USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. VI > Part 27
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Other Parties
People's Party .- Convention held in Springfield, Illinois, July 4-6, 1904. For President, Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia; for Vice-President, Thomas H. Tibbles, of Nebraska.
Prohibition Party .- Convention held in Indianapo- lis, June 29-July 1, 1904. For President, Silas C. Swallow, of Pennsylvania; for Vice-President, George W. Carroll, of Texas.
Socialist Labor Party .- Convention held in New York, July 3-9, 1904. For President, Charles H. Cor- rigan, of New York; for Vice-President, William W. Cox, of Illinois.
Socialist Party .- Convention held in Chicago, May 1-6, 1904. For President, Eugene V. Debs, of Indi- ana; for Vice-President, Benjamin Hanford, of New York.
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The Election
Electoral vote for President and Vice-President :
Theodore Roosevelt and Charles W. Fairbanks, Republicans :- California, 10; Colorado, 5; Connecticut, 7; Delaware, 3; Idaho, 3; Illinois, 27; Indiana, 15; Iowa, 13; Kansas, 10; Maine, 6; Maryland, 1; Massachusetts, 16; Michigan, 14; Minnesota, 11; Missouri, 18; Montana, 3; Nebraska, 8; Nevada, 3; New Hamp- shire, 4; New Jersey, 12; New York, 39; North Dakota, 4; Ohio, 23; Oregon, 4; Pennsylvania, 34; Rhode Island, 4; South Dakota, 4; Utah, 3; Vermont, 4; Washington, 5; West Virginia, 7; Wis- consin, 13; Wyoming, 3. Total, 336. Elected.
Alton B. Parker and Henry G. Davis, Democrats :- Alabama, 11; Arkansas, 9; Florida, 5; Georgia, 13; Kentucky, 13; Louisiana, 9; Maryland, 7; Mississippi, 10; North Carolina, 12; South Carolina, 9; Tennessee, 12; Texas, 18; Virginia, 12. Total, 140.
Popular vote :
Roosevelt, 7,628,834; Parker, 5,084,491; Debs, 402,460; Swal- law, 259,257; Watson, 114,753; Corrigan, 33,724.
1908
Republican Party
Convention held in Chicago, June 16-19, 1908. Temporary chairman, Julius C. Burrows, of Michi- gan; permanent chairman, Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts.
William H. Taft, of Ohio, was nominated for Presi- dent on the first ballot, the vote standing: Taft, 703; Philander C. Knox, of Pennsylvania, 68; Charles E. Hughes, of New York, 67; Joseph G. Cannon, of Illi- nois, 40; Robert M. LaFollette, of Wisconsin, 25; Joseph B. Foraker, of Ohio, 16; Theodore Roosevelt, 3.
James S. Sherman, of New York, received the Vice- Presidential nomination on the first ballot, having 816 votes to 163 for four others.
Platform :
"Once more the Republican party, in national convention assem- bled, submits its cause to the people. This great historic organiza- tion that destroyed slavery, preserved the Union, restored credit, expanded the national domain, established a sound financial system, developed the industries and resources of the country, and gave to the nation her seat of honor in the councils of the world, now meets the new problems of government with the same courage and capac- ity with which it solved the old.
"Republicanism under Roosevelt .- In this, the greatest era of American advancement, the Republican party has reached its highest service under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt. His administra-
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tion is an epoch in American history. In no other period since national sovereignty was won under Washington, or preserved under Lincoln, has there been such mighty progress in those ideals of gov- ernment which make for justice, equality, and fair-dealing among men. The highest aspirations of the American people have found a voice. Their most exalted servant represents the best aims and wor- thiest purposes of all his countrymen. American manhood has been lifted to a noble sense of duty and obligation. Conscience and cour- age in public station and higher standards of right and wrong in pri- vate life have become cardinal principles of political faith; capital and labor have been brought into closer relations of confidence and interdependence; and the abuse of wealth, the tyranny of power, and all the evils of privilege and favoritism have been put to scorn by the simple, manly virtues of justice and fair play.
