SAYS NATIONAL
PARTY IS OEY
i QJENTTODAY
Democratic Nominee Flay*
Republican Administration
In Acceptance Speech
Clarksburg. W. Va., ‘ ~ N
8)—The full text of tne acceptance
speech of John W. Davis, democrat
ic nominee for the presidency, fol
low®: . . ...
Mr. Chairman and members of tne
ocwmlttee: ......
"You will understand, with inti
explanation on my part, the 1f«<sl
ings which have led me to t x.our
meeting at this spot In the
West Virginia. These are the hills
that cradled me and to which as
boy and man I lifted up my e>e.
for help. In this eoll rest four gen
erations of my people — artl®a"“;
tradesmen, farmers and a BPrInk11"®
of the professions, laborers all, wn
played In simple fashion their ap
pointed parts In the life of this com
munity. Among them now .le tho
who gave me life, and to whose
high precept and example I owe
all that I have ever been and all
that I can hope to be. These wit
nesses who surround us are the
companions of my youth and man
hood. With them most of my dajs
have been spent, and when circum
stances have called me elsewhere
they have followed me with a re
gard and affection that has laid on
me a debt of gratitude greater than
I can repay. Twenty-five years
ago they first called me to then
service as their representative m
the legislature of this state, and
Since that day, in public office or
In rrlvate life, I have fought with
them unceasingly the battle for
democratic Ideals and democratic
principles. Of their own free will
and motion they presented my name
to the democratic convention as one
deserving Its consideration. Better
than all others, they will know
whether what I sliaU say to you to
day Is In keeping with the convic
tions 1 have expressed and the ac
tion I have taken In the past, and
more than any others, they will re
sent anything 1 may say or do that
•hows thel:.' confidence misplaced.
It Is In the presence of these hills,
these graves, these witnesses, that
I wish to hear your message and
give you ihy reply.
Heaiixes ureai i
"You come to give me official
notice that I have been chosen by
Una democratic party as Its nominee
ffcr the highest office In the gift of
the American people. You Invite
me to take the reins of leadership
and marshal Its hosts for the com
ing campaign. ; No weightier com- A
mission could be laid on any man.
He must be vain Indeed who does
not feel hla own unaided strength
inadequate to such a task, and he
must he ambitious beyond reason
whom thought of fame or honor
tempts to undertake U without the
fullest sympathy with his party and
its alms.
“I reflect, however, that you
ara the representatives of mil
lions of Americans who arc dla
oatiofiod with existing condi
tions, who long for the day
when America will set her face
to the front again and who ara
rsady to follow whenevar the
forward march begins. And
I have raad your platform and
Ite declarations of party prin
ciple and find them such as I
can heartily approve. For these
things I thank God, and take
courage.
"I take note, Mr. Chairman, In
passing, of what you were good
enough to say concerning my past
career and conduct as a lawyer. I
have no apology to offer for either.
The answer to any criticism on that
score must come not only from those
who, like yourself, have won the
highest distinction at the bar, but
also from the more than 100,000
other honest and patriotic men and
women who make up the legal pro
fession In this country. They know
and they will gladly Join you In tes
tifying that the upright lawyer sells
his services but never hts soul. A
Word of personal history In this con
nection, however, may not be out of
place.
wnen l wai aaviseu oi me pur
pose of President Wilson to appoint
me to the high office of solicitor
general, my first act was to surren
der all private employment and to
sever my connection with the law
firm of which 1 was then a member
and of which my revered father was
the head. From that day until my
duties as ambassador to Great Bri
tain were ended, eight years later, I
had no other client or employer than
Iths government and the peoplo of
the United States. Whether 1 served
{them well or faithfully, not I, but
Others must say.
"As soon as the convention, over
Which you so ably presided, had
taken action In my behalf, 1 realized
that I was called upon to repeat my
former sacrifice. Within the week,
therefore, I signified to all my clients
that I could no longer serve them,
pnd severed my connections with the
honorable gentlemen who were my
professional partners.
