The - Plattsmouth - Journal
Published Seml-Weeklf it
R. A. DATES,
E.itereJ at thi Pjito.'The at Plattsmout h, Nebraska, sseco r.d-clas
matter.
$1.50 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE
TIIK
I'KKsinr.xTiAL
Kim:.
circuit.
The circult-rlder ;was a central
figure of the days of primitive Me
thodism. Going on horseback from
settlement to settlement, he minist
ered to the splrtual needs of a rug
ged but sterling people. The mu
tual confidence of pastor and flock
was confirmed by long acquaintance.
It was a relation founded on sound
understanding and community of in
terest. Our opening smile Is suggested by
the fact of the president's itinerary.
We fear it Is also partly deduced
from force of contrast. The visits
of the old-time circuit-rider had a
genuine and very deep significance,
both to himself and the communi
ties along his route. Can the same
be said of Mr. Tart's 13,000-mile
"swing-around-the-clrcle?" We do
no think so. Let not the spirit in
which we make this remark be mis
apprehended. Our negation is reluct
ant rather than otherwise. We
would be glad to find reason to be
lieve that the people of the United
States are likely to get some sub
stantlal returns from the presidential
tour. But the more we examine the
conditions and the probabilities of
this mammoth railroad Jaunt, the
more we are inclined to relegate it
to the category of events which are
brilliant and pleasing on the sur
face, which derive a certain import
ance from the distinction of the chief
personage concerned, which are at
tractive because of blazonry, blare
and parade, which Include the charm
oi social amenities, but are fruit
less of real results.
Let us first look at the tour la Its
political bearings. It was announc
ed from. the outset that Mr. Taft
was going to discuss the Aldrlch-
Payne tariff,
That statement, dry
IU la MIlltA T
and naked as it is, la quite enough to
et In a, painful light the pltiablllty
of the president's dilemma. What
does Mr. Taft intend to say about
the tariff? Better ask, "What can
he say?" Turn to view any facet
of the subject he will, he must find
himself narrowed down to a kind of
triangular alternative. He must
cither defend, explain or apologize.
Defense Is Impossible. Explanation
Is superflous. Apology Is confession.
It la a humiliating choice for Mr.
Tat. Whntever he says, he will find
himself framing a tacit indictment
Against his party.
We believe no mail realizes this
hotter than William Howard Taft.
His experience, both ns a lawyer and
Judge, must have taught him the dif
ference between a defensible and an
Indefensible cause. He has had
plenty of time for lucubration. The
mortifications of the special session
of congress, Its gross betrayal of the
republican pledges, the weak presi
dential compromise with the stand
patters at the end, have been follow
ed by weeks of reflection on the pres
ident's part. Mr. Taft Is a man of
far from romatic temperament he
Is characterized by a certain good
natured Impassibility. But if he
were to tell all he has thought, dur
ing these times when he has been
hugging the tariff to his pillow, it
would be found that the subject has
been little better than a nightmare
It is a Procrustean couch that ham
mock in which Mr. Taft has been
reclining In the Intervals of his vaca
lion golf-playing.
The first of the speeches mapped
out for the president's Itinerary was
delivered In Boston. If It was Intend
ed to strike a keyaote, it was a fail
ure. Naturally, Inevitably, a dec
laration wbb expected on the tariff
question. Mr. Taft kept as far as
possible from that ticklish subject
. He informed his hearers that he must
save something for other audiences
an excuse we would call childish If
saying so did not Imply a certain dis
Plittsxootl, Nebruki
Publisher.
respect to the president which we are
far from intending. So, let us call It
an Instance of Mr. Taft's constitution
al weakness the tendency to tem
porize. He deferred the hateful theme
for another occasion. But if Mr. Taft
winced at tariff mention before
Massachusetts audience, one can't
help but wonder what he will do with
It when he gets Into the middle west
and finds himself face to face with
thut phalanx whose chieftains are
men like Cummins, Beverldge, and
LaFollette. If he did not care to
tackle the New England heifer, will
he be very liable to take the western
bull by the horns? Well there Is
hardly enough of the toreador about
Mr. Taft for that. Unless we greatly
miss our guess, the upshot of his
tariff speeches will be a kind of plea
In abatement, a "wait-and-see" spe
cies of advocacy, which, by the way
was distinctly foreshadowed In the
BoBton remarks that now the tariff
bill Is passed, business condition
will be more settled. Yes, they will
But what has that to do with a cast
crime of sweeping violation of party
pledges, of a mighty national Issue
with Justice on one side and plunder
on the other? Mr. Taft should rea
lize that the situation Is not one
which can ' be glazed over by the
smooth casuistry which strives to ob
literate the boundary lines between
right and wrong. Now is the time
If ever, for clear-cut affirmation, or
repudiation. If Mr. Taft ventures on
the former he shames himself. If he
dares the latter, he brings himself
into fierce collision with his party
That is the wretched alternative of
the fork In the roads at which he has
arrived, aid one of which he must
tread, willy-nilly, or else take a bog
gy bypath across the marshes of
sophistry. 7 "
In Boston, Mr Taft devoted the
main part of his speech to a plea for
A . I 1 I - .
