New Britain Herald Newspaper, May 10, 1916, Page 9

NEW. RBRITAIN DAILY HERALD. WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 1916. ‘Cummings Answers M’ Lean In Defense of Democracy - Delivers Brilliant Keynote Speech at State Convention, Ex- ploding Arguments of Republican Senator Against Wilson and Policies of His Administration. » New Haven, May 10.—Homer 8. Cummings of Stamford, chairman of the democratic state convention and avice chairman of the national com- mittee, held the audience of 500 dele- | bill gates and visitors at the state con- | ¥ram they will receive scant atten- tion in the courts of popular opinion. do the senator assert that his plea was one unrelenting partisan- vention in Music Hall in this city in the closest attention while he deliv- cred the keynote speech last night. He handled his subject with the grip of & master and when his exposition of the aims and accomplishments of democracy was concluded the big hall rang with cheers. The chamber was filled to capacity, the gallery and open spaces being crowded with interest- ed spectators. Cummings Lauds Wilson. In his address he sounded the key- “note of the campaign in the east and thoroughly endorsing the Wilson ad- ministration with regard to the Euro- HOMER S. CUMMINGS. pean situation as well as the policy in Mexico. His speech also included a defense of the present tariff and the measures for preparednes: Presi- dent Wilson was compared with Abra- ham Lincoln for his exemplification of patience and the speaker severely criticised Senator George P. McLean for his arraignment of President Wil- .son and the democrats and -Wilson bffered no substitute or beneficial change and their policy was destruc- tive rather than constructive. The Keynote Speech. Mr. Cummings spoke as follows. Gentlemen of the Convention: We assemble upon the eve of an- s.other presidential campaign. Mani- festly the hour is a critical one in the affairs of the country and of the world. We have been blessed by an abundance of prosperity hitherto un- known in our history. For nearly two years there has been progressing in the old world the greatest war :known to mankind. All the great nations of the KEastern Hemisphere are involved, the foundations of the governments of several hundred mi! lions of people are imperilled and, indeed, the destinies of the human race are at stake. How far and into what quarters this conflagration max spread no man is now so wise as to be able to foresee. Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, taly, Turkey, Serbia. Montenegro, Bulgaria, Belgium, Portugal and Japan are already victims of this unparalleled, international cataclysm, while Roumania, Greece, Holland, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden are armed camps, with all the normal functions of national existence Adisturbed or suspended, awaiting, with anxious concern, their -turn to be summoned. Our country is the one great nation In world that has not been drawn into the awful vortex of war. We not only have peace and prosperity. hut we have them under circumstances that emphasize their priceless worth and the folly of taking any action “that may imperil them. And vet, such are the necessities of partisan- ship, politicians who place party and not America first are criticising the | administration, maligning the presi- dent, slandering our public officiais and hysterically calling for a change of leadership. It is a spectacle s amazing as it is discreditable. Tt does not require the vision of a seer to know what judgment history will pronounce upon those small minded critics who, in the period of a greut national crisis. placed party above national honor and with every devica known to envy and malice ungener- ously sought to add to the burdens that events had placed upon the shoulders of the President of the 2 United States. Partisan Criticism. A characteristic form of this cri- ticism is found in the address deliver- ed by Senator McLean at the re publican state convention, held at Hartford on the eleventh of April. I think that even the most ardent ad- mirers of the eloquent and versatile senator will not contend that ad- iress was a work of constructive statesmanship. Seizing adroitly upon minor details in the work of the ad- ministration he magnified them out of all proportion to their real con- sequence, overlooked the great ac- hievements of the last three years and demanded a return of the republiczn | party to power without suggesting. {hroughout his entire address, any definite policy or indicating what al- Yternative course the administration ~ould have pursued which would ha more completely acc orded with the Mgnity and the traditions of America. A criticism which does not offer an destructive criticism. constructive statesmanship. Generalities will not do and until the critics of the administration of particulars improvement and a better | American peo | that form of