Why the
Republican Party
Should Be Successful
Next November

By