We are
not well up in ancient or modern his
tory VIII some one who is familiar
with those subjects tell us what great
nation. before the United States, lev
led war tax in peace?
This document or platform seems
TO claim credit for the European war
We had been led TO believe that
Roosevelt brought that catastrophe
about through his compliments to the
kaiser but II the democratic party de-
sire to cain IL. well and good. They
insist that the prosperity in the
east is the result of democratic legis-
lation. The newspapers claim that
II is caused by the manufacture OF
munitions and other war supplies
Accepting both premises as true the
logic is ineXorable.
AS to the foreign policy: let us
deal mildly with Carranza as we re-
luctantly exterminate him and his
generals; let us remember the provo
cation he has had from our diploma
tic service. Compelled to read note
after note or suffer the "gravest OF
consequences" can we blame him for
permitting his hot Spanish blood to
run riot with his mind and do what
all Mexieans do when even slightly
agitated-kill-kill-kill.
| Tha nlatform haa rtily andorsaS this