"1 have no clients today, but the
democratic party, and, if they wBl
It so, the people of the United
States."
"Many and grave are the problems
ef the hour, and all the resources or
patriotism and statesmanship at our
command will be taxed in their so
lution. The allied forces of greed
end dishonesty, of self-seeking and
partisanship, of prejudice and ignor
ance, threaten today ae they have
Barely done before the perpetuity of
•ur national Ideals, traditions and In
stitutions. Men are looking askance
•t one another; are mistrusting one
another; are doubting each the other’s
good will tdl honesty ef purposa
The solidarity of the great war haa
given way to a chaos of blocs and sec*
tlons and classes and interests, each
striving for its own advantage, ca*o
less of the welfare of the whole.
Government Itself, to which the
humblest citizen has the right to turn
with confident reliance in its even
handed Justice, has fallen under the
prevalent distrust.- There is abroad
in the land a feeling too general to
be Ignored, too deep seated for any
trifling, that men in office can no
longer be trusted to keep faith with
those who sent them there, and that
the powers of government are being
exercised in the pursuit of person
al gain Instead of the common ser
vice.
"Out of this and because of it
there has developed in alarming
tendency to take the administra
tion of the law out of the hands
of constituted officials and . to
execute its processes through, in
dividuals or through organised
societies, by methods little differ
ent from those of private re
venge.
"A situation so threatening to the
very foundations of the social order
demands boldness in facing the
causes which have brought it about,
and tireless exertion in the effort to
remove them.
“To bring the government
back to the people is and always
has been the doctrine of democ
racy. Today, In addition, It is the
supreme need of the hour to
bring back to the people confi
dence in their government. The
search for the causes of this
state of affairs leads us at once
to the history of the last four
years. In 1920 we passed through
a political campaign in which ma
tsrialiam was preached as a
creed and selfishness as a nation
al duty.
bather Forces Discontent.
"All the forces of discontent were
marshalled and the embers of every
smoldering hate were fanned Into
burning flame. We have eaten of
the fruit of the tree that was planted
and It has been bitter In the mouths
of even the most Indifferent. I speak
with restraint when I say that It has
brought forth corruption In high
places; favoritism In legislation; di
vision and discord In party councils;
Impotence In government and a hot
struggle for profit and advantage
which has bewildered us at home and
humiliated us abroad. For all these
things the party now In power can
not escape the responsblllty that Is
its due. No repentance at the ele
venth hour and no promise of reform
can cancel half a line of the indis
putable facts
Reoalle Carnival of Corruption.
“The time demands plajn
speaking. It is not a welcome
task to recount the multiplied
•candale of these melancholy
years; a senator of tfie United
8tates convicted of corrupt prac
tice in the purchase of his sena
torial seat; a secretary of the In
terior in return for bribes, grant
ing away the naval oil reserves
so necessary to the security of
the country; a aeeretary of the
navy Ignorant of the spoliation
in progress If not indifferent to it;
an attorney-general admitting
bribe takers to the department of
Juetioe, making them hia boon
companions and utilizing the
agencies of law for purposes of
private and political vengeance; a
chief of the Veterans’ Bureau
stealing and helping others to
steal the millions in money and
supplies provided for the relief
of those defenders of the nation
most entitled to the nation’s gra.
titude and care. 8uch crimes are
too gross to be forgotten or for
given.
do not believe that the millions
of sincere and patriotic men and wo
men who have composed the rank
and file of the republican party are
moro ready to condone these and
similar offenses or to pardon the of
fenders than those of other political
faiths. Indeed, their Indignation has
perhaps a sharper edge, for It Is
coupled with the chagrin that must
follow from the knowledge that under
authority issued in their name cor
rupt men have crept to places of pow
er and then betrayed the trust that
placed them there.
Executive Took No Action.
“There are circumstances, how
ever, which spread responsibility for
the effect of these things upon the
public confidence beyond the list of
the criminals themselves.”
"There ie, first, the fact that
the revelation of these crimes
wee not the reeult of any action
takon by tho executive.
