Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-10-29
GIBSON REPLIES
TO CHARGE MADE
BY DEMOCRATS
Has Always Stood for Amer
icanism and Always Will
Majority of Progress
sives for Hughes.

In reply to the attack made upon him
from Democratic sources regarding his
statement issued after the Chicago
convention, ]. H. Gipson, chairman of
the Hughes Alliance for Idaho, issued
a statement declaring that he has al
ways stood for Americanism and pro-
poses to continue to stand for it, He
further makes the assertion that for
every prominent Progressive in the ma
tion supporting President Wilson he
can name 10 as prominent Progressives
supporting Governor Hughes. His
statement follows:
Il notice that our Democratic friends
are paying a good deal of attention to
a certain statement of mine made at
Chicago Immediately after the all
journment of the Progressive national
convention. Our friends of the oppo-
sition are trying to establish my course
as very inconsistent and for that pur
pose they pick out one public utter
ance of many, AS long as the matter
has been raised. it might be just as
well to go into it thoroughly
an a letter to Meyer Lissner of
California. published in the California
Outlook and reproduced in the Weisor
Signal Sept IS, 1915, ] said:
"'At the present time, dwarfng into
insignificance all other matters are the
great question of adequate national
defense and strong foreign policy.
The very existence of the nation is
threatened by the past attitude of the
administration towar, the first. and
our national prestige at home and
abroad has been dealt such fearful
hiOtyc NV n
that every decent citizon should hang
his head in shame. 1t will take many
years of firm diplomacy to restore our
self respect and to redeem our repu-
tation abroad.
the attitude of the Pro
gressives in 1916 must be governed by
the necessity of first maintaining the
national honor at home and abroad
In an interview published in the
Capital News on April 20, 1916,
closed my statement with the follow
Ing;
at shall be interested. in the coming
campaign in seeing to Just what
lengths human mendacty can go in
defense of the presidents Mexican
policy. Any man telling the truth
about it would characterize 1t as the
must NdCllidt tilB.ss ,Ili-hAiItrICtti, ~ iIiur
man and altogether. dangerous course
ever followed by any president since
Buchanan paved the way for the war
of the rebellion.
In my speech opening the last Pro-
gressive state convention, l further
emphasized my position that American
ism was the vital issue, and denounced
the president for not protecting the
lives and tthe honor and the property
Of American citizens abroad.
PRoGRESsfvEs ARE FOR HUGHES.
81 think that the course am pur-
suing in effectively opposing Wilson is
the only course that | could have fol-
lowed consistently, and my Democratic
friends who are disappointed should
have followed with more care my pub
lie utterances as a whole, if they were
at all interested in learning what part
Twas to take in this campaign.
Nationally, and in the state the
vast body Of Progressives are for Gov
ernor Hughes. Naturally the tendency
has been for former Democrats to sup
port Wilson, and some very able men
from the Democratic party Joined the
Progressive movement. l think, how