Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], November 14, 1912, Page 2, Image 2

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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2
CAN THE PARTY SURVIVE?
The idea that tho republican party has
received its deathblow is for the moment
widely held, especially among adherents
of the new party. Supporting the idea is
the fact that the party's candidate for
president received a beggarly number of
electoral votes and. in the whole country,
ran third on the popular vote. In an un
certain number of states the republicans
have lost the tactical advantage of being
a major party, with its control of election
officers and a leading position on the offi
cio! ballot—a fact damaging to the party's
prestige in those commonwealths. It is
a pass to which the republicans have not
been reduced since 1850, when they made
their first contest for the presidency, and
the gravity of the situation must be ap
parent to everyone.
Yet the situation, in a practical sense,
ha* redeeming features, provided that the
republican party can very soon acquire a
leader of largo natural talent for politics
and keen insight into the requirements of
the time. The party emerges from the
crash of election day with its position as
a major party secure in some important
stales. It leads the progressive party in
all New England, so far as state affairs
are concerned, and in all New England ex
cept Maine on the test of the presidency.
If holds second place in the four very im
portant states of New York. Ohio. "Wiscon
sin and Missouri in both the national and
the state contests. It holds second place in
Utah. Idaho and Montana in the inter
mountain region. Here and there, prob
ably, are a few other northern and west
ern states where Taft finished -second and
Roosevelt third. Of progressive gover
nors there appear to he very few . Alto
gether this string of states, stretching from
the Atlantic to the mM-Rockies, in which
the republicans remain at the worst the
chief opposition party, furnishes a solid
nucleus for the party's early reorganiza
tion .
In legislative halls the republicans re
tain a decided advantage in being at least
the chief minority party. The progressive
patty has made very slight impression on
these bodies as the result of the election;
even in Illinois, where Mr Roosevelt de
veloped his popular strength most impres
sively. perhaps, one finds less than 10 pro
gressive members of the Legislature out
of some ‘_’oo in all. As for Congress, the
republicans in the next two years will be
the main opposition, numerically consid
ered at least. And that alone will be an
advantage of no mean value in impressing
the people with the idea that the repub
lican party has not yet gone to its grave
and must be reckoned with in the future
politics of the country.
No student of government in a demo
cracy would say that there is no place
for a strong party representing the
natural conservatism of the country. In
every advanced nation under party govern
ment, conservatism has its political ex
pression and manifestation through a
definite organization. The conservative
people and the conservative interests of
America must and will have a party re
sponding to their wishes and needs, and
it is certainly a principle of political phi
losophy disputed by no one that the coun
try which has no party of conservatism
to check the excesses of radicalism is in
a sorry plight. Party government, if it
is to serve the nation properly, must be
formed on the action and reaction char
acteristic of opposing radical and con
servative groups. With the democratic
party under Wilson tending more toward
radicalism than conservatism, and with
the new progressive party militantly radi
cal, it would seem that, if American con
servatism. like British conservatism, is
to be represented by a political organiza
tion. the republican party could not fail
to have a future, and it would seem also
that the party's functions as a conserva
tive body of voters would have to be
performed immediately because they can
he adequately performed by no other
party now in the field.
The republican party has a history and
a tradition that should help It to survive.
Its record has been very notable. Its
mere name is an asset. The federalist and
the whig parties, which were the con
servative organisations of the earlier and
the middle periods of our history, never
acquired the body of traditions and great
names the republican party has acquired.
The federalists committed suicide by their
attitude in the war of 1812, the whigs,
whose party was the victim of the
deadly thrust of the slavery issue,
at no time got a grip on the imagination of
the people through magnificent public
services performed. To suppose that the
republican party can be destroyed as
easily as its forerunners is to show a very
slight comprehension of the relative posi
tions those three parties have held in
American history.
But no party can live on its past. The
republican party is in a perilous condi
tion and it must have leadership ade
quate to its emergency. If it had avail
able some such political genius as Dis
raeli proved to be in the work of re
organizing the old tory party of England
into the modem conservative party of
Salisbury and Balfour, it would be
fortunate. Disraeli was no reactionary.
He created “tory democracy,” and
modernized conservatism as a force in
the state. The republican party now
needs a Disraeli to inspire its rank and
file with confidence in the party’s leader
ship. Is such a man to be found as
the successor of Taft?
DEBS AND ROOSEVELT.
An accurate compilation of the popular
vote cannot be obtained at present, and all
the tables being printed are approxima
tions. more or less close. The remarkable
feature of present estimates, however, is
that Wilson is being credited with substan
tially the vote Bryan got in 1908, while the
combined Taft and Roosevelt votes sub
stantially equal the Taft vote of the same
year. The socialist vote is conceded to
have more than doubled compared with
1908. when Debs polled 420,820.