statecraft. Republican Difliculties. is only fair to ad- mit that the task set for the senator without its difficulti ‘Keynote™ speech is well nigh an whole pars The senator did the He strove would be heard to Tokio,” of the Hartford mory are mnotoriously inadequate. responsible for levity over a subject es- sad, but the vain attempts republican | upon a candidate or a platform pro- | duce contortions ple are in no mood for Neverthelegs, ) impossibility he could. “Hartford properties wonderful { To whom will the republic ' turn for leadership something the Colonel is ready. | party evidently needs someone can discover an issue and the Colonel is the greatest discoverer of all time. He discovered the river of doubt and, recently, while in the West Indies, he discovered a devil hird with whiskers our friends The republican Why should discovered Cuba, wild-cats, Amageddon, Kettle hill, civil ser- the square mandments, | the Golden Rule, be denied a nomin- ation in a republican convention? To be sure the Colonel called the leaders of that party George W, generously but now he is for peace—at any price, honor—even has to fight for it. And after all, why crooks. To do otherwise is of social justice. also recall the republican ‘“rotten husk"—but this w: all the meat understand “‘Buffaloed” but viewing the question candidate.” publican platform of Connecticut de- mands the nomination of a “tried re- republican, been more tried or trying Theodorus t? And what republican has tried more republicans than the discoverer the be-whiskered devil nuts? There is justice even Africanus a sudden the Colonel republican in penance for all, the Colonel is the only one who offers an understandable criticism of The Colonel bound to have hair-shirt party must wear president’s wants war recently as interview, four sons g0 and one, and perhaps, both of my the young I friends of my sons will go; on in the same interview he gave forth and all their fellows will die in thou- The whole family and Theodore and his sons arve going thousands. his sons-in-law mollycoddle, Nicholas Longworth The Colonels policy reminds me of revolution- Rebellion. “Willing to | other band, of a similar kind, seeinz inscription and. during the Boxer | scription thrilling words, “Determined to that a third band was banner bearing the ‘Already dead.” Republican organized Delegation. be expected sympathize the sorrows of the republican party. insiuating characteristic distinguished senator, I could depict in appropriate language the moving sorrows of republican cut as it proceeds toward Chicago. delegation Connecti- little off the keys) cries out, carnivorous gether in harmony?” an authority on 1 timidly before that of migratory statesmen are permitted dangers of at Chicago, encounter some ap- lpropriatc legislation should be pass- ed for their protection. Of course, I do not mean to in-| timate that John T. King or J. Henry Roraback requires protection —from any carnivorous hawks. Quite the contrary, my friends, quite the con- trary! T am more concerned as 10 the safety of Charles Hopkins Clar and the other members of the dele- gation. What will they do when they get to Chicago to save the nation from peace and prosperity and Wil- son. The world is full of perils, especial- ly to the distrought politician. There is no telling what the day may bring forth and they may return from Chicago as enthusiastic patriots sup- porting Roosevelt and war, or high- minded idealists urging the election of Henry Ford on a platform of uni- versal peace. Of course, it is impossible to ha- zard a conjecture on any basis of reasoning or logic as to the next candidate of the republican party or the principles upon which he will be put before the nation, for that party has neither an available candidate in sight ner any discoverable principles. However, I hazard the prediction that the nominee will not be eHnry Ford. His machine has no self-starter and Mr. Ford has exhibited tendencies indicative of so much benevolence and so kindly a feeling for the under dog in the struggle of life that the stand pat republicans would not feel happy in supporting him. However, I must not worry unduly about the fourteen republican dele- gates to the Chicago convention, be- cause, after all, they will not hav anything to say about who the can- didate will be and so they are spared a good deal of the worry which will have to be borne by Penrose and Barnes and the other elder statesmen of the party. Republican Principles. The question of republican princi- ples will also be a source of , em- barrassment. Some republicans think the president has gone too fast and others that he has gone to slow. It is going to be difficult to harmon- ize these divergent views. but the co- hesive power of public plunder will work wonders and the call to th standard of the party will bring many a doubtful patriot into line. When that time comes we shall have na more exhibitions of