"No burning Indignation there
put in train the forcer of Investiga
tion and of punishment. The dis
closures came only as the result of
the painstaking effort of faithful
public servants in the legislative
branch of the government who could
not close their eyes even when oth
ers chose \o slumber.
“Again- when discovery was
threatened, instead of aid and
assistance from the executive
branch there were hurriod ef
forts to suppress testimony, to
discourage witnesses, to spy
upon investigators and finally,
by trumpsd-up indictment, to
frighten and deter them from
the pursuit.
“The spying on senators and con
gressmen; the hasty Interchange of
telegrams in department code; the
refusal of those accused to come
forward. under oath, to purge
themselvea—all these things serve to
blacken a page that was already
dark enough.
“Different perhaps in moral qual
ity, but hardly less painful to the
country, has been the attitude of
some of those In high places whose
effort It has been to weaken the ef
fect of these exposures by crying out
not against the guilty but against
those who exposed them. What
shall we say when a statement
comes from one who ef all men
should have been most deeply stlr
red that the wonder Is not that so
many have fallen but that so few
have been shown untrue? With
what patience shall we greet the li
belous suggestion that, after all,
theae are but inolients provoked by
the demoralization attendant upon
the great war? Is memory then so
short that we no longer recall the
heroic days of 1917 and 1918, when
America rose to heights of moral
grandeur unsurpassed, when every
meeting place was a temple and ev
ery house a shrine? Shall we for
get that no taint of dishonesty or
corruption has ever attached to any
man who held public office during
that great struggle or to any man
who continued to hold office under
the federal government until March
4, 1921? Shell shock was late Indeed
In arriving If It ha to be put forward
now as the excuse for these gross
misdeeds.
8ets Out Q. O. P. Indictments.
“I charge the republican par
ty with this corruption in of
fice. I charge it also with fav
oritism in legislation. I do more,
I charge it with that grossest
form of favoritism which givea
to him who hath, and takes
■way from him who hath not.
To pervert high office to per
sonal gain is an offenso detest
ed by all honest men; but to use
the power of legislation pur
posely to enrich one man or set
of men at the expense of others
Is robbery on a larger scale
though done under the forms of
law.
“In the passage of the Fordney
McCuryber Tariff Act, Imposing the
highest rates and duties In the tar
iff history of the nation, there was
an unblushing return to the evil
days of rewarding party support
and political contributions With
legislative favors.
uoniuman n mu nn.
"In the language of one of the
advocate* of that measure: ‘If
we take care of tha producers
the consumers can take care of
themselves.’ For every dollar
that this statute has drawn Into
the treasury of the United
States it has diverted five from
the pocket of the consumer Inte
the pockets of the favored few.
Although the republican plat
form adopted at Cleveland holds out
to the taxpayer the elusive promise
of relief to those who are ‘daily
paying their taxes through their
living expenses,’ as Indeed they are.
It nowhere offers any promise of a
reduction in tariff duties,
but lauds the existing bill as
the summit of human wisdom.
Is there not something of hum
or as well as honesty lacking in
those who in one and the tame
breath can promise • reduction
of the cost of living and praiae
a statute which rAises the price
of the elemental necessaries ,of .
life;
who can demand, as they should,
the payment of our foreign debts
but refuse to accept from the debtor
the goods In which alone payment
can be made; who clamor for an
American merchant marine but de
ny it the cargoes necessary for Its
existence?
'"When a reduction In the burden of
income taxes could no longer be de
nied, the country was presented With
the Mellon bill, offered by the ad
cnlnts'tratlon to the people as the last
word on that subject. When it met ,
the test of impartial analysis here,
too, there appeared the motive
to favor the few poeeeeeore of ,
swollen incomes beyond tho many
of modorato means.
Under democratic initiative and de
mocratic guidance, a bill was passed
In Us stead, so changing the weight
and emphasis of the proposed reduc
tion as to give the greater relief to
those whose tax payments pressed
upon their scale of living. Although
the executive approval this bill re
ceived was grudging and reluctant,
not even the submissive convention
at Cleveland dared to suggest that
the Mellon bill be revived and adopt
ed as a substitute.
