Middletown transcript., 1916-05-27
AMERICA-T THE ISSUE


~ the Republican party assume the
wrong issue in the coming presidential
campaign, the issue upon which the
people regardless of strict party lines
have already set the seal of their con-
demnation-nam high tariff.
The tariff does indeed need rational
reformation to replace the unskilful
Underwood attempt; but while this
question is one of the minor issues, it is
not the main issue upon which the cam
paign will be fought.
With a faulty born of the Bourbonism
that never forgets, never learns, the
reactionary standpat minority of the
party, are Ginning in with the cunning
Democracy, that the tariff is the issue,
hoping once more to fool the people
with high tariff framed in the in
terests of Big Business.
Fortunately for the country whose
honor, aye, whose independence is
threatened both at home and abroad,
the Republican party is going to make
the vastly greater and more important
questions of the Nations safety, 'pre-
paredness'' and Americanism, the
chief issues.
Nor is it strange that the Democratic
party has no desire to get the verdict of
the country upnn these vital questions
on bunglingly handled by their president,
his cabinet, and their Congress in three
years of Mexican folly and fifteen
months of Germanic shame. They
would much prefer to see the Taft-Pen-
rose-Barnes crowd once more smash the
Republican party on this false issue of
an intolerably high tariff
The burning issue before the Ameri-
can people at this moment is whether,
unmolested by foreign assaults, or by
domestic intrigue, we may be free to
carry on our form Of government as the
fathers established it. In no small
sense, we may say there is need now of
a second Declaration of Independence,
backed up by force of arms as the
fathers of our Republic backed up theirs.
For the first time in our history, one
of the foreign elements, fleeing foreign
tyranny, and Hospitality welcomed to
our shores is proving a peril. With
boundless impudence the German Kaiser
has attempted thru his agents here,
native and foreign, to terrorize with
torch and bomb the industries of our
country.
These so-called ''German-Americans"
encouraged by the cowardly weakness
of this administration, have dared to
subordinate our government to the
Kaiser's. Not only have they by
secret and criminal means sought to in
terfere in our domestic affairs, but they
have had the insolence to threaten thru
their German societies to use their
thousands of votes in a way to hamper
the free exercise by the Republic of its
lawful functions of self-government!
A widespread system Of foreign in
trigue and espionage with the lavish use
of money, has been set on foot here by |
Germany, aided by her ambassadors
and consuls, like Dumba, Bernstorf, |
Fay, Boyd and others.
Moreover, amazing as the folly may !
seem, this un-American administration,
thru its highest law oficial-now Secre-
tary of State-Lansing, has officially |
declared that the son of a naturalized |
citizen, tho born in this country, owes
an equal allegiance to the ruler of the
country of his fathers birth /
This monstrous doctrine which over
turns the Constitution of the United
States, article XIV, which declares CAN
persons born, or naturalized, in the
United States, are citizens of the
United States, was announced some
months ago by Mr.. Lansing when he
refused passport to an American citi-
zen, born of a naturalized father, in
Louisiana, who wished to go on business
to France, his fathers native country.
So what with hyphenated treason and
Democratic cowardice and denial of
American rights, it is high time this
country was asserting in unmistakable
terms both those rights and determi-
nation if need be, to fight for their
maintenance.