iruiiai aawuuni dsuk. i no audi
ence received the proposal in grim
silence. It is only fair to assume
they would rather have heard some
ringing sentences In favor of a pos
tal savings bank. But they cheered
when Mr. Taft referred to the neces
sity of curbing the corporations. The
silence, and the cheers, contained
pregnant hints. for Mr. Taft, If he Is
shrewd enough to take them.
Will the president eulogize Sena
tor Aldrlch in the west, the way he
did in Boston? That's an interesting
speculation. We wait to see. but we
do not hesitate to say that eulogy of
Aldrlch, coming at this time, will be
considered an endorsement of the
Aldrlch policies. And we recommend
Mr. Taft to consider whether he can
afford to do that.
AH of which goes to bear out our
opening statement, that this much
heralded circuit-ride of Mr. Taft Is a
large but purely surface episode. It
has no real bearings on his admin
istration, or on the welfare of the
people under it. The logical Inquiry
then Is, "Is It worth while?" In all
candor, we fall to find it so. Assur
edly It is not worth a $2G,000 trav
eling expense appropriation. Mr.
Taft will get little out of it, and the
people still less. National Monthly.
:o:
Any Democrat In Cass county can
point with pride to the ticket they
have nominated. Every one upon
that ticket is competent to fill the
position In every respect.
For several days the Omaha Bee
has failed to show up at the Journal
office. Occasionally we have given
Little Vlck a round-up, and th's may
have something to do with its stop
page. If it has, Little Vlck has not
only shown himself to be little in
personago, but little In his every-day
walk of life. He is very eager to go
after other people, but when he re
ceives some of the medicine himself
he gets his back up. The Bee is not
the only Republican paper In Ne
braska, and we can get along with
out It.
Here U another agitator. A preach
er down east offers a box of candy to
every young woman who will bring
two young men to church service.
:o:
Window glass was revised down -
h rnnr-HR. and now twenty-
three glass manufacturers have got- breast. The same men who are plan
ten together and advanced prices 10 nlng now to defeat Taft were plan-
percent. If they can't get you with
the tariff they will get you with a
trugt
-:o:
With hegs on foot at $8.15, cattle
In the pen worth $7.75, corn In the
crib at 62 cents, and wheat at Chi-
cago hitting the $1.13 mark, who will
deny Jim Hill's warning that more
farmers and fewer city dudes are es-
sentlal to the welfare of the nation?
We learn of numerous IlepuD
licans who will not vote for a third-
termer under any circumstances.
John D. McBrlde was defeated four
years ago, because he was running
for the third term, and we don't be-
lleve the people of Cass county are
going to elect a third-termer this
year.
:o;
Andy Snyder, candidate for record-
er of deeds, should be elected be-
cause he is a clever gentleman. Gen-
lallty and qualifications go hand in
hand Jn making a good county of-
ndal. Andv was reared on the farm,
and . comes of a pioneer family of
Cass county. He was nominated be-
cause it was thought he would be
the "right man in tne ngni piace.
And he will.
o:
In a conversation with several Re-
publicans Saturday they told us that
they had voted for John D. McBride
twice for sheriff, but when it came to
voting for him for the third term,
they refused to do so. So, they say,
It will be in the case of the present
incumbent. The voters are willing to
give an official two terms, but they
draw the line on the third.
:o: :
People should not be so eager to
condemn a man who has been ac-
cused of wrong-doing until they have
heard both sides of the case. But it
seems the American people are built
that way. Gossip sometimes makes
more trouble for an accused than real
charges preferred. People should be
ureihey are right-before (hey ta,lk
too much about matters and things
they know nothing about. The com-
munlty would be better off If they
would follow these rules
I :o:
Clell Morgan Is gaining friends In be fair fighting ground,
every section of Cass county. There What Is there left for the progres
Is not a better qualified man In the slves? Simple the central states,
county for the office of clerk. He has bounded on the east by the Ohio, on
served In the capacity of assistant to the west by Colorado, and on the
County Clerk Rosencrans for nearly south by Kentucky and Missouri,
four years, and every one who has Among these central states Is Mich
had business in that office knows well Igan, heretofore always controlled by
how , efficient and faithfully he has the railroad, lumber and copper Inter
performed his duties. Clell Morgan ests; Illinois, which has been true to
la every Inch a gentleman, and every Cannon, Hopkins and Lorlmer; In
one Is treated as gentlemen by hlra. dlana, where Senator Beverldge faces
He was brought up In Cass county the mighty Fairbanks machine, and
and has always proved a trusty em- Wisconsin, where LaFolIette's supre
ploye In every position he has been macy has already been successfully
employed. challenged, and where the progres-
:o:
QUESTIONS FOR MR. TAFT.
