The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1916-06-16
HuGHEs NM FAIRBANKS.

The nomination of Theodore Roosevelt by the Republicans
would have had a meaning clear to every American mind That
candidacy would have raised high and made visible the issue
of opposition to Woodrow Wilson on the only grounds that make
it capable of statement. 1t would have meant that in the Judg-
ment of the Republican party the United States ought now to be
engaged in the European wal, that it ought to be at war with
Mexico. or as a conqueror actually in possession OF that country
The nomination of Mr.. Hughes must bear to foreign observers
a b~ewildering likeness to an express Endorsement OF the Ad-
ministration of Woodrow Wilson. Hei S a man OF the same Type
conservative. deliberate, accustomed to consider carefully the
consequences of his acts, never rash, never yielding to nasty
impulse or swayed by the heat of passion, yet wthal inferior
in capacity or experience. 1t is impossible to imagine Mr.
Hughes as President writing a message to Congress demanding
. great war credit and instant naval and military preparation
for a war with Germany because of the invasion OF Belgium or
the destruction of the Lustania. The utmost stretch Of fancy
does not enable us to see him asking Congress to declare war on
Mexico. The picture would be wholly imaginary, false to the
man and the occasion.
Yet the Republicans have absolutely no other issue upon
which with any degree of force and consistency they can de-
mand of the people a withdrawal Of their confidence in Presi-
dent Wilson. That issue they dare not raise. They condemn,
thew denounce, they use freely the adjectyes Of the language,
hut their nouns and verbs have no specific meaning. If Mr..
Roosevens denunciations of the Administration mean any
thing at all. they mean that he would have gone to war with
Mexico. That is the popular understanding Of what he is drlv-
inc at. He was the indicated and logical candidate, the only
candidate by whose nomination the Republicans would nave
clearly manifested their aversion to Mr.. Wilson's pohcy OF
peace, their preference for a policy of war. Even Mr. Roose-
velts words, while they fill the air with the din Of many eX-
plosions, leave no distinct impress upon the mind. President
Wilson, he says, has rendered to this people the most evil
service that can be rendered to a great democracy by its
chosen leader" By not going to war with four monarchies and
one republic? His words raise no other issue against Mr.. Viii
son that the mind of the people could grasp. To have put him
before them as a candidate, with loud outcries for war upon
his lips and a platform dehouncing the Administration for not
plunging the country into wal, would have put the Republicans
into the campaign with a deinable issue.
The candidate they have chosen has of necessity been
~speechless. He now says: 81 stand for the firm and unfinch-
ing maintenance Of all the rights Of American citizens on land
and sea-" Would Mr.. Hughes have gone to war about the Lusi-
tania, or would he have maintained unfinchingy the rights OF
American citizens on land and sea, as Mr.. Wilson has maintain
ed them, by the peaceful methods of diplomacy? The Presi-
dent has forced Germany to acknowledge the right Of our
citizens to travel upon the seas in safety and without molesta-
ton. In Heavens name, what more could Mr.. Hughes have
done? Had we gone to war, Germany now would be destroy
ing every enemy passenger ship upon the waters where her
submarines could hold their way, and we could ask no redress.
"n our foreign relations" he says, I'VE have suffered incalcu-
laby from the weak and vacilating course which has been taken
Wllu NBdAu " N1CAAOO' 'NcAASS5 GIN '~0"N~NN"
have wrung from Germany her consent to abandon methods of
warfare which her Government and a great part of her people
believe to be well justified and essential to the success OF her
arms. MI. Hughess statement is preposterous, his criticism
fiat and feeble. As his part in an agreement with Oyster Bay
it can be understood, but inevitably he lays himself open to
the inevitable question: Pray, what would you have done?'
And that question he will never answer.
Not less pointess are the candidates observations on Mr.
UJT,or,e ocur,a with NIevico. II vuas oJannentahfv uronp" saws
Mr.. Hughes. He must tell the country what course would have
been right, and then prove that it would have been more sue
cessful than Mr.. Wilson's course. Apparently, he would have
recognized Huerta. We sought to dictate, he says, when We
were not concerned. How would it have helped matters to Sc
up the pretense Of friendly relations with that old devotee o
brandy and %usurpaton? Responsibility for our relations wit
Mexico would have made Mr.. Hughes more cautonus abou
his language. Minor troubles there were inevitable. The majo
trouble of war with Mexico was the only sure way to end then