The drift toward socialism thus appears
to be the most significant aspect, of the
election. It is an outcome that challenges
attention. Sir Roosevelt maintained that
socialism could be checked, and he would
check it, by incorporating a number of
socialist proposals into tbe program of the
new party. One of the main objects of the
progressive movement was to head off the
more revolutionary movement. The coun
try was solemnly warned by Mr Roose
velt's Harvard friend and supporter, Prof
Albert Busbnell Hart, that:—
Unless that movement (socialism) ia
cheeked, within 16 years there will be a
socialist president of the United States;
which means that a socialist national com
mittee will be president. There is only
one way to head off the danger, and that
is the formation of a party which will take
over the reasonable part of the socialist
program
But the new party, led by Mr Roosevelt.
after taking over a reasonable part of
the socialist program, now witnesses as
the result of its efforts the doubling of
Mr Debs’s vote. Even the socialists an'
surprised. They half expected the social
ist strength would dwindle in such a con
test.
Why was it? Why did Debs poll be
tween 800,000 and 900,000 votes—a total
that may reach near the million mark,
when all counted? We are now entitled
to say what we said during the cam
paign that the Roosevelt candidacy, with
its ‘‘strong." "indispensable man" bearings
and implications, was repellent to the body
of citizens who are inclined to what may
best be called social democracy. Koose
veltism. with :ts marked tendencies to
ward the concentration of governmental
powers and the creation of an overshadow
ing executive, was the antithesis, in its
final analysis, of the kind of democracy
of which socialism has dreamed. And here
is the proof, in the election returns, that
some 500,000 restless citizens in this coun
try, who had never voted for a socialist
president before, preferred social democra
cy to imperial democracy. There probably
isn't a social democrat among the millions
of them in Europe or Great Britain who
would not indorse that choice.
Progressivism evidently must purge it
self of its "indispensable man" predilec
tions, and get rid of its adoration of a
popular hero before it will succeed in
checking socialism in a country like
America.
QUESTION OF EXTRA SESSION.
The postponement of tariff revision for
a year and a half would impress the coun
try as a sign of democratic weakness in
dealing with a question which has been
given a leading place in the democratic
party's program. Those who urge post
ponement until the regular session begin
ning a year from next month are prob
ably desirous of preventing any tariff re
vision whatever, if that be possible; and
were they to succeed in their present plans
such revision as might take place finally
would be as little of a revision downward
as the revision that took place under Mr
Taft’s administration.
Mr Wilson’s attitude cannot be in doubt,
in view of his declaration at Sea Girt,
last August, in his speech of acceptance:—
It is obvious that the changes we make
should be made only at such a rate and in
such a way as will least interfere with
the normal and healthful course of com
merce and manufacture. But we shall not
on that account act with timidity, as if
we did not Udow our own minds, for we
are certain of our ground and of our ob
ject. There should be an immediate re
vision, and it should be downward, un
hesitatingly and steadily downward.
Postponement so that no new tariff re
vision acts could be passed until the late
spring or summer of 1914 would contra
vene Mr Wilson's sentiments in favor of
“immediate" revision, as well as prove
that the Wilson administration, contrary
to the prophecy of its chief, was acting
with timidity, "as if we did not know our
‘own minds."
It was assumed before the election by
everybody, standpatters as well as re
visionists. that the democrats would begin
work promptly on the tariff in an extra
session, in case they should gain control
of the government. The most recent in
timations that this will be the course or
the new administration will now cause no
surprise. Mr Wilson naturally Is reluctant
to make any public announcement of his
plans in this respect at so early a date, but
already it is clear that the overwhelming
sentiment of his party faTors the extra
session and this sentiment is undoubtedly
in accord with bis own.
An extra session in itself furnishes no
cause for alarm. Every new administra
tion, particularly when it involves a change
of party control in both the executive and
legislative departments, should begin at
once to work out its legislative program.
Such is the custom in every other country
having parliamentary institutions. We
should be doing a sensible thing if we were
to have congressional sessions so changed
that a regular session would begin very
soon after a new president had been inau
gurated. The period between the election
of a president by the people in November
and the first regular session of his adminis
tration in the December of the year fol
lowing is absurdly long. Not to inaugu
rate a president until the March after
his election is delay enough.
It is The Republican’s view that the
democrats should begin work at once on
their general program in the extra session,
and not confine themselves simply to the
proposed tariff legislation. To satisfy the
progressive sentiment in the democratic
party alone, the new administration will
havo much to accomplish, and it can be
sure of a democratic Senate for no more
than two years. Mr Wilson’s great oppor
tunity to make a national record at all
comparable with his record as governor of
New Jersey will come in the earlier period
of his term of office, and he could not do
better, it would seem, than to carry to
Washington the same plan of operations
which resulted at Trenton in making his
first year as governor so notable for
achievement along progressive lines and in
making himself president of the United
States.
THE NEW CAST OF CHARACTERS.