statesmanship such as those indulged in by our old- time friend, Ebenezer. When the Mc- Lemore resolution was before the heuse and four of the republicav congressmen from this state voted to support the president, Ebenezer vot- ed the other way. Now Ebenezer is a great statesman, who knows all about the tariff; and he can rattle the dead bones of a moribund issue even more vigorously than Senator Mc- Lean himself, and in addition to that, Ebenezer has discovered a new me- thod of running for office. The law limits the expenditure of a congress- man to $750 or thereabouts. The statesman from Norwalk devised a plan by which he could run for congress and get the benefit of an expenditure of nearly $10,000 and avoid unpleasant contact with the public statutes. This is statesmanship of a high order and. therefore, it w t0 e expeeted that whem Bbenezer iy 00 L W8, e 008 was called upon to explain why he voted against the president he would give forth a sapient reply. He did. Fe said that he had good reasons— but that he would not divulge them to the public for fear of embarrassinsy his four republican colleagues who had voted the other way. That was not only statesmanship—it was self- abnegation, amounting, almost, to “something heroic.” Peace and Prosperity. Of course it is to be expected, the campaign progresses. that we shall hear, from time to time, archaic and provincial arguments concerning the tariff. Senator McLeéan pursues this obsolescent method and closes his “Keynote” address with an allitertive epigram, as follows: Preparation and protection will bring peace and pro perity.” This is the summation of his argu- ment. ‘Is it possible that the sen .ator has been umbering and that the world has passed and he knew it not Peace and prosperity arve here. They are with us now. It is not a question of how to get them—hut | how to retain them The out of touch with events. It seeks to turn back the hands upon the dial of pro- gress and to restore the regime of privilege and graft that America has put behind her forever. Tt is a party of opposition and not of achieve- ment. If the democratic party wer2 in a similar condition of mental col- | Japse and moral bankruptey with nothing to offer but incoherent words of unpatriotic protest what would our republican friends say? I fear that they would be unkind enough to suggest that we were iG- capable of managing the comple | affairs of government and should not be entrusted with power. The Underwood Tariff Act. Within the limits of this addr it is impossible for me to more than touch upon the outstanding accom- plishments of the present adminis- tration. In 1908 the Republican Party promised to revise the tariff sched- ules. Events had made that prom- | ise necessary. The dving pledge of President McKinley had to be re- deemed. He said ‘“the day of ex- clusiveness has passed.” The Amer ican people were beginning to take | larger view of our economi: needs. They had learned that the cryv of | protection was being used to enable certain favored classes to write sched- ules so unjust as to be matters of public scandal and which furned the wealth of the people from the many toward the few. After the election of 1908 the managers of the Repub- lican Party proceeded to revise the schedules, not downward, however, in the interest of the people, but upward in the interest of the interests This breach of faith with the American people brought its inevitable conse quences and in 1912 the Democratic Party was entrusted with power. Our platform promises have been re- deemed. What we said we would do we did The Underwood Tariff Act which took the place of the Payne-Aldrich Act has not deprive: n in- dustries of any proper tariff ad- vantages, but it has deprived the &reat trusts of an opportunity to con- tinue their plunder of the American people. Indeed, our Republican critics almost without exception, have abandoned the claim that Amerizan Industry requires higher schedule rates than trose now in force. The chief criticism that Senator MecLean makes of the Underwood law is that it has not supplied the revenuc neces- sary to run the government. Tt is amazing that in the face of the offi- cial reports concerning the revenue obtained under the Payne-Aldrich law and the Underwood law such a con- tention should be made. Any candid student of the question will easily see that the source of much of the disagreement as to the per- formances of the two acts grows cut of the fact that the crities of the Un- derwood law intentionally fail to take into account the fact that the pro- vision for an income tax is part of the revenue bill and that it was the purpose of the Underwood law to re- lieve the people of some of the burden of taxation at the Custom House and to make up the difference in income taxes upon the wealth of America. The government reports . discluse that all ordinary receipts for the f cal year 1912 amounted to $691.785,- for the fiscal year 1913 to $724.