"We assert In our platform that
the republican party ‘believes that
national prosperity must originate
with the special interests, and seep
down through the channels of trade
to the less favored Industries, to the
wage earners and small salaried em
ployees.
IA Laa aasamiI! onf Uponorl nPl ■
vilege and nurtured selfishness.’
I repeat the words and I register the
emphatic dissent of the democratic
party from that doctrine.
"I charge the republican party with
corruption in administration; with
favoritism to privileged classes in
legislation. I charge it also with
division in council and Impotence in
action. No political party has the
right to hold the reins of government
unless it can exhibit the cardinal vir
tues of honesty, sincerity and unity.
Of these the last is by no means the
least important. No matter how
lofty the ideals or how pure the pur
poses of any party, the country Is not
served unless it possesses both the
will and the power to carry these
Ideals and purposee into effect. When
it becomes a leaderless and incoher
ent nob it must give way to some
rival better fitted for the task of <
government.
■’Need I dwell on the picture that
the last twelve months presents: On
«m.« side the executive, on the
other the memberi of his party in
both houses of congress, seeking dif
ferent aims; entertaining different
views; advocating different meas
ures? The executive proposes ad
herence to the existing World Court.
The request falls on dull ears until
finally the leader of his party In the
Senate brings forward, manifestly
for obstructive purposee, an entirely
different scheme.
“The executive demands the
Mellon bill end members of hie
party In both houses of conflreea
regular and Insurgent, hasten to
reject it. He disapproves the ad
justed oompensetion act but con
gress re-enacts It by the required
two-thirds majority.
Touches Postal Wage Booet
“Congress passes a measure grant
ing to postal employees an Increase
In their meager salaries; the presi
dent disapproves It. He protests
against the restriction on Japanese
immigration; congress adopts It.
Whenever before did a party In con
trol ot the executive and of a major
ity in both houses of congresa pres
ent so pitiable a spectacle of discord
and division? By what right can a
political organisation so led and se
disciplined appeal for a further lease
of power? Four years ago the re
publican party, In snarling criticism
of the great leader then in office,
promised to 'end executive autoc
racy.’ It has fallen into the pit that
It dug, for its efforts In that direc
tion have succeeded beyond its wild
est dreams.
An executive who cannot and
will not lead, a congress that
cannot and will not follow
how can good government ex
ist under such conditions?
"Nor is it in domestic matters
alone that the symptoms of this
creeping paralysis have appeared.
Not only have the executive recom
mendations for adherence to the
World Court, sanctioned as they are
by long American tradition and ex
ample, been flouted and Ignored, but
no evidence is in sight that the re
publican party as now constituted
can frame and carry to its conclu
sion any definite and consistent for
eign policy.
"Four years age we were prom
ised a new association of na
tions to be created in order to
protect and preserve the peace
of the world. No single proposal
of this sort has yet appeared
from any of those who so loudly
promised it. With the recon
struction of Europe weighing
heavily on the world; with Am
erican economio life dwarfed and
stunned by the interruption of
world commerce; with the agri
cultural regions of the west sink
ing into bankruptcy because of
the toss of their foreign markets;
we have stood by as powerless
spectators, offering to the world
nothing but private charity and
individual advice.
it is well enough to praise in un
measured terms the charity of the
American peoples It is not an un
worthy pride that makes ug dwell
upon the efforts Individual Ameri
cans have made toward the solution
of great world problems. But the
question which presses itself upon
the mind and conscience of the Am
erican people and will not be denied
Is what they, as a nation, speaking
through their government, have done
or dared to do in this field of action.
The Washington conference alone
aside, and that of more than doubt
ful value, what single contribution
has the United. States of America, as
an organized nation among nations,
made to world peace in the last four
years?