"The great accomplishments of President Roosevelt have been, first and foremost, a brave and impartial enforcement of the law; the prosecution of illegal trusts and monopolies; the exposure and pun- ishment of evil-doers in the public service; the more effective regula- , tion of the rates and service of the great transportation lines; the complete overthrow of preferences, rebates, and discriminations; the arbitration of labor disputes; the amelioration of the condition of wage-workers everywhere; the conservation of the natural resources of the country; the forward step in the improvement of the inland waterways; and always the earnest support and defense of every wholesome safeguard which has made more secure the guarantees of life, liberty, and property.
"These are the achievements that will make for Theodore Roose- velt his place in history, but more than all else the great things he has done will be an inspiration to those who have yet greater things to do. We declare our unfaltering adherence to the policies thus inaugurated, and pledge their continuance under a Republican admin- istration of the government.
"Equality of Opportunity .- Under the guidance of Republican principles the American people have become the richest nation in the world. Our wealth to-day exceeds that of England and all her colonies, and that of France and Germany combined. When the
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Republican party was born the total wealth of the country was $16,000,000,000. It has leaped to $110,000,000,000 in a genera- tion, while Great Britain has gathered but $60,000,000,000 in five hundred years. The United States now owns one-fourth of the world's wealth and makes one-third of all modern manufactured pro- ducts. In the great necessities of civilization, such as coal, the motive power of all activity; iron, the chief basis of all industry; cotton, the staple foundation of all fabrics; wheat, corn, and all the agricultural products that feed mankind, American's supremacy is undisputed. And yet her great natural wealth has been scarcely touched. We have a vast domain of three million square miles, literally bursting with latent treasure, still waiting the magic of capital and industry to be converted to the practical uses of man- kind; a country rich in soil and climate, in the unharnessed energy of its rivers, and in all the varied products of the field, the forest, and the factory. With gratitude for God's bounty, with pride in the splendid productiveness of the past, and with confidence in the plenty and prosperity of the future, the Republican party declares for the principle that in the development and enjoyment of wealth so great and blessings so benign there shall be equal opportunity for all.
"Revival of Business .- Nothing so clearly demonstrates the sound basis upon which our commercial, industrial, and agricultural inter- ests are founded, and the necessity of promoting their continued wel- fare through the operation of Republican policies, as the recent safe passage of the American people through a financial disturbance which, if appearing in the midst of Democratic rule or the menace of it, might have equaled the familiar Democratic panics of the past. We congratulate the people upon this renewed evidence of American supremacy and hail with confidence the signs now manifest of a com- plete restoration of business prosperity in all lines of trade, com- merce, and manufacturing.
"Recent Republican Legislation .- Since the election of William Mckinley in 1896, the people of this country have felt anew the wisdom of entrusting to the Republican party, through decisive ma- jorities, the control and direction of national legislation.
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1908]
"The many wise and progressive measures adopted at recent ses- sions of Congress have demonstrated the patriotic resolve of Repub- lican leadership in the legislative department to keep step in the forward march toward better government.
"Notwithstanding the indefensible filibustering of a Democratic minority in the House of Representatives during the last session, many wholesome and progressive laws were enacted, and we espe- cially commend the passage of the Emergency Currency bill, the appointment of the National Monetary commission, the Employers' and Government Liability laws, the measures for the greater efficiency of the army and navy, the Widows' Pension bill, the Child Labor law for the District of Columbia, the new statute for the safety of rail- road engineers and firemen, and many other acts conserving the public welfare.
"Tariff .- The Republican party declares unequivocally for a re- vision of the tariff by a special session of Congress immediately fol- lowing the inauguration of the next President, and commends the steps already taken to this end in the work assigned to the appro- priate committees of Congress which are now investigating the operation and effect of existing schedules.