- 29; and for the fiscal year *914, the first vear that the Underwood law was on the statute books to $734,343,- 700. In other words, the Underwood law in 1914 collected $10,232.471 mcre revenue than the Payne act in 1913, and $43.565,235 more than the Fayne | act in 1912, Nor is the Senator anv | more successful in his discussion of | trade balances, The favorable bal- ance for the fiscal year ending June 30 1914, during nine months of whi~h the Underwood law prevailed was nearly three hundred million dollar: greater than the corresponding vear under the Payne law—and if we select ten months from the passagse of the TUnderwood law until the breaking out of the war, and compare them with a like period following the enactment of the Payne Jaw, we find a or- able trade balance of over one hLun- dred and fifty million dollars greater under the Democratic law than under the Republican law. Our Republican friends, however, tell us that we are now obliged to increase the income tax in what they call “a time of peace.” Tt is unthinkable fhat an intelligent people will be disturbed by assertions of this character. Tt 1s common knowledge that additional appropriations have been made to in- crease and strengthen various branch- es of our government. Republicans and Democrats participated in passing these measures. Amongst them were appropriations for the Federal Trade Commission and the Alaskan Railway. Moreover, wo are upon the eve of expending more money upon our army and na’ in obtaining a greater degrce of pre- paredness. In the meanwhile, the war has interfered with importations and some means must be taken 1o supply the taxes for the support of the zovernment if we are to have the things for which no one clamors mo publican party. It is hypocrisy pushed to the ex- treme to demand large appropriations for army and navy and, at the same time, criticise the Democratic Party for attempting to pass the laws which are necessary to secure the revenue to carry out these projects. Rut Senator McLean tells us that we must have a Republican tariff because after the war the goods of Europe will | be dumped upon American shores Here speaks partisanship rather than statesmanship. It is much rore like- ly that after the war comes to an end the United States will he unable to make goods as fast as Europe will take them. After the war Europe will be industrially disorganized. Fu- rope is organized for war and not for the orderly processes of peace. Mil- lions of her strongest citizens are disabled or dead. It is a provincial spirit which inspires the Senator to fear the industrial competition of crippled and depopulated Kurope. The real anger is that Europe will have enough goods to trad= for our goods. TInternational trade con. in the exchange of commodities for commodities. Is it possible that Sena- tor Mcl.ean imagin that interna- tional trade can be carried on with- out an exchange of goods? Tha sup- ply of gold is limited. Trade {hat dc pends upon getting the other inan gold and not his goods woull not last very long The Tariff Commission. But against even this possibility the statesmanship of President Wilson had protected us. The president advocates, and con- gress will shortly pass, a provision for a non-partisan tariff commission. The president say commission such as I have suggested would have nothing to do with theories of policy. They would deal only with the facts of in- | dustry and of the conditions of eco- | nomic change prevailing in the world, | 5o that legislation of every kind that touched these matters might be guid- ed by the circumstances disclosed by its inquiries.” The Stamford Advocate, a republi- can paper, commenting upon this at- titude on the part of the president said, “No honest protectionist asks for more than that the economic facts concerning each item in the - tariff schedule should be ascertained by ex- perts and that the rates made in con- sequence should be guided by the cir- cumstances disclosed by their in- quiries.” There has never been any serious trouble with the ‘“honest protection- ist.” Our difficulty has been with those selfish interests in this country that have sought to use the taxing power of the government to promote their private interests and in return therefor have contributed munifi- cently to the coffers of the political party that has permitted that form of graft and corruption. This is the vicious thing against which the democratic party has raised jts stan- Gard. No honest protectionist could ask for a restoration of the Payne- Aldrich bill and no honest protec- tionist can have any the condition or s serve act. You many pecople wanted congress to ad- journ and not to touch the currency The president, however, insisted. that congress should completing this aw, It is not the passage of purpose. Now, there is statesman in America, sible banker who is heard to criticise that law. On the % proval has been Senator McLean ought to have been one central bank or five central bank He forgets that American people great central bank Andrew Jackson the courage with daemands of concentrated capital the early days of the republic. are not, however, technical criticisms of immaterial de- tails. The federal passed over the tematic opposition of the republican | party, backed by Panks and all their power and sup- rorted by a filibuster conducted Senator Root, the of the Tepublican from the moment of its passage, that act has been an unqualified and com- plete success, Two days after speech there official report of the comptroller of This report that the resources Lanks of the United States on March 7. 