The Omaha News propounds the
following questions to President Taft, mftke them formidable, while right
but the editor is liable to wait a long here ,n Nebraska they are In com
tlme before he receives an intelligent D,ete contro1 of the Party machinery
answer, even If he receives any at and are conducting this year's cam
all: palgn as a stand-pat campaign for
"President Taft tells us that a cen
tral government bank of Issue (asl
proposed by Senator Aldrlch) will be
' i
a fine thing for us all. .
"But, says the president, it must thelr nsht wlth,n the Republican
not be controlled by Wall street. Prty." He knows it Is a hopeless
"President Taft points out a dan- flnt and that their votes come In
ger, and he owes it to us all to tell handjr for reactionary ' Republican
us how that danger may be avoided. candidates on election day. World
Answers to these three questions will IIera,d
help: :o:
"What do you mean by Wall street Any other Persn going through the
control? country, other than the president of
"How could Wall street be pre- the Unlted States, defending the
vented from controlling the central Payne-Aldrich tariff, would have been
government bank If Its stock Is own- hooted at- 0ut of aspect for the
ed by individuals or national banks? nftme President they greeted him, not
"Do you favor the ownership of wlth that cheerful "Plrlt, however,
the central bank by the federal gov
ernment Itself?"
:o:
A HOPELESS FIGHT.
Progressive Republicans of the cen-
r! and WMforn atafM r 1 ready I
beginning to talk, with considerable
frankness, about making a fight
against Taft's nomination and for the
control of the national convention In
U912 -
I a t - a.
P P"ngs eierna! in me numan
nlng, last year, to nominate him
They want to defeat him in order to
wrest control of the Republican party
from Aldrlch, Cannon and "the sys-
tem
A year ago they wanted to
nominate him for the same reason
They won a great victory then they
thought. They have found since that
H was no victory at all; that "the
system" knew what It was about, and
secured the nomination and election
of a candidate as safely reactionary
as any whose name was before the
convention
How can progressive Republicans
hope to fare better next time? Under
whose banner shall they make the
fight? Roosevelt's? It was Roose-
velt who stood sponsor for Taft. It
was Roosevelt, moreover, who during
the entire seven years of his admin
lstratlon never raised a finger to les
sen the Iniquities of the tariff or to
resist Wall street encroachments on
control of the national currency and
finances. Under Roosevelt and Cor
telyou, with Piepont Morgan for their
principal adviser, the United States
treasury was as close to Wall street
as subservient to Wall street In
fluences, as ever in the history of the
country. What reason Is there for
believine. then, as to either tariff or
currency ana nnance, that Roosevelt
would be any Improvement on Taft
Shall some other candidate, as (for
instance) Cummins of Iowa, be taken
up? What hope would there be of
procuring his nomination in a Repub
lican convention as against Taft with
"the system" at his back? We can
s
see very little
Supporting Taft, in the first place
will be found the solid New England
states, and the great trust states of
New York, New Jersey and Pennsyl
vania. Next will be found all of the
southern statea, lined up by the fed
Ural brigade, which not only controls
but largely constitutes the Republican
I party of the south, The state of Ohio
J will without doubt continue loyal to
Taft ) Trust and railroad ridden west-
ern 'states-Mike CallfornUXJoloradd?
Utah, Wyoming and Montana may be
expected to line up with the regulars
herded by the railroad and mining
I
and big sheep and, cattle Interests.
i
Even Oregon and Washington would
slves must fight to hold every slnele
Inch of the ground they have gained.
Even In Iowa the stand-patters need
on5y a ,eader of the Allison type to
tand-pat candidates!
I i. t 111. ...
" 18 mue wonaer mat Mr. Taft, in
n,s w,nona speech, kindly gave the
I iti ...
insurgents permission to continue
they would have greeted him. All
through Iowa his speeches were very
chilly. When Mr. Aldrlch comes, If
he has the courage to do so, he will
bring cold weather before we are
'ready for It.
E. M. SMITH
Will Sell.
36 POLAND CHINA HOGS
October 11,1 909 at 1 p. m.
