Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1922-04-24
STANDPATTERS DEFINED.

VI LdCllollS. LIE paTt! Wv isloi III"
gave the word standpatter a place IN
the political vocabulary of the country
among republicans on the tariff qucs-
ton. That question Is not at ISSUE il
the present contest for the senator
ship. 1t is some years since Iowa re-
publicans divided ON >tandpattcr and
progressive lines and since the terms
standpatter and progressive disappear
ed from Iowa republican politics.
Sioux City Journal.
For the benefit Of younger voters ii
might be well to indulge in some brief
"reminiscences of the fights between
prOgressives and standpatters within
the republican party that were at
their height during the second adj
miniStratiOn of Roosevelt and that end
ed with the election of Wilson in 1912.
| The Freeman-Journal doesn't agree
with the Sioux City paper that it was
question that caused the fractional al
vision in the party. True, the name
standpat came from Mark Hanna'S re-
ply to the question of Il senator: What
shall we do about the tariff:'' Stand
pat was the quick rejOinder of the
noted Ohio politician.
At that time there was not much
difference within the party, nationally
speaking, in regard to the tariff.
True, this state had advanced the
Iowa idea" But what was that idea !
Why, it was that the tariff should he
revised downward and that the meas
ure Of protection should be the differ.
ence of cost of production in this
country and abroad. The idea spread
and in due time was incorporated in
the national platform
The designations, "Standpatters" and
"progressives," came to be applied ac'
cOrding to the attitude Of various re.
publicans upon various public ques.
lions. The standpatters generally held
to old methods. Here in Iowa they
were opposed to the primary, fought
Cummns when he lead the fight TO
eliminate railroad domination of the
politics Of the state. At tha I
time the standpat leader in Iowa was
Joseph w. Blythe and he was backed
by such men as Robert q. Cousins.
John f. Lacey, LATE Young. Pete Hep
burn. Judge Birdsall, Leslie NJ. Shaw
Col. d. J. Palmer, and by such news
papers as the Sioux City Journal, Cel-
ar Rapids Republican, Des MOincs
Capital, and practically all of those
published in what was known as the
@. reservation, embracing the southern
third of the state. That section Of
Iowa was SO completely under the die
tatiOn of Mr.. Blythe that he could
swing one-third of the votes Of a re-
publican state convention by mere
nod of the head or wave of the hand
and Mr.. Blythe gave the signal at the
psychological moment and for years
named nearly all the candidates for
state offices.
Mr.. Blythe's rule was finally broken
under the leadership of Cummins and
such standpatters as Bob Cousins, Maj
on Lacey, Peter Hepburn, Judge. Bird
sail and John A. II. Hull were retired
from congress and their places filled
with prosressives.
Nationally the standpat leaders We're
such men as Senator Aldrich, Mark
Hanna, Senator Foraker, Congressman
Cannon and Senator Quay. These men
usually took the side of the corpora
tons and were in favor Of letting well
enough alone" Theodore Roosevelt
was the real national leader of the
progressive element, but he tried har;i
to be neutral, desiring TO hold the party
together. 1t was his influence that
nom mated Taft i'm 1908 and the pro-
gressive element of the party thought
they had secured victory in the cleo
ton of Taft. However. it soon devel-
oped that Mr.. Taft lacked the elements
OF strong leadership and 1t was not
many months until the standpatters
had great influence at the white house,
an influence they did not WELD when
Theodore Roosevelt was president.
DolIiver described Taft's administra-
ton fairly as to its standpat leaning
when he said Mr.. Taft is surround
cd by very able gentlemen who know
just what they want and how to get
it," That was as far as DOlliver cared
to go, but it was enough to state the sit
uatiOn in a nutshell. Taft finally came
closely associated with the standpat-
tcrs and progressives lost all influence
at the white house. Mr. Taft did not
consider them as republicans ana
sought to punish progressive congress
men and senators by withholding the
usual cOurtesicS in the way OF sO-call'd
patronage and did all he could to dis