1916, amounted to dollars, exceeding by 307 million dol- lars the greatest known in the history of the national banking system, 2,271 million dollars the resources of the national banks statement of the alsa showed that the currenc sources of the United States exceed thousand million gatle resources of the bank land. the Bank t Russia, the many, the Bank the Swiss National pank of Japan Tt also discloses in deposits in the amounted to more than the of all the deposits in all the national banks twenty figures show the stupendous resources of this country, perity and the successful maobilization of its finances under the leadership of Woodrow Wilson. Until the present came to the fullness there has not been any perity In this country publican panic of 1907. | panic was one of the most inexcus able in our history and was primarily Gue to the archaic condition of our financial system rule. The passage 'of the federal reserve act saved this dustrial and financia) When the war isturbed the finances of the ade and commerce insecure institutions were endangered destroyed. and, in many This was a world condition. FEvery nation suffered from panics stroyed and bank constant necessity. survived the shock financial ability millions of dollars abroad during the war. Such is the | of America, and mind is not distorted by and whose soul full credit to the wise statesmanship of Woodrow Wilson envy, will give Income The democratic {he statute books an income tax. primary purpose contemplated this legislation tion at the custom 100m in our system wealth. Taxation house is per capita, and the man who | toils for his daily proximately the | man who counts lons. An income tax the doctrine of “cquality of sacrifice,’ and was necessary to Telieve our sys- tem from the reproach of being un- sustly burdensome to the poor. The passage of this law was a be- lated recognition principle which had found a place in the systems of practically civilized nations reactionaries of the character would suggest this law and the makes no such demand. Direct Election of U It must not forced the passage of tional amendment providing for the direct election of United States sena- {ors by popular vote. accepted this reform cne is heard to demand a {he previous and conecern about ability of industry when it is to be protected by the non- partisan tariff commi president proposes. ihe proposed act is to take the tarift out of the realm of partisan discus- sion and to reduce its difficulties to mere matters of business. What honest American can fail to support such a policy? Federal Reserve Act. The next great President Wilson was his insistence upon the passage of the federal re- remember that on which the The purpose achievement not adjourn constructive disputed that, until the federal act, the currency United States wa chaotic and unsatisfactory prevailing in any civilized nation. of the federal reserve leen the only thing accomplished by President Wilson, sufficient to give him enduring fams, Resisting pressure with that patience and courage char- acteristic of him, one of the adhered to his disinterested not a respon- unanimous. that there eal of twelve. instincts of the | and the fame of rests largely which he met the concerned organized Wall Street | intellectual Senator McLean's 13,832 million aggregate banks of the about three which United States senators were elected. The Clayton Act and the Mederal Trade Commission. A wise and far sighted adminis- tration has also given us two addi- tional measures of reform that have contributed to the saftey and se- curity of American business—the Clayton act and the federal trade commission. Dollar Diplomacy and Pan-Ameri- canism, When the present administration was installed in office it not only in- herited from the previous administra- tion a series of distressing complica tions growing out of the situation in Mexico, but it also inherited the dis- | trust of the less powerful peoples of this hemisphere and the hatred of the victims of a form of diplomacy known as “dollar diplomacy.” The first task of the administration, which t trlumphantly accomplished, was to destroy ‘dollar diplomacy” and to make it apparent to the world that America did not propose to force its