"In all tariff legislation the true principle of protection is best maintained by the imposition of such duties as will equal the dif- ference between the cost of production at home and abroad, together with a reasonable profit to American industries. We favor the establishment of maximum and minimum rates to be administered by the President under limitations fixed in the law, the maximum to be available to meet discriminations by foreign countries against Ameri- can goods entering their markets, and the minimum to represent the normal measure of protection at home-the aim and purpose of the Republican policy being not only to preserve, without excessive duties, that security against foreign competition to which American manu- facturers, farmers, and producers are entitled, but also to maintain the high standard of living of the wage-earners of this country, who are the most direct beneficiaries of the protective system. Between the United States and the Philippines we believe in a free inter-
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change of products with such limitations as to sugar and tobacco as will afford adequate protection to domestic interests.
"Currency .- We approve the emergency measures adopted by the government during the recent financial disturbance, and especially commend the passage by Congress at the last session of the law designed to protect the country from a repetition of such stringency. The Republican party is committed to the development of a perma- nent currency system, responding to our greater needs; and the appointment of the National Monetary commission by the present Congress, which will impartially investigate all proposed methods, insures the early realization of this purpose. The present currency laws have fully justified their adoption; but an expanding commerce, a marvelous growth in wealth and population multiplying the cen- ters of distribution, increasing the demand for the movement of crops in the west and south, and entailing periodic changes in monetary conditions, disclose the need of a more elastic and adaptable system. Such a system must meet the requirements of agriculturists, manu- facturers, merchants, and business men generally, must be automatic in operation, minimizing the fluctuations in interest rates, and, above all, must be in harmony with the Republican doctrine which insists that every dollar shall be based upon and as good as gold.
"Postal Savings .- We favor the establishment of a postal savings bank system for the convenience of the people and the encourage- ment of thrift.
"Trusts .- The Republican party passed the Sherman Anti-Trust law over Democratic opposition, and enforced it after Democratic dereliction. It has been a wholesome instrument for good in the hands of a wise and fearless administration. But experience has shown that its effectiveness can be strengthened and its real objects better attained by such amendments as will give to the Federal gov- ernment greater supervision and control over, and secure greater pub- licity in, the management of that class of corporations engaged in interstate commerce having power and opportunity to effect monopo- lies.
"Railroads .- We approve the enactment of the Railroad Rate law and the vigorous enforcement by the present administration of the
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statutes against rebates and discriminations, as a result of which the advantages formerly possessed by the large shipper over the small shipper have substantially disappeared; and in this connection we commend the appropriation by the present Congress to enable the Interstate Commerce commission to thoroughly investigate and give publicity to the accounts of interstate railroads. We believe, how- ever, that the Interstate Commerce law should be further amended so as to give railroads the right to make and publish tariff agreements subject to the approval of the commission but maintaining always the principle of competition between naturally competing lines and avoid- ing the common control of such lines by any means whatsoever. We favor such national legislation and supervision as will prevent the future over-issue of stock and bonds by interstate carriers.
"Railroad and Government Employes .- The enactment in consti- tutional form at the present session of Congress of the Employers' Liability law; the passage and enforcement of the Safety Appliance statutes, as well as the additional protection secured for engineers and firemen; the reduction in the hours of labor of trainmen and railroad telegraphers; the successful exercise of the powers of media- tion and arbitration between interstate railroads and their employes, and the law making a beginning in the policy of compensation for injured employes of the government, are among the most commend- able accomplishments of the present administration. But there is further work in this direction yet to be done, and the Republican party pledges its continued devotion to every cause that makes for safety and the betterment of conditions among those whose labor contributes so much to the progress and welfare of the country.