Ridicules Unofficial Observers
"Individual Americans have gone
abroad but they went without the
blessing of their government. ‘Un
official observers’ have appeared at
international conferences where Am
erica,
if present at all, should hsve
been present as an equal among
equals.
When but yesterday three Americans
went to the conference on ■ repara
tions. whose fruitful outcome all the
world desires, Washington was
prompt to disclaim all responsibility
for their going though eager to take
credit for whatever they might ac
complish.
"We achieved only what one
of tham haa called a ‘bootlegging
participation.'
‘•Three weeks ago, In the city of
London, there came from the secret
ary of stata himself an amazing con
fession of this Impotence. Said he,
*I may give it a* my conviction that
had we attempted to make America’s
contribution to the recent plan of
adjustment a governmental matter,
we should have been involved in a
hopeless debate and there would
have been no adequate action. We
should have been beset with demands,
objections, instructions. This is not
the. way to make an American con
tribution to economic revival.' If I
can read these words aright, they can
mean only this: that by reason either
of the inability of the executive to
lead or the unwillingness of his party
to follow.
the foreign affaire of the United
States, including the great and
vital question of European settle
ment, must be left in private
hands.
We must face the humiliating fact
that we have a government that does
not dare to speak Its mind beyond
the three mile limit.
"A political party, which Is at best
but human, may make honest mis
takes; they can be forgiven. It may
pass unwise laws; they can be re
pealed. It may, through honest error
set men to task beyond their power;
they can be displaced and others
chosen in their stead. The unpardon
able sin, however, for It Is a sin that
strikes at the national life, is con
duct so corrupt, so partial and so
feeble that It shakes the public con
fidence in government Itself.
”1 indict the republican party
in its organised capacity for hav
ing ehaken public confidence te
its very foundatiens. I charge it
with having exhibited deeper and
more widespread corruption than
any that this generation of Amer
leans has been called upon to
witness.
I charge It with complacency In the
faee of that corruption and with |
ill will toward the efforts of hon
est men to expose it. I charge
It with gross favoritism to tha
privileged and with utter disre
gard of tho unprivileged.
I charge It with indifference to world
peace and with timidity in the con
duct of our foreign affairs. I charge
It with disorganization, division and
Incoherence, and on the record I
shall ask tha voters throughout the
I length and breadth of this land to
pase Judgment of condemnation, as
a warning to all men who may aa
plre to public office, that dishonesty
either In thought, word or deed, will
not be tolerated In America. I can
not doubt what verdict they will
render.
Democratic Creed Is Church Creed.
"When they have made their an
swer they will turn to us, as It Is
right they should, and ask what w«
have to offer In exchange and what
pledges we con give that our offer
will be performed W* are ready
for the question. We are prepared
to offer a democratic program baaed
co democratic principles and a guar
anteed by a record of democratic per
formance. This program, we have j
outlined in our platform; these prla
clples are those by whkoli the dem
cratic party has been guided through
out the years—and which like the
creed of the church should be re
peated whenever democrats assem
ble—
a belief in equal eights to all
men and special privilege to
none; in an ever wider and more
equitable distribution of the re
wards of toil and industry; in
the suppression of private mon
opoly ae a thing indefensible and
intolerable; in the largest liber
ty for every individual;
In local self government as against
a centralized bureaucracy; in public
office as a public trust; in a govern
ment administered without fear
abroad or favoritism at home. And
our pledge will be the long roll of
beneficent legislation passed during
our years of power, and the conduct
without scandal or corruption of a
great and victorious war fought un
der the gallant and inspiring lead
ership of Woodrow Wilson.
"I have expressed, in general terms,
my approval of the proposals con
tained in our platform. You will not
expect me at this moment to discuss
them in detail or to outline the meth
ods by which they are to be carried
into effect. There will be time enough
for that. Far more important than
the language of such documents is
the spirit that breathes through them
and gives them life. The country has
the right to know whether under the
guidance of the democratic party
it will follow a course of wise and
continued progress, or be given over
to the delusive panaceas of the
dreamy radical or the smug compla
cency of the conservative who thinks
that all goes well if only it goes well
with him.
