The Richfield recorder. (Richfield, Idaho) 1909-1931, 1916-11-03
Senator Borah and His Arrangement Of
President Wilson
How the President Provoked Condition of War with
Mexico "Details of His Broken Promises


I exists In the archives at washington
D l shall make some statements to yor
, which would possibly upon their fac
seem exaggerated, and, therefore,
have taken the precaution to brinl
with me in this campaign either tn
record or the reference to the rccort
: of any statement of facts which / shall
r make. l would not want to make thu
, criticism which l may make upoi
, some of these matters upon a mer,
assertion of my own. and l say to you
therefore, that l shall not discuss thes,
matters other than upon the actua
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 l might read his exact words:
! Boosting is always an empty bust
ness, which appeals to nobody but the
boaster, but l have no doubt of what
the Democratic party has accomplish
ed. 1t has merely fulfilled the prom
ises which it made to the people four
years ago. The Republican party"
says our honored President was put
out of power because of failure-fail-
ure, practical failure and moral fail
ure.'
Now, my friends, that presents the
issue which l am going to call to your
attention for few minutes 1t is a
fair presentation of 1t, and the Presi-
dent was entirely correct in submitting
the proposition as he did, and / 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 I 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.)
1 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 it was
kept. (Applause.)
Neither am 1 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 it that we
were providing competitive trans
portation system as against land trans
portation. 1t was, therefore. the opin-
lon, both of the Republicans and DEM
ocrats, four years ago that it should be
a free canal. And our honored Presi-
dent in the campaign four years agol
said that 1t was a free canal and
should be free canal because the
farmers of the country should have
a system of transportation for the
carrying of their freight to and from
their places of residence in compe-
tition with the land transportation of
the country. However. that plank was
afterwards. I might say disregarded, |
i
But these are not the matters about
which 1 am going to talk. or upon
which / am going to dwell, because
there are one or two planks about
which 1 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 it is not conducted in
open debate upon the floors of our
1t is on the contrary
formed, digested and concluded in
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
)wn way, with his remarkable capacity
'or stating a proposition, to explain
he great fault of secret legislation; ;
hat it is system by which corrup t
ion is maintained and sustained in the /
L.
10 matter could be of greater concern
o the people of this country than that {
I'll laws of whatever nature be framed l
n the open, after thorough debate, s
ind in the full gaze of the hundred {
Millions of people. n
1 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 8
actually been framed and shaped
by the Congress Of the United 7
States since the fourth day of q
March. 1918. /
Our fathers, when they framed this s
government framed a Congress that (
perated in the open and all laws were a
to be framed in the open t
fter amendments had been offered q
nd adopted after full discussion. and c
repeat without fear of successful Ii
that not single impor- O
ant measure has been enacted. or has \
cen framed and shaped by the Cong h
ess itself as a Congress since the o
ourth day of March, 1913. Well. h
hen, you say where has 1t been form t.
d. 1t has been framed in secret Il
aucus, behind closed doors, from h
yhich the press Is excluded. from a
hitch the public is shut out, and the Il
ecord of which no man knows nor o
an know. If you were interested as d
constituency in knowing who offered fl
a amendment to the Underwood bill, g
nd how 1t was voted upon; how 1t t.
as shaped or framed; II you were a
lterested in knowing how the Federal tt
eserve Act was shaped or formed, d
on would have no means in the world a.
{ acquiring that knowledge. because W
was framed exclusively in secret. W
hat is to say. 1t could not be changed b.
ithout the approval of the caucus. hi
For fear that you may suppose that tt
am exaggeratins that statement, ] w
Ill read you statement from q dis OF
nguished Democratic Senator. q man m
exceptional ability, and enc of the tn
aders Of the Senate while one Of the al
AoG fr<<l ~