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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (May 23, 1901)
f : " Che Conservative. VOL. HI. NO. 46. NEBRASKA CITY , NEBRASKA , MAY 23 , 1901. SINGLE COPIES , 5 CENTS. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. OFFICES : OVERLAND THEATRE BLOCK. J. STERLING MORTON , EDITOR. A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE DISCUSSION OF POLITICAL , ECONOMIC AND SOCIOLOGICAL QUESTIONS. CIRCULATION THIS WEEK , 12,300 COPIES. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. One dollar and a half per year in advance , postpaid to any part of the United States or Canada. Remittances made payable to The Morton Printing Company. Address , THE CONSERVATIVE , Nebraska City , Nebraska. Advertising rates made known upon appli cation. Entered at the postofflce at Nebraska City , Neb. , as Second Class matter , July 20 , 1898. The republicans NOMINATE YOUR in the United OPPONENT. States have always shown great saga city and fine strategic skill in their endeavors to nominate democrats for the presidency , to run against the nominees of the "grand old party. " Seldom , since 1868 have national democratic conventions been en tirely free from republican influences. But the republicans did not wish Cleve land nominated in 1892 , therefore he was nominated against republican antagon isms and protests , which materialized in Chicago , through the Tammany dele gates , headed by Bourke Cockran , who led a full fighting majority of the dele gation from New York. Mr. Cleveland was nominated and elected , notwith standing the bitter , well-commanded and unscrupulous opposition of the Platt-Oroker-Cookran combination. Mr. Cleveland was not selected by repub licans for republicans to defeat. He was chosen by the older , more sagacious and conservative elements of his own party. The affiliated Continued the bosses in both the Fight. old parties never intermitted their warfare upon Grover Cleveland. H continued from the day of his second inauguration , March 4,1897 , all through his administration. It materialized in the Gorman-Smith-Shermaii combine against the Wilson bill , when tariff reform - form was attempted. It showed the force of fusion between alleged free traders and out-and-out protectionists , when five United States senators , who had been elected as democrats , fused with all the republican senators and amended and revised the Wilson bill , until it came into vigor as a protection measure. It was so objectionably and jronouncedly a protective measure in many of its sections , that President Cleveland refused to sign it and per mitted it to become a law , when , as it seemed then a.nd seems now to THE CONSERVATIVE , he ought to have vetoed it. But the republicans were far-sighted and adroit. They were craftily plan ning to disrupt the democracy , and to name for its next presidential candidate an "easy mark" some man known to incarnate all the -vagaries , radicalisms and fallacies which animate the discon tented citizenship of the country. Un less the republican leaders could ac complish that , they felt themselves forced to declare for free silver , as against the gold standard , which had ever been , from Jackson and Bentou , a watch-word and inspiration to the democrats. The republicans , however , succeeded in the skilled culture of con tention among the democratic senators and representatives. They aided the latter in their senseless crusade for free silver , in their denunciations of Oleve land , in their hue and cry against government by injunction , and in their condemnation of the use of United States troops at Chicago to put down riots and to uphold law and order. In July , 1896 , the results of republican strategy and planning became visible hi the Chicago plat- Result , form of an alleged democracy , upon which was nominated the populist candidate for the presidency. In Ken tucky phrase , the alleged democracy entered for the presidential race , that year"a likely , head-up , showy colt , out of Fusion , by Populism dam bred at Platt-Croker stables , and sire by Tom Watson , of Georgia 1" The contest was exciting. The colt pawed the air , snorted and pranced with all the symptoms The Race. of capacity for suc cess. But the strategists of the republican party had handicappedjhim with sixteen-to-oiieisin , denunciation-of-the-United - States -su preme-court and other weights , and then bet against him ! They matched McKinley against him , who also had been neighing for free silver since 1878 , when he voted to carry the Bland-Allison silver-abomination-aot over the veto of President Hayes. But VIoKinley lightened himself for the race by "going" with one ounce of gold , in stead of sixteen ounces of silver. MoKinley was ready to accept any sort of financial faith that his party platform might prescribe. He would have been for periwinkle currency , wampumcoon- skin , or any other that his party might have chosen to christen as its principles or as essential to its success. McKinley was colorless as to any fixed views in economics , politics or religion. But he was backed by all the force and energy of every element of American society which believed the triumph of his op ponent would ruin the country. Against a record of patriotism and practical statesmanship a record of deeds bene ficial to the republic , instead of a record of repeated platitudes MoKinley could not have won. The choice was between two mistakes , and the lesser was chosen. THE CONSERVATIVE , three years ago , began the agitation in behalf of a new political party forTe To Come. this republic. Such a party is needed. The patriotic citizenship of the United States ought to call now , soon , a national convention. It ought to declare itself for honest administration ; for taxation for public purposes only , and against intermeddling ter-meddling with the affairs of other nations. It ought , of course , to declare for the gold standard. In short , it should proclaim a government for the sole pur pose of protecting the life , liberty and property of the citizen , and not for any other business. It should , therefore , de clare against the government ownership of railroads , canals and steamship lines , and also against subsidies of whatsoever sort. Unless a new national political party nominates a presidential ticket for 1904 , the republican Unless. party will nomi nate both candi dates , as it did in 1896 and in 1900 , and , as in those years it selected an opponent to be beaten , so will it select in the next canvass for the presidency , an antagon ist for the same purpose. Marcus A. Hanna is a very probable and formidable candidate , and his fol lowers are doing all they can to nomi nate an experienced and disciplined loser to make the race again and against Hanna , whose election would be thus made a certainty. t