The Coconino sun., 1920-06-18

Ifan platrOfm TOT lSZU as a0Opte0 at the Chicago convention:
 The republican party, assembled in representative national convention, re- affirms it's unyielding devotion to the constitution of the United States and to the guarantees of civil, political and religious liberty therein contained. It will resist all attempts to overthrow the foundations of the government or to weaken the force of it's controlling principles and ideals, whether these attempts be made in the form of in temational policy or domestic agita- tion.
 For seven years the national gov ernment has been controlled by the democratic party. During that period a war of unparalleled magnitude has shaken the foundations of civilization, decimated the population of Europe, and left in its train economic misery and suffering second only to war itself.
 The outstanding features of the democratic party have been complete unpreparedness for war and complete unpreparedness for peace.
 Unpreparedness for War.
 Inexcusable failure to make timely preparations is the chief indictment against the democratic party in the conduct of the war. Had not our as- sociates protected us, both on land and sea, during the first 12 months of our participation, and furnished us to the very day of the armistice with muni- tions, planes and artillery, this fail ure would have been punished with disaster. It directly resulted in un- necessary losses to our gallant troops, in the imperilment of victory itself, and in an enormous waste of public funds literally poured into the breach created by gross neglect. Today it is reflected in our huge tax burden and in the high cost of living.
 Unpreparedness for Peace.
 Peace found the administration as unprepared for peace as war found it unprepared for war. The vital needs of the country demanded an early and systematic return to a peace-time basis. This called for vision, leader ship and intelligent planning All three have been lacking. While the country has been left to shift for it. self, the government has continued on wartime basis. The administration has not demobiliZed the army of place holders. It continued a method of financing which was indefensible dur ing the period of reconstruction.
 It has used legislation passed to meet the emergency of war to con- tinue it's arbitrary and inquisitorial control over the life of the people in ftr,,n of ySfa onI tA rc,n into industrial life. Under the des- pots plea of necessary or superior wisdom legislative usurpation of legis- lative and judicial functions still un- dermines our institutions.
 Eighteen months after the .armistice, with it's war time powers unabridged, its war time departments undiscarded, its war time army of place holders still mobilized, the administration con tinues to founder helplessly.
 The demonstrated incapacity of the democratic party has destroyed public confidence, weakened the authority of government and produced feeling of distrust and hesitation so universal as to increase enormously the difficulties of readjustment and to delay the re- turn to normal conditions. Never has our nation been confronted with gray CT problems.
 The people are entitled to know in definite terms how the parties propose solving these problems. To that end the republican party declares it's pol icies and program to be as follows:
 Constitutional Government.
 We undertake to end executive au- tocracy and restore to the people their constitutional government.
 The policies herein declared will be carried out by the federal and state governments, each acting within it's constitutional powers.
 Congress and Reconstruction.
 Despite the unconstitutional and die tatorial course of the president and the partisan obstruction of the democratic congressional minority, the repub- lican majority has enacted program of constructive legislation which in great part, however, has been nulli- fled by the vindictive vetoes of the president.
 The republican congress has met the problems presented by the admin istration's unpreparedness for peace. It has repealed the greater part of the vexatious war legislation. It has en- acted transportation act making pos sible the rehabilitation of the rail- road systems of the country, the oper- ation of which, under the present dem ocratic administration, has been wasteful, extravagant and inefficient in the highest degree. The transpor- tation act made provision for the peaceful settlement of wage disputes, partially nullified, however, by the presidents delay in appointing the wage board created by the act. This delay precipitated the outlaw rail road strike. N.bE
 We stopped the flood of public treasure, recklessly poured into the lap of an inept shipping board, and laid the foundations for the creation of a great merchant marine; we took from the incompetent democratic adminis- tration the administration of the tele- graph and telephone lines of the country and returned them to private