financial favors upon reluctant peoples. Our action during the administra- tion of Mr. Roosevelt, with reference to Columbia and Panama, as well as our previous history in the war with Mesica in 1848, had made the task of dealing with the South American republics and extending our trade th them, one of exceeding delicacy. Even the most unrelenting critic of Mr, Wilson must admit that under the guidance of the present adminis tration Pan-Americanism has become a reality. The very difficulties that we have had with Mexica, including the complications at Vera Cruz, have been taken advantage of to bring about a wider sweep of international friendship on this hemisphere. Mexico. Tmpulsive and short-sighted critics complain of the policy adopted with reference to Mexico. Admittedly we have been patient, and if patience is o sin, we have sinned, but we are a great and powerful people and Wwe can afford to be patient. Patience in dealing with the turbulent, ex citable, ignorant and partially civil- ed people of Mexico is not a mark of the weakness and vacillation of our policies, but on the contrary, is a recognition of the true nobility of that great republic which, confident in its own strength, seeks to uplift fzllen humanity and to implant the aspirations of free government every- where. The firm adherence by President Wilson to this true conception of America has brought into our inti- mate and friendly counsels the rep- resentatives of Argentine and Brazil and Chile. In addition to this, when the question arose as to whether or not Carranza should be recognized, America did not act precipitately nor foolishly nor alone. It acted de- liberately, after full consultation | ana simultaneously . with Argentine, | Rrazil, Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guatamala, Uraguay and, indeed, Reichsbank Netherlands, past twelve months administration since the re- republican rope began it impaired, has had the partisanship | principles of human liberty? party placed all of the republican . Senators, forgotten that was the democratic The nation has practically all of the substantial gov- | ernments on this hemisphere, If the recognition of Carranza was a mistake, then all these other gov- | ernments have made the same mis- | take. Huerta, Some of our critics have suggested that the administration committed an crror when it failed to recognize Huer It 'is amazing that such a sug- gestion can be made by any respon- sible person, mindful of the hono= and the traditions of America. Recogni- tion is the acknowledgment of an ac- complished fact. If, at any moment, Huerta or his government had in fact ruled Mexico, and had been accepted by its people, the question of recog- nition might more properly have been | raised. There was never such a mo- ment. Huerta came to powers at the Mexican capital through the ass, sination of President Madero and | Vice President Suarez. Those “wen he caused to be imprisoned. And | when they were at his mercy e con- | nived at their murder. He usurped | control of the army, dispersed the congress, imprisoned a large number of its members, defied the courts trampled upon the constitution, in- { trigued with foreign nations ard then | had the audacity to stretch out his bloody hands to the president of the United States for the friendly hand- | clasp of recognition No government founded upon as- | sassination can endure. What excuse could the president have offered to the conscience of the world if he had | made friends with this political mon- 2 What extenuation could there been for such a betrayal of the Intervention. There are other critics who con- tend that the president should have intervened in Mexico. Intervention means war. It means a long, tedious, exasperating and bloody wvar. It means the sacrifice of millions or treasure and thousands of American lives, 1t ‘would imperil our friendly rela- tions with the South and «entra! American Republics It would dis- tract and divert the energies of our country at a moment when other and more important questions confront us. Manifestly, therefore, intervention is a last resort. Intervention in Mexico is not a new question. The first great republican president, Abraham Lincoln, had the same matter under advisement. If ou will read the communication writ- ten by William F. Seward, secretary of state, on April 6, 1861, giving Pres- ident Lincoln's views on intervention, vou will find that the spirit pervad- ing the document and the sentiments expressed by Abraham Lincoln at that time are identical with the spirit and sentiments of Woodrow Wilson. Let me read from this historic document ‘For a few vears past the condi- tion of Mexico has been so unsettled as to raise the question on both sides of the Atlantic whether the time has not come when some foreign power ought, in the general interest of so- ciety, to intervene. You will not fail to assure the government of Mexico that the president