The Penn's Grove record., 1916-06-23
PARTY OF MONOPOLY
Republican Leaders" Cannot
Change 1t.
Organization Always Has Been With
"BIg Business" and the interests
of the People Have Received
Small Consideration.

Our neighbor the Tribune, which has
spasms of honest radicalism now and
then, has delivered an ultimatum to
the Republican leaders, parts of which
we take pleasure in reprinting, says
the New York World:
do these whom a certain fondness
for the obsolete phrase still moves US
to call the leaders of the Republican
party desire to re-elect Woodrow VIII
son?
"The thing can be done. In fact, it
can be lone with ease and with merely
incidental campaign activities if only
Penrose, Barnes, G%allinger and a GER
tain number of equally eminent gen.
tlemen turn their entire effort to the
task.
THE Democratic party cannot save
Mr.. Wilson, but the Republican parL
can save him as easily as it assumed
the responsibility for electing him four
years ago."
The trouble with the Tribune is that
1t does not understand the Republican
party. The Penroses, the Barneses,
the Gallingers and the rest of the old
guard are not accidental leaders
clothed with a little brief authority.
They are the Republican party. They
represent the things that the Repub-
lican party represents. They embody
it's principles, and if they were to re-
tire, other Republicans who embody :
the same principles would succeed
them.
These men are the links that con-
meet the Republican party with the
great financial interests, with the great
corporations, with the tariff monop-
olists and with all the elements of
special privilege without which the
Republican party could not survive.
The Republican party is essentially
a property party, and when these men
put property first they are promoting
the true Republican doctrine.
1t makes little difference who the
Republican candidate for president is,
his political environment makes him
the candidate of property. Whether
Hughes or Root or Roosevelt or Bur-
ton or Harding or Fairbanks or Nc
Call is named at Chicago, he will be
named by the cohesive power of prom
erty, and if elected he will give the.
country a property administration. He
could not do otherwise if he would. A
Republican congress is bound to beAa
property congress, a Republican faS-
m1nistration is bound to be a propert,R
administration.
No other president ever ranted
much against property rights
Roosevelt, and no president was eve \
more docile when he was confronted
with a crisis that involved property
rights. Yet Roosevelt merely followed
the genius of his party, and when he
gave assurances to Wall street that
the administration will not run
amuck," he was only announcing that
the Republican party controlled the
government.
The Tribune cannot expect the Re
publican party to be anything but the
Republican party. When a political
party has championed property year
1919 Jul Ooty IL CdnlIOI CuduS6 1IS
habits If it would. Nor is there any
real desire in the Republican party for
a change. Every Republican leader
knows that the n chance of Republi-
can success next fall lies in a massed
attack Of the great property interests
on the Wilson administration. With
out the support of Wall street, of the
stock exchange, of the banks, of the
railroads, of the predatory tariff cor
porations, of big business, of steel, oil
and the like, it would not be worth
while to hold a Republican national
convention and nominate a candidate.
The Tribune must take the Republi.
can party as it is. When it assails the
character of the leadership of the par
ty, it is ~assailing everything that
makes Republicanism Republican.