Not until Congress is convened in special
session by President Wilson next spring,
or meets according to custom in the reg
ular session beginning in December, 1913,
will it be fully realized to what an extent
the recent election has changed the east
of characters in the drama of American
politics. Up to within four or five, years
ago, when the process of which we now
have the culmination began at first slowly,
the dominant figures In the two houses of
Congress bore names that seemed to have
been household words throughout the coun
try for almost a generation. Thus familiar
to the popular mind were the influence and
opinions of such men as Allison, Aldrich,
Hale and Frye, in the Senate, and
Cannon, Grosvenor. Payne and Hep
burn. in the House. The old guard
seemed to stand firm and unchangeable,
even if not unchallenged, in its control. If
the membership of the two bodies differed
largely from that of 20 years before, it
was, broadly speaking, the result of a pro
cess of alow evolution through which young
recruits had gradually risen to the rank of
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1912.
veterans, supplanting those whom old age
or death had claimed, rather than the re
sult of anything savoring of political revo
lution. A mere glauee at the long records
of the congressional lenders wns a suffi
cient proof that, though there had been
brief periods of democratic control-oven
a democratic landslide or two —there had
been no deep upturning in American pol
itics or such a reshuffling of the cards as
has lately been in progress.
A reminder of how the personnel of the
House of Representatives has changed is
found in the fact that Congressman Gil
lett, now that “Uncle Joe” Cannon has
been defeated for re-election, that John
Dnlzell failed of Termination, and that
Gon Bingham, the "father of the House,”
is dead, will be surpassed in point of serv
ice by only two members, Sereno E. Payne
of New York and W. A. Jones of Vir
ginia. Mr Payne, who will be celebrated
in history as one of the joint authors of
the Payne-Aldrieh tariff bill, which began
the split of the republican party, has been
elected for 15 terms 'not continuous, how
ever), Mr Jones for 12 terms, while Mr
Gillett is one of three remaining congress
men who entered the House together
March 4, 181X1, and have been returned by
their constituents without break, thus hav
ing received 11 successive elections. The
others in this class With Mr Gillett are
Congressman Bartholdt of Missouri and
Congressman Cooper of Wisconsin, ex-
Speaker Cannon’s bitterest republican en
emy. Mr Gillett will also become the
senior republican on the appropriations
committee, and therefore the leader of the
opposition in riucizing the 'democratic
supply bills, with a claim upon the chair
manship of the committee if the repub
licans are returned to power.
While Mr Gillett will thus divide the
honor of being the third oldest member of
the House, it is equally indicative of what
has been going on in the Senate, where,
ow ing to the length of the individual term
and the manner of election, there is in the
aggregate less rapid change than in the
House, that Senator Lodge, who became
a member of the Senate bn the same day
that Mr Gillett became a member of the
House, will be the second oldest senator
when the next Congress meets. Senator
Lodge will yield in seniority only to Sen
ator Galliiiger of New Hampshire, and
as Mr Gallinger's present term expires in
1915, while that of Senator Lodge does not
expire until 1917, Mr Lodge will not im
possibly become tbe oldest member of the
Senate in point of service before his pres
ent commission from Massachusetts ceases.
But the significance of these facts is
that in the performance of the important
duties which will necessarily fall to the
next Congress, new figures are certain to
rise into prominence. In the House Speak
er Clark and Congressman Underwood of
the ways and means committee will doubt
less continue to occupy their present posts.
In being the guiding force of a tariff bill
destined eventually to become law, and
not merely waste paper by presidential
veto, Mr Underwood will occupy a posi
tion of even greater importance than that
which he lias earned by his forceful and
intelligent leadership since the democrats
came into partial control. But while the
republicans have been swept out of the
House by scores, there have been changes
as. well in democratic ranks. For. exam
ple, Congressman Suizer.is to become gov
ernor of New York and another demo
cratic chairman must be found for the
committee on foreign relations. But since
the two leading figures in the House are
already certain, more interest will attach
to the democrats who may step forward
to the positions of chief influence in the
Senate.
Senators Bacon of Georgia, Tillman of
South Carolina and Martin of Virginia,
all of whom entered the Senate in 1895.
are the three oldest democrats in point
of service. But Tillman is a pathetic
wreck of his former self and holds on to
life’s slender thread only by force of will,
while Martin has never been distinguished
except as a slick politician in small sym
pathy with the spirit of the new democ
racy. Senator Bacon, however, is one
who has long given evidence of states
manlike qualities and in case he should
not be given an invitation, or should not
accept it, to become secretary of state in
the Wilson cabinet, he will doubtless be
come chairman of the foreign relations
committee of the Senate, and fill the place
with conspicuous ability. Another demo
cratic senator of marked capacity, who
should be much in evidence, is Culberson
of Texas, tint Senator Simmons of North
Carolina, the oldest democratic senator on
the finance committee, which will handle
the tariff bill, except Bailey of Texas,
who withdraws, is a jnan of such trifling
parts that his elevation to the chairman
ship of that important , committee, al
though in direct order of seniority, is dif
ficult to conceive of.