Progressives and Reactionaries
“The words ‘progressive’ and ‘re
actionary’ have been much used in
American politics. There has been
little effort to define their meaning.
They are becoming mere tags which
politicians fasten on themselves or
their opponents without indulging in
any mental process that remotely re
sembles thought, fiut, like shipping
tags, the thing which really counts
Is the destination written on them—
progress to what; reaction from
what—that Is the real question. Mo
tion may be either backward or for
ward; it may even be going around
in circles. * - '
"From my point of view he
only deserves to be calied a pro
gressiva who cannot see a wrong
persist without an effort to re
dress it, or a right denied with
out an effort to protect it; who
feels a deep concern for the eco
nomic welfare of the United
States, but realizes that the
making of better men and wo
men is a matter greater still;
who thinks of every govern
mental policy first of ail in its
bearing upon human rights ra
ther than upon material things;
who believes profoundly In human
equality and detesta privilege in
whatever disguise, and who finds
whatever form or in whatever dis
guise, and who finds the true test
of success In the welfare of the many
and not the prosperity and comfort
o- the few. The civic unit of Ameri
ca is not the dollar but the individual
man. All that goes to make better
and happier and freer men and wom
en is progress; all else is reaction.
Progressives of this sort, though
they may not care to use the name,
nevertheless In their hearts are
democrats.
“We shall strive, therefore, for the
things that look to these great ends;
for the education of our youth, not
only in. knowledge gathered from past
ages but in the wholesome virtue of
self help;
For the protection of women
arrd children from human greed
and unequal laws; for the preven
tion of child labor and for the
suppression of the illicit traffic
in soul destroying drugs. We
shall conserve all the natural re
sources of the country and pre
vent the hand of monopoly from
closing on them and on our
water powers,
so that our children after us shall find
this still a fair land to dwell within.
And to the veterans of our wars, es
pecially to those who were stricken
and wounded in the country’s service
and whose confidence has been so
cruelly and corruptly abused, we shall
give, in honor and in honesty, the
grateful care they have so justly
earned.
Hits Labor Injunctions
“Concerning our sentiments to
ward labor there it room for
neither doubt nor cavil in the
light of our past history. The
right of labor to an adequate
wage earned under healthful con
ditions, the right to organize in
order to obtain it and the right to
bargain for it collectively, through
agents and reprssentatives of its
own choosing, have been estab
lished after many years of weary
struggle. These rights are con
ceded now by all fair minded men.
They must not be impaired either
by injunction or any other de
vice.
“The democratic party, however,
goes a step beyond this. Its attitude
has been well described as one in
spired neither by deference on the one
hand nor by patronage on the other,
but a sincere desire to make labor
part of the grand council of the na
tion, to concede Its patriotism and to
recognize that its knowledge of Its
own needs giv e It a right to a voice
In all matters of government that di
rectly or peculiarly affect Its own
rights. This attitude has not changed;
it will not change. Democracy in
government and democracy in in
dustry alike demand the free recog
nition of the right of all those who
work. In whatever rank or place, to
share In all decisions that affect
tlietr welfare.
Promises Farmers Prosperity Laws
“To tho farmere of the Un'ted
Statee alto we promise not pat
ronape but such laws and such
administration of tne laws as will
enable them to prosper In thair
own right. They are not mondi
cants end. fortunately for all of
ua, are willing to taka tha risks
that attand their all important
calling. Thay are entitled in re
turn to a government genuinely
interested in their problems and
keenly desirous to serve them
to the limit of its power. They
feel today, more severely per
haps than any others, the de
pressing effect of discriminatory
taxation. Buying in a protected
market and selling in a market:
open to the world, they have
been forced to contribute to the
profits of those in other indus
tries with no compensating ben
efit to themselves.