At Rainey's Livery Barn, Union, Neb.
i. -J
I5B0ARS-Fall and Winter. 21 SOWS-Yearlying and Fall
This stuff is strictly expansion Wan S6278, Onward Price 57756 and
S. P. of the Perfection Blood. .
The lot will be thin fleshed, but no better blood lines can be found m
this part of the state. You are invited to attend this sale. ,
COL. R. WILKINSON, Auctioneer,
JOHN R. PIERSON, Clerk.
Mr. Wattles, the president of the
street car company, may tninK ne is
the whose cheese In Omaha. He
should learn, however, that others
have some rights which he must re
spect, even If they are poor.
:o:
With the street car strike on and
the Ak-Sar-Ben this week, those who
go to Omaha to see the latter will
have a fine time In "hoofing" It all
over the city. It will probably result
In good for the shoe stores and corn
doctors.
-:o:
Some of the Republican papers
throughout Nebraska are afraid to
come right square out for the Aid
rich tariff. Many of these papers
say so, but others beat around the
bush in a way that they are neither
for or against it. Let them "fish or
cut halt." Don't be cowardly about
it J; '
:o:
,..Somo- pars ar , kicking , because
Governor Shallenberger gave the
publishing of hU corporation procla
mation to a Lincoln paper and an
i 0mah haa
shown the non-partisan spirit la this
respect. He could only placo H in
two papers, and he selected one
Democratic and one Republican
paper the Omaha World-Herald
and the Lincoln Star.
:o:
Notwithstanding the effort to
shield the present incumbent In his
race for the third term for sheriff,
every one of those who are attempt
ing to do this know there is not the
least excuse for their doing so. They
do not think it is right; besides there
was a good man out for the office,
but the ring threw hlra overboard
and sent the edict broadcast through
out the county that the present in
cumbent must be nominated at all
hazards. We believe the majority of
the voters of Cass county are op
Low R.ates
TO THE HORTHWESTs-rCheap one-way Colonist fares to the North
west, Puget Sound and California, September 15lh to October 15th;
daily through trains to the Northwest via the Great Northern; also via
the Northern Pacific. To California, daily through tourist sleepers
via Denver, Scenic Colorado and Salt . Lake City. '
ROUND TRIP TO PACIFIC C0ST:-Very low Seattle and California
round trip excursion tickets on sale during September. This is the
last chance to obtain these cheap rates for the greatest railroad jour
ney in the World.
EASTBOUND: Special round trip rates to Chicago, Kansas City,
Lincoln, Omaha, St. Joseph, St. Louis, August 28th to September 5th
and from September 11th to September I9tb. Daily low thirty day
round trip rates from Chicago to Atlantic cities and resorts.
September is the last month for the special vacation rates to Colo
rado. Homeseekers' excursions September 7th and 21st.
UHllliHIiIi!
Hill;
1
posed to a third term, and will so de
cide at the polls in November.
:o:
ABANDONING HOOSEVELTISM.
The most severe criticism of Presi
dent Taft comes from the Wall Street
Journal, one of the most discriminat
ing supporters President Roosevelt
had:
Even personal geniality and mag
netism do not compensate for the
lack of larger qualities, and Mr.
Taft's greatest admirers will find It
bard to show that he has not made
a very poor start in his campaign
of education. He began by blessing
altogether Senator Aldrlch, perhaps
the most sinister figure In our public
life, and praised him not for what
he has done in the past, which even
the most tactful president would find '
difficult, but for what he Is going to
do in the future, v We hope to do
the fullest Justice to those good In-
tentlons when they materialise, but
Mr. Taft has quite enough to do at
present in dealing with the price we
pay for unsound, legislation and mis- ,
government. -. 4 .
-The' Journal plainly .forecasts an-r
alignment between the president and .
the reactionaries' as the Inevitable '
outcomelof hlspreseaC' course :' '
There are, two kinds of tact, and
President Taft's so far is the wrong
kind. There is that sort of tact
which enforces its will quietly but
effectively, and there is the other
kind which meets a problem by tell- '
Ing the people that there is bo pro
blem at all. Mr. Taft is trying to
align two Irreconcilable elements; he
will end by throwing la his lot with
the party - of reaction and unfair
privilege at their own sordid price.
He has already comprised himself
upon both sides of the tariff question,
with the result of leaving his lodg
ment open to serious misgiving upon
any question In which the present
dominant element in the Republican
party Is interested.
Whatever, any reader may think of
this unsparing criticism, he knows,
if he has ever given a moment's
thought to public' matters, that the
president cannot be both a progres
sive and a reactionary at the same
time, and that from the very exigen
cies of the situation in the coming
congress he will be forced to abandon
even the pretense of maintaining the
Roosevelt policies. Des Moines Register-Leader
(Rep.).
for Autumn
Consult nearest ticket agent; he has latest advice
of special rates.
W. L. PICKETT, Ticket Agent.
L. W. Wakelky, G. P. A., Omaha.