John Sharp Williams of Mississippi, al
though he has yet to complete his first two
years in the Senate, has behind him the
prestige of hid service as democratic lead
er in the. House, and will at length have
an opportunity to demonstrate whether
he can serve as successfully in a responsi
ble majority as lie did at the head of an
undisciplined minority when his pictur
esque brilliance had free rein. Ravner
of Maryland, who was Admiral Schley’s
counsel, O'Gorman of New York, New
lands of Nevada and the blind Gore of
Oklahoma are among the others who stand
out as likely to be of large influence in
shaping democratic policies, while others
stiH are certain to come more or less un
expectedly to the fore.
Aside from questions of policy the
change that is soon to take place is one
for wholesome reflection. A new body of
men adequate to the task of government
is about to take control, and it is a for
tunate reminder after an over-long era of
one-partv rule that no man or group of
men is indispensable to the republic.
PROGRESS OF THE WAR.
More than a week has passed
since Turkey asked the powers to
intervene, and the war still goes
on. The powers are not ready to
coerce the allies, the allies arc not ready
to submit to the powers. Turkey is not
ready to treat with the allies. There is
therefore nothing for the allies to do but
to keep on drubbing the Turks till they are
ready to submit to the terms imposed.
The military experts, whose opinion is
not to be despised because they did not
know in advance what shape Turkish or
ganization was in, are pretty well agreed
now that the case of Turkey is hopeless,
not because she has come to the end of
her resources, but because she lacks the
■ material and the organization needed to
win back the territory she has lost. She
could go on fighting indefinitely if it \\ore
of any use. She has plenty of reserves
still in Anatolia, and so short a war can
not have exhausted her financial resources.
But in other respects Turkey seems done
for. When she began she had on paper
a superiority over all the allies put to
gether, in bayonets, sabers, gnus and ships.
Now her Macedonian army seems to have
lost practically all its artillery, and in
the retreat upon Constantinople the
Thracian army must have iost many guns.
Salonica has fallen, Adfianople is totter
ing, the allies are knocking at the gates
of the capital. Monastic and Scutari,
which still hold out, are remote and iso
lated. and have no bearing on the war
save as their defense occupies limited
forces of Serbs and Montenegrins. The
Greek navy, though the smaller, has been
taking the initiative, and apparently the
Turks are as helpless by sea us by land.
The Ottoman power in Europe is prac
tically broken, and at any moment may
come news of the fall of Adrianople or the
collapse of the last line of defense about
the capital. It is possible, of course, that
the Turks may sullenly refuse to treat
even when their armies have been cap
tured or beaten across the Bosporus, aud
such a stubborn attitude would make the
situation difficult, as Italy discovered in
Tripoli. It might be necessary for tho
allies to take the coveted territories by
proclamation instead of by cession, ud
such a title is much less satisfactory,
specially when there are jealous neighbors
on the watch.
For this reason, as for others, it is
highly desirable for the allies to break
down the last vestiges of organized resist
ance in Europe and establish a new
regime before there is opportunity for com
plications. Here for the first time the
lack of sea power becomes a handicap to
tlic allies. For some days past they have
been attacking, apparently with success,
the Tchatalja line of defenses at its north
end at Derkos, near the Black sea. This
is the key to the defenses, and both ex
poses Constantinople and takes the Tchat
alja line in the rear. But it is far from
railroad connections, and the transport
of material must be very difficult. If the
Bulgarians had command of the Black
sea and could land men, or even food
and ammunition, at Kara Buras, which
is but a few miles from Derkos, the
Turks would probably before this have
been forced back upon Constantinople.
The increasing difficulty of transport by
land, as the lines grow' longer, must be
quite as important as the shattering ef
fect of so much hard fighting in delaying
progress during the past week. If they
are held back too long, giving the Turks
time to reorganize, there may yet be des
perate fighting before Constantinople falls.
But for Turkey to dream of again taking
the offensive, after losing so much val
uable war equipment to the enemy, seems
out of the question.
The proclamation by the Sheik-ul-Islam
of a "jehad,” or holy war, therefore, can
accomplish nothing but to turn the furious
hatred of Moslem fanatics upon unarmed
Christians and to increase the unrest al
ready felt throughout Islam. No phase
of the war has .capped more anxiety than
this, and' the'difficulty of effective pres
sure upon liy the European con
cert was greatly' increased by the fact
that several European powers, and nota
bly England, France and Italy, have col
onies where the Mohammedan faith pre
dominates, and have dreaded any move that
would provoke a bloody rising. The grow
ing hatred of Europeans, which has been
caused by aggressions in the whole of
North Africa, can readily be understood,
and it has helped to bring about a great
Islam revival, in which the scattered Arab
tribes have found a new solidarity. They
feel that the rest of the world is against
them, and the expulsion of the Turk from
Europe, is a fresh blow. Why not, then,
they naturally ask, expel the European
from Moslem lands? And Europe has no
answer but force.