Assaults Farm Tariff
“Recent experience has prov
ed, if proof were needed, that air
effort to help the farmer by as
tariff on his products, is the
baldest political false pretense
He knows as well as any econo
mist can tell him that the price
he gets for his surplus crop de
pends upon conditions at the
place of sale; and he realizes,
that his permanent prosperity
depends not upon the decrease
through crop shortages of the
quantity he has to soil, but up
on the restoration and expansion
of the market to which his good*
must go. When he faces a*
many do today, impending bank
ruptcy and ruin, it is small com
fort to be told by those who are
solicitous to protect other indus
try from all possible competi
tion that the farmer’s salvation
lies wholly with himself. The
‘courageous ana intelligent de
flation of credits’ which the re
publican party promised in its
platform four years ago, would
have come with better grace.and
have proven more acceptable in
its results if there had been at:
the same time any effort to nar
row instead of widen the gulf
between the prices which th*
farmer receives and those which
he is compelled to pay, and to
assist him in finding a market
for the things he has to sell. We>
propose to see to it that the dis
criminations which the tariff
makes against him shall be re
moved; that his government by
doing its share toward a Euro
pean settlement shall help to re-r;...
vive and enlarge his foreign
markets; that instead of lip
service to the principl* of co
operative marketing the force*
of the government shall be put
actively at work to lend assist
ance to these endeavors; that.
. the farmer shall be supplied
not only with Information on.
problems of production but witb
information such as the dealer
now receives concerning the prob
able use and demand for hi*
product, so that he may be en
abled to think as intelligently
as the dealer in terms of con
sumption and demand; and that
in times when general and wide
spread distress has overtaken
him, every power which the
government enjoys • under the
constitution shall be exerted ' in
his aid.
“He Is entitled, too, to demand an
adequate service of transportation
at reasonable rates. In spite of the*
failures and shortcomings of exist
ing laws, this is an ideal which I
cannot believe to be beyond th*
reach of attainment. If the season
al production of the farmer’s crops
is the pulsation of the nation's heart,
the railroads of the country ar© tho
veins and arteries through which it»
life-blood flows. Neither can hop©
to function without the other’s aid;
and it is quite as important to tho
railroads that the farmer should
prosper as it is to the farmer that
the railroads should be adequately
paid for the service that they
render.
Need Slice in Taxes.
"Believing that no people are truly
free who are unjustly taxed, wo
promise to the people of America
not only revision and reform but a.
further reduction in the taxes that
weigh them down and sap their vigor
of their productive energy. Tho
exorbitant rates and discriminatory
provisions of the present tariff law
must be wiped out, and in their
place must be written, with fairness
to all and favors to none, a statute
designed primarily to raise revenuo
for the support of the government
and framed on a truly competitive
basis. We have no hostile design
toward any legitimate industry; wo
purpose no action that would tear
down or destroy. But we are re
solved that the laying and collecting
of taxes shall remain •
a public and not a private busi
ness and that monopoly shall
find no section of the law be
hind which to hide itself. Tho
rates of the income tax should
be further lowered. * Unneces
sary taxation is unjust taxation
no matter on whom the burden
falls.
I am ready to agree that there Is
no right In government to tax any
man beyond Its needs solely because
he la rich; and yet I stoutly hold
that every dictate of reason and
morality supports the rule that
those who derive from the common
effort of society a greater share of
Its earnings than their fellows must
contribute to the support of the
state a proportionately larger share
of that which they have received.
Nor will we overlook the sound dis
tinction which exists in principle be
tween those Incomes gathered with
out effort from Invested capital,
and those which are the product of
exertion day by day.
Insists on Rigid Economy.
“And with reduction, Indeed as a
condition precedent to it, there must
be economy In every part of the
governmental establishment. I shall
If elected welcome the opportunity
to support and strengthen the be
ginnings which have been made li»
the direction of a national budget
and to co-operate with congress to
that end. We must have. In addi
tion, an economy which consists not
merely in securing a dollar's worth
for every dollar spent, but that far
less popular form of economy which
imitates the prudent
householder in doing without
the things one wishes but can
not at tha tims afford. Econ
omy, howevr, begins at tha
(Continued an pegs three.)