"Wage-Earners Generally .- The same wise policy which has in- duced the Republican party to maintain protection to American labor ; to establish an eight-hour day in the construction of all public works; to increase the list of employes who shall have preferred claims for wages under the bankruptcy laws; to adopt a child labor statute for the District of Columbia; to direct an investigation into the condi- tion of working women and children, and later, of employes of tele- phone and telegraph companies engaged in interstate business; to appropriate $150,000 at the recent session of Congress in order to
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secure a thorough inquiry into the causes of catastrophies and loss of life in the mines; and to amend and strengthen the law prohibiting the importation of contract labor, will be pursued in every legitimate direction within Federal authority to lighten the burdens and in- crease the opportunity for happiness and advancement of all who toil. The Republican party recognizes the special needs of wage-workers generally, for their well-being means the well-being of all. But more important than all other considerations is that of good citizen- ship, and we especially stand for the needs of every American, what- ever his occupation, in his capacity as a self-respecting citizen.
"Court Procedure .- The Republican party will uphold at all times the authority and integrity of the courts, State and Federal, and will ever insist that their power to enforce their processes and to protect life, liberty, and property shall be preserved inviolate. We believe, however, that the rule of procedure in the Federal courts with respect to the issuance of the writ of injunction should be more accurately defined by statute, and that no injunction or temporary restraining order should be issued without notice, except where irreparable injury would result from delay, in which case a speedy hearing thereafter should be granted.
"The American Farmer .- Among those whose welfare is as vital to the welfare of the whole country as is that of the wage-earner, is the American farmer. The prosperity of the country rests pecu- liarly upon the prosperity of agriculture. The Republican party during the last twelve years has accomplished extraordinary work in bringing the resources of the national government to the aid of the farmer, not only in advancing agriculture itself but in increasing the conveniences of rural life. Free rural mail delivery has been estab- lished; it now reaches millions of our citizens, and we favor its extension until every community in the land receives the full benefits of the postal service. We recognize the social and economical ad- vantages of good country roads, maintained more and more largely at public expense and less and less at the expense of the abutting owner. In this work we commend the growing practice of State aid, and we approve the efforts of the national Agricultural department by experi-
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1908]
ments and otherwise to make clear to the public the best methods of road construction.
"Rights of the Negro .- The Republican party has been for more than fifty years the consistent friend of the American negro. It gave him freedom and citizenship. It wrote into the organic law the declarations that proclaim his civil and political rights, and it be- lieves to-day that his noteworthy progress in intelligence, industry, and good citizenship has earned the respect and encouragement of the nation. We demand equal justice for all men, without regard to race or color ; we declare once more, and without reservation, for the enforcement in letter and spirit of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution which were designed for the protection and advancement of the negro; and we condemn all devices that have for their real aim his disfranchisement for reasons of color alone as unfair, un-American, and repugnant to the supreme law of the land.
"Natural Resources and Waterways .- We endorse the movement inaugurated by the administration for the conservation of natural resources; we approve all measures to prevent the waste of timber ; we commend the work now going on for the reclamation of arid lands, and reaffirm the Republican policy of the free distribution of the available areas of the public domain to the landless settler. No obligation of the future is more insistent, and none will result in greater blessings to posterity. In line with this splendid undertaking is the future duty, equally imperative, to enter upon a systematic im- provement upon a large and comprehensive plan, just to all portions of the country, of the waterways, harbors, and Great Lakes, whose natural adaptability to the increasing traffic of the land is one of the greatest gifts of a benign Providence.
"The Army and Navy .- The Sixtieth Congress passed many com- mendable acts increasing the efficiency of the army and navy; making the militia of the States an integral part of the national establish- ment; authorizing joint manœuvers of army and militia; fortifying new naval bases and completing the construction of coaling stations; instituting a female nurse corps for naval hospitals and ships; and adding two new battleships, ten torpedo-boat destroyers, three steam
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colliers, and eight submarines to the strength of the navy. Although at peace with all the world, and secure in the consciousness that the American people do not desire and will not provoke a war with any other country, we nevertheless declare our unalterable devotion to a policy that will keep this republic ready at all times to defend her traditional doctrines and assure her appropriate part in promoting permanent tranquillity among the nations.