For this reason, while the jehad
proclaimed by the Sheik-ul-Islam may
fail of its effect, it will give new
cause for anxiety to the rulers of India,
Egypt, Barca, Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and
Algeria, and the sooner the Balkan war
can be closed the happier Europe will
be. A general European war would be
bad enough: coupled with a rising of the
whole Mohammedan world it would be
such a frightful catastrophe as history
does not record. It is easy, therefore, to
see why statesmen for 30 years have
been dreading the Balkan question, and
treat it now with a care and circumspec
tion which will probably avert the greater
calamity of a general war. The state
ment made at the lord mayor's banquet
in Londan Saturday by the English prime
minister was calm and reassuring, and
should have an excellent effect. It shows
how greatly England's attitude has
changed since the days of the bellicose
Disraeli.
CHANGING THE MAT.
No official statement has thus far been
divulged in regard to the plans of the al
lies for the partition of Turkey* but it is
significant that the collapse of the Turkish
forces finds each of the invading armies
virtually iu possession of the territory
which its government is expected to claim.
Before the war began “inspired" hints
were published which correspond with the
lines of actual conquest with what would
be a remarkable precision were it not for
two circumstances, namely, that the ad
vance has been prescribed by military as
well as by political considerations, and
that the rumored partition is in the main
merely a return to the ineffective treaty of
San Stefano of 1878, which Russia shaped
and Austria and England opposed, with
the result that the treaty of Berlin was
substituted.
In outlining the changes which now seem
sure to come, it is simplest to begin with
Montenegro, which has conquered little
territory, hut will not be cheated of the
reward it has earned hr taking the initia
tive. Scutari still holds out. the Monte
negrins being inadequately equipped with
siege apparatus, hut that is a matter of
no consequence, since Turkish authority
in the west is bound to end. It is safe to
say that Montenegro will he awarded Sou
tari. a small bnt important enlargement of
her southern frontier. The critical ques
tion is on the northeastern side; the pre
diction has been that. Montenegro will be
awarded two-thirds of the sanjak of Novi
bazar, following the range that runs east
to Prishtina. But as it is on this point
that Austria will fight or acquiesce, this
allotment can be considered only in con
nection with world politics. It would leuve
Montenegro much the smallest of the allies,
hut the sanjak is much more valuable than
Montenegro, amid whose rocky hills the
only crops that grow well are ambushes.
As for Servia the prophets have had lit
tle difficulty, for this state wants specially
two things—Old Servia and the sea. It
is now landlocked between Austria, Hun
gary, Rumania, Bulgaria and Turkey, and
what customs duties and frontier surveil
lance mean to an inland state can well bo
imagined. Old Servia, so long held by the
Turks, includes the vilayets of Kossovo
and part of Monnstir, and it is here that
the main accessions of territory would be
made. The outlet to the sea, according
to the forecast, would he by a narrow
westward extension just south of Monte
negro. cutting off a slice of the wild nortli
end of Albania. This would give 45 miles
of the coast of the Adriatic, as far south
ns Dtirazzo, which has a fair harbor and
would no doubt be made the principal port
of Servia. Toward the east Servia would
extend in Macedonia as far as the city of
Kopruln, which on some maps Is Veles of
Wcleso. East of this point bigger Bulgaria
would have full sweep to Adrianople and
beyond, excepting what may be left to
Turkey about Constantinople.
Now what does Greece get? Crete, to
i begjn with; the question of the other Greek
islands which Italy took from Turkey and
then restored has not vet come up. On
t v D mainland she would be assigned about
what her armies have now prospected if
not fully conquered. She would have Thes
saly and Epirus, her northern border ac
cording to the map makers, coming a. lit
tle north of Monastic at Lakes Okrida and
Presba. She might have some of the
southern part of the Albanian coast, but
Greece is the only one of the allies which
does not need more maritime facilities.
Toward the east she might extend to the
valley of the Vardar, which flows into
the gulf of Salonica, and where her armies
have already been lighting. But it is said
that the disposition of Salonica, like that
of Constantinople, has been a matter of
difficulty because it is too valuable for any
of the allies to claim. The simplest so
lution would be to make it a free city, a
great port for the whole Balkan peninsula
and Austria.
What is left of Albania after Montene
gro has taken Scutari and Servia the next
45 miles to the south, would be erected
into an independent state. It has been
said that Italy was offered the protectorate
if she would help the allies, and indeed
the Albanians would probably have made
the same offer spontaneously because of
their close ties with Italy, where there are
large Albanian colonies. But Italy de
clined, though there is reason to think that
she would like Yalona (in latitude 40,30),
the best harbor on that coast and capable
of receiving large ships. Between the
claims of Servia and those of Bulgaria
there might be a part of Macedonia east
and north of Salonica large enough to
make into an independent state which .’ike
Albania would be brought into alliance
with the other Balkan countries. Where
Bulgaria would make her main Aegean
port, supposing Salonica tq be left as com
mon property, is not clear. Most of the
harbors east of Salonica are shallow’ and
Surrounded by- marshy land., But Ivavala,
at-the head of the bay, .near the island of
Thasos, is a good harbor, and not far from
the railroad at Drama. At Dedeagateh,
near the mouth of the gulf of Saros, the
railroad actually comes down to the sea.
If Bulgaria should take part of the coast
of the sea of Marmora she could have
Ilodosto. w’hich possesses a good port. But
in any case it is safe to assume that she
will insist on a direct outlet to the sea,
and this claim will not be so great a cause
of friction as Servia's access to Durazzo
on the Adriatic.
While the details may be altered,
specially in reintion to the Servian
frontier, it is much in this fashion that the
map of Europe is to be changed unless the
powers interfere. In case of a general
war, of course not enough would be left cf
the old map of Europe to be worth saving;
it would have a place only in the histor
ical atlas. But at present the general
temper seems hopeful.
CABINET MAKERS AT WORK.
The philanthropic work of making up
Gov Wilson's cabinet for him has gayl?
begun. Probably a bulky blue book cotild be
composed of those “prominently men
tioned” between now and March 4. But
the first credible announcement of Gov
Wilson’s choice for one or more positions
will be received bv the country with in
tense interest, as indicating in a measure
the type of man to which he will turn.
There is already a suggestion that, owing
to his university experience he is likely
to select his advisers particularly from
the ranks of specialists trained in the col
leges.
This forcibly recalls the effusions which
found their w-ay into print four years ago,
over President Taft’s determination to
make his cabinet a cabinet of great law
yers. Jt was easily proved, on paper, tliat
with such an array of legal talent as Mr
Taft was lo call to his assistance there
could he no problem too difficult for the
administration to solve. If Mr Taft had
had n genius for publicity, and incidentally
had picked his lawyers with better for
tune! there might have followed at least a
brief era of celebration of the legal pro
fession, which would have rivaled the
Kooseveltiun phase when the colonel was
lauding "railroad men” like Paul Morton
and Theodore P. Shouts. and "$20,000
'men” like Richard A. Ballinger as the
'finest timber for public service.
Such an era might have been helpful in
counteracting the widespread unpopular
ity of the legal profession uitli which ob
servers who take intimate note of condi
tions throughout the country are im
pressed. But the. fact has been so fully
demonstrated that Mr Taft’s cabinet of
lawyers was hnything but a success polit
ically. that merely to mention it almost
savors of hitting a man, or a body of men,
already down. While it should eventually
he recognized that certain Of Mr Taft’s
department chiefs have performed far
more valuable public service in their dis
tinct fields than they have yet been given
credit for, the lesson of the Taft cabinet,
in so far as it offers a lesson, is against
reliance upon any particular type of mind
or the conclusion that a lawyer, however
brilliant, can be made into a statesman
over night.
Yet while this is true of the cabinet,
perhaps the best recognized success of Mr
Taft’s administration has lain in his ap
pointment to subordinate positions of pro-
fesslpnally trained experts and in his own
recognition of the fact that the day be
longs more and more to the specialist,
W’bether in the science of business admin
istration, the collection of statistics or the
like. In combination with the lesson
taught by Mr Taft’s cabinet, the truth
which is thus brought home is that the
special task needs the special man. but
that the positions involving broad and gen
eral responsibilities and calling for states
manlike qualities are best filled through
the search for nre-eminently able men of
wide vision, without seeking to find them
within the ranks of a single profession.
Gov Wilson's extended but diversified
college associations are likely to be in evi
dence in his appointments, taken by and
large, just ns President Taft's less ex
tended college associations have helped
him to make many very admirable appoint
ments, and more especially since the scien
tifically trained man is becoming more and
more a factor in public affairs. But Gov
Wilson has packed a vast deal of very
practical experience of the outside world
into his past two years. He has shown
himself a man of broad view, no less in
his associations with other men than in
his judgments upon concrete questions.
There may be a confident expectation that
he wdll choose wisely from the ranks of
the revitalized democracy, where, fortu
nately for him, many promising figures are
appearing.
The one man who is at once most prom
inently mentioned for a place in the Wilson
cabinet is of course Mr Bryan. This was
foreseen in the event of Wilson's election,
the moment the Baltimore convention, dom
inated by Mr Bryan, had made its choice.
The selection of Mr Bryan as Secretary
of state, that being the cabinet post of
honor by seniority and the one for which
Mr Bryan seems better fitted than for
any other, would undoubtedly gratify a
great body of democratic voters. Mr Bry
an has had no training in diplomacy,
though he has known something of for
eign lands and has traveled around the
world, but his well-known views upon
international peace would strongly com
mend his appointment as being in itself
a pacific and antimilitarist influence. But
while it seems altogether likely that Gov
Wilson will invite Mr Bryan into his cab
inet, it- seems not unlikely that Mr Bryan,
who must continue a power in the party
in any event, will prefer to exert his in
fluence without official position.
UPSET OF THE BRITISH CABINET.
The attention of the world is recalled
to the progress of the Irish home rule bill,
eclipsed for a month past by more excit
ing matters in eastern Europe, by the un
expected news of the defeat of the cabi
net in a snap vote on the financial clause.
It had been rather taken for granted that
the coalition of the liberal, labor and Irish
parties had strength enough to force the
bill through, and it was this expectation
that has worked up Ulster to such a fury.
Whether this reverse means a weakening
on the measure when it comes to the
crisis seems still uncertain. If the gov
ernment thinks that it can still muster
the votes it may go on with the bill by
moving to .recommit it; if not it would
have to choose between resigning and
dropping the measure. For the latter
alternative- - it might have some present
justification in the critical condition of
foreign affairs and the undesirableness of
a change in the administration while Eu
rope is still under the shadow of a threat
ened war. But this would be merely a
postponement. It is its promise of home
rule for Ireland that keeps the liberal
government in power; if it is not prepared
to go on with that its mandate is at an
end and appeal to the country will be in
evitable. The adverse majority of 22
votes is serious, but a number of support
ers had not returned t 6 London after the
week-end holiday; it is possible that the
bill may yet be saved.
The financial clause has necessarily been
one of the weak spots in the measure, and
has come in for Specially severe criticism
from the unionists. Ireland has for years
been treated generously, as was necessary
if it is to be redeemed from its unhappy
economic condition, and the setting up of
a geparnte establishment involves an un
avoidable dilemma. If Ireland is treated
rigorously like England its condition is
likely to be made worse rather than bet
ter. and home rule is in danger of failing.
If, on the other hand, England is taxed
to pay Ireland’s bills the fact stands out
in more glaring colors when the balance
is struck in this fashion, and among a
commercial people like the English such
an appeal to arithmetic is bound to have
a strong effect.
The present bill goes much further in
its liberality- to Ireland than Mr Gladstone
ever ventured. In both his bills he held
that Ireland should pay the whole cost
of her separate administration and also
contribute to naval, military and other ex
penses for the benefit of both countries.
By the bill of 1886 such contribution by
Ireland was estimated at $16.210,-000. In
1893 it was reduced to $12,000,000, and
eventually to $11,310,000 a year. On the
other hand, the present bill provides that
Ireland is not to.give but to receive the
annual sum estimated at $10,000,000, It
was by carrying an amendment providing
that it should not exceed a certain sum that
the unionists obtained their triumph over
Mr Asquith’s cabinet. The situation has
changed very greatly since Gladstone's day
because of the advent of inevitable and ex
pensive paternalistic measures, notably old
age pensions and national insurance.
These Ireland could not at present afford
to pay for entirely from her own resources,
and the imperative Irish land purchase
scheme still calls for heavy outlays. All
these, together with the charge for the po
lice, are called in the bill “reserved serv
’iees’’ and are put on a different footing
from the ordinary expenses of adniinistra
tion. Their cost is estimated at $25,000,000
a year, of which $1.5,000,000 would be
raised in Ireland, while the balance would
be paid out of the imperial exchequer. ’
If to this is added $20,000,000 or so
which might be Ireland's share of thp ever
growing taxation for defense and for other
imperial services, the unionists are able to
make out that the bill makes Ireland a
present of some $30,000,000 a year while
bestowing home rule and also a strong rep
resentation in the Parliament at West
minster. This clause, has met with disfavor
among many who are more or less recon
ciled to home rule, and it is possible that
this opposition has proved too strong. If
so, it is a great misfortune, for England
perous and contented Ireland.
The bill is liberal, but for the firm es
tnbliahment of home rule and the collec
tion of present economic eyils liberality is
necessary. It will hasten the da.v when
Ireland can not, only stand alone but con
tribute her part: toward, the cost of empire. '
Whereas the proposal that she should con
tinue to receive, more than she pays, for
oir Condition -that she cease her demand
for home rale amounts to a kind of bribery
and enu bring no satisfactory solution.,
GRAND TRUNK AND NEW HAVEN.
The responsible officials of the Now
Ilaven railroad system admit in an author
ized statement that there are pending ne
gotiations for an agreement with the'Graud
Trunk concerning traffic arrangements and
the use of all the lines of the New Haven
system by the Canadian corporation, This
admission of an understanding between the
tw’o companies, fijily confirms the public's
inference as to tbe chief aspect of the, sit
uation resulting from the orders to stop
work on the Grand Trunk's extensions in
Massachusetts and Rhode Island. There is
to be noncompetition between the two
roads. Everything is to be fixed up be
tween them.
From the purely railroad point of view,
this outcome looks like a triumph for the
Grand Trunk in securing traffic arrange
ments and aceommodatiens in New En
gland which the New Haven system had
fought against conceding to it If the pro
ject to build extensions from Palmer to
Providence and from White River Junction
to Boston was merely a club used to 'tome
the New Haven into' a compromise fa\ar
able to Grand Trunk interests• in New
England, the whole scheme lias apparently
’been remarkably successful; The Hartford
Times, which reflects the New Haven sys
tem’s point of view in this matter, remarks
concerning the latest plihse of the case:*-
Uonsidering the ' small use which the
Grand Trunk managers make of their port
facilities at New Eoadon jind at. Portland,
Me., it has. always seemed to us iio
real purpose to make a physical connhSttett
with Boston and Providence could be as
sumed to exist. A few years ago the-Grand
Trunk could have obtained .control of the
Massachusetts Central line bv a cash ex
penditure of not more than SIOO,OOO. and
the opportunity was igtiored by the Grand
Trunk managers. When the: New York,
New Haven and Hartford company took
control of both the. Boston and Maine sys
tem and the Rutland railroad, the Grand
Trunk people ’thought their lines Tn ,Ver
mont, Massachusetts and Connecticut were
threatened, and for strategic purposes they
resorted to the policy, .of reprisal by .pro
posing new lilies to Providence and Boston.'
But there was no evidence that such lines
could be made to earn any revenue on toe
capital invested, and the slow way in wait'd
the work of construction has proceeded on
the Providence line has made it always
doubtful that this line would be act tally
put in operation as a Grand Trunk feeder.
Meanwhile; the president of the Grand
Trunk, in a message to the governor of
Rhode Island, reiterates his statement that
the stoppage of work on the extensions is
due to the tight money market in London,
wdiere Grand Trunk enterprises are
financed. The stoppage is temporary, he
evidently maintains. There is nothing to
do but accept his word and await develop
ments. But, in view of the pending agree
ment between the Grand Trunk and the
New Haven, it is fairly clear that the
extensions will never be completed unless
the Canadian company is driven to it by
a public indignant over being made such a
fool of. The Boston Transcript, which
reflects the Boston sentiment favorable to
the Grand Trunk extension to that city
in order that the export business of the
port might be developed od a greater scale,
is quite sure that if a deal has heen en
tered into between the two corporations
whereby the Grand Trunk withdraws from
competition in consideration of concessions
more to its advantage l —if this “be the milk
'in the cocoanut, it would stand as one
‘of the most exasperating bunco games
’ever played Upon a great commercial sec
tion of any country, and one that would
‘inevitably react in the end upon the wel
fare of the parties to it."
The Grand Trunk extensions may not be
needed in any real economic or public sense
—beyond helping Providence and Boston to
develop as seaports, But the moral aspect
of the business is very important. Great
corporations cannot afford to hoodwink
state governments and trick the people
with promises wantonly made—not in these
times.
ARCHITECTURE AT DELHI.
An interesting architectural problem
has been raised by the removal of the
capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi.
Shall the, magnificent new city w-hich is
to be constructed with a view to impres
sing the people and giving expression to
the greatness of the empire be an imita
tion of native architecture? Or shall it
be made expressive rather of the ruling
caste? Both sides have been vigorously
supported. The English architect Henry
Baker discusses the whole question in the
London Times, and decides in favor of the
classical style of Jones and Wren and
their followers in tile 18th century. Gothic
he at once dismisses as suited only to
northern skies. Of the indigenous style lje
says with British solidity:--,
While in this style we may have the
means to express .the charm and fascina
tion of India, yet it has not the construc
tive and geometrical qualities necessary
to embody the idea of law and order
which lias been produced out of chaos by
the British administration. Our admira
tion for the old architecture can surely
best he demonstrated by leaving the build
ings of old Delhi alone, sacred as the mon
ument of the empire of the Moguls and
unsoiled bv imitation in the new city. We
could, it is true, by tracing back this Mo
gul architecture to its origin, found a new
style on the Saracenic of Cairo and Da
mascus. In skilful hands, no doubt, a
beautiful city would result, but it would
not be typically Indian and still less would
it lie British Indian. Should we not he
guided by a truer nnd more natural in
stinct if wc fearlessly put the stamp of
British sovereignty on the monument of
the great work of wlilcll we should lie
so proud? By so’doing, we should lie fol
lowing the precedent of the Greeks, tlie
Romans and of the Saracens themselves
when later in their history they had put
their own impress on the arts which they
had nt first nhsorhed.
There is, however, this fundamental differ
ence that when these peoples extended
their empire they did not have to select
a style, They took, on the conttary,
the style they had, so tliut: coming upon a
Roman ruin in the sands of Africa Is like
coming upon a piece of Rome itself. It
cannot, he said that a city built in a 2pt|i
centur.v imitation of 17th-century British
imitation of Roman and Grecian architec
ture would be like opining upon a jpkeie
of Londpu. Probably the avoidance of
comparison with Mogul architecture is
wise; it is at any rate discreet. Delhi j
has nothing so beautiful as the Taj Mahal I