neither has nor can i ever have any sympathy with designs in whatever quarter they, arise. The president never for & ment doubts that the republicas tem is to pass safely through al deals and prove a permanent § in our own country and so ‘o b ommended to adoption hy all nations. The president is hopel the ultimate triumph of this & over all obstacles as well in re Mexico as in regard to every American state. I find the ard here full of complaints againsi Mexican government for violath contracts and spoliation and cru practiced against American ef It is not the president’s intenti send forward such claims at the ent moment. He willingly defe: performances of a duty which time would seem ungracious unt incoming administration in A shall have had time, if possib cement its authority These words of calmness, o bearance, of justice, of patien forth the policy of Lincoln. A wrong in assuming that the thoroughly and more honestly o the sentiment of America today: the whirling and seditious wo Root and Roosevelt and other san critics of the present Admi tion? And vet, my friends, we m forced into intervention. Thery limit to the patience and ta th| durance even of that great mi the white house. There are erful and corrupt and wicked at work in the republic, empl all the weapons of malice and der to precipitate a crisis with ico. Have not the thoughtful, minded men of America, who ow acknowledge a higher duty of courage, the patriotism and t telligence to sympathize ith president in his efforts to mal peace upon a basis consitent American traditions? The policy to the president respect of Mexico has already b to our side the moral and intell forces of this hemisphere, North and South America are in their efforts to prevent the flame of war from leaping acrof sea. Already we have had ancq ing assurances of co-operation support from the nations of America that appreciate the re of our purposes and the value 4 friendship. T say that to imped president, to embarass him, to his work more difficult, to haggl non-essentials, is to miss the & opportunity that has come *o jcan citizens in a generation—t portunity to lift America into t disputed moral leadership o world. Preparedness, At such a time it is discourag find a man of Senator MclLe: tellectual ability using such m less words as these: “The great war in Europe ha carried on in all its barbaro tails precisely as it would havd if the office of president of the States had been vacant.” What shall we say of such as these? I hope that it is n kind to suggest that they are t sult of cerebral flickerings. T characteristic of the efforts of wildered partisan who is strivj square his political prejudices his patriotic duty. Nor can t ator be regarded as either helpful when he ys: “Our army is equipped wit chine guns thdt will not sho night and aeroplanes that wil fly by day. Our soldiers faint if upon to march more than ten a day.” I assume that if this anything at all it is Intended| criticism of the democratic mf ment: ment of the army. Under sud] cumstances it may not be ung: to point out that President velt reduced the enlisted st during his term of office. Mr. velt became president on Sept] i4 1901 On the 31st day o 1902, the secretary of war, Mr. by diretcion of the president Roosevelt, issued an order re the enlisted strength of the ¢ from 15,840 to 14,040, of the lery from 18,862 to 17,742, @ the infantry from 38,520 to 4 or a total reduction in the ef strength of the United States ay 11,560. s Nor is the republican record reference to the navy any bett 1906, President Roosevelt decia 2 message to congress that the should not be enlarged, that adequate for our national pus and if existing warships wer placed -as they were abandond our needs would be met The Administration authorized in years seventy million dollars f spent on the chief fighting for the navy as against twenty-si lion dollars authorized the last two ars of administration The five naughts authorized under FPre Wilson will mount thirty-six fourteen-inch guns than the tw thorized by Mr. Taft Durin| four years of Mr. Meyer's serv secretary of the navy he obtain battleships. In the first *wp of the Wilson administration fiv tleships were authorized—beton European war began. Oup ments in the navy have ine: over six thousand since the ne ministration. A navy congf board headed by Thomas A. as its chairman, and twenty-twa bers selected from the eleven 1 engineering and scientific so has been established and the t and patriotism of these men ar at the service of the country, if one cares to survey our } he will learn that Grover Cle: and William C. Whitney starte navy toward whatever ascende enjoys today and Samuel J. was the father of our present & of coast defense But, my friends, I do not the republican party for not ing up a great army and navy. people would not have tolerat and no statesman forsaw the pi situation. But to charge the (Continued on Tenth Page)|