"Protection of American Citizens Abroad .- We commend the vigorous efforts made by the administration to protect American citi- zens in foreign lands, and pledge ourselves to insist upon the just and equal protection of all our citizens abroad. It is the unquestioned duty of the government to procure for all citizens, without distinc- tion, the rights of travel and sojourn in friendly countries, and we declare ourselves in favor of all proper efforts tending to that end.
"Extension of Foreign Commerce,-Under the administration of the Republican party the foreign commerce of the United States has experienced a remarkable growth, until it has a present annual valua- tion of approximately three billions of dollars and gives employment to a vast amount of labor and capital which would otherwise be idle. It has inaugurated, through the recent visit of the Secretary of State to South America and Mexico, a new era of Pan-American com- merce and comity, which is bringing us into closer touch with our twenty sister American republics having a common historical heritage, a republican form of government, and offering us a limitless field of legitimate commercial expansion.
"Arbitration and The Hague Treaties .- The conspicuous contri- butions of American statesmanship to the great cause of international peace, so signally advanced in The Hague conferences, are an occa- sion for just pride and gratification. At the last session of the Senate of the United States eleven Hague conventions were ratified, estab- lishing the rights of neutrals, laws of war on land, restriction of sub- marine mines, limiting the use of force for the collection of contractual debts, governing the opening of hostilities, extending the application of Geneva principles, and in many ways lessening the evils of war and promoting the peaceful settlement of international controversies. At the same session twelve arbitration conventions with great nations
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1908]
were confirmed, and extradition, boundary, and naturalization treaties of supreme importance were ratified. We endorse such achievements as the highest duty a people can perform, and proclaim the obligation of further strengthening the bonds of friendship and good-will with all the nations of the world.
"Merchant Marine .- We adhere to the Republican doctrine of encouragement to American shipping and urge such legislation as will revive the merchant marine prestige of the country so essential to national defense, the enlargement of foreign trade, and the industrial prosperity of our own people.
"Veterans of the Wars .- Another Republican policy which must be ever maintained is that of generous provision for those who have fought the country's battles and for the widows and orphans of those who have fallen. We commend the increase in the widows' pension made by the present Congress and declare for a liberal administration of all Pension laws, to the end that the people's gratitude may grow deeper as the memories of heroic sacrifice grow more and more sacred with the passing years.
"Civil Service .- We reaffirm our former declarations that the Civil Service laws, enacted, extended, and enforced by the Republican party, shall continue to be maintained and obeyed.
"Public Health .- We commend the efforts designed to secure greater efficiency in national public health agencies and favor such legislation as will effect this purpose.
"Bureau of Mines and Mining .- In the interest of the great mineral industries of our country, we earnestly favor the establish- ment of a Bureau of Mines and Mining.
"Cuba, Porto Rico, Philippines, and Panama .- The American government, in Republican hands, has freed Cuba, given peace and protection to Porto Rico and the Philippines under our flag, and begun the construction of the Panama canal. The present conditions in Cuba vindicate the wisdom of maintaining, between that republic and this, imperishable bonds of mutual interest, and the hope is now expressed that the Cuban people will soon again be ready to assume complete sovereignty over their land.
"In Porto Rico the government of the United States is meeting
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loyal and patriotic support, order and prosperity prevail, and the well- being of the people is in every respect promoted and conserved. We believe that the native inhabitants of Porto Rico should be at once collectively made citizens of the United States, and that all others properly qualified under existing laws residing in said island should have the privilege of becoming naturalized.
"In the Philippines insurrection has been suppressed, law estab- lished, and life and property made secure. Education and practical experience are there advancing the capacity of the people for govern- ment, and the policies of Mckinley and Roosevelt are leading the inhabitants step by step to an ever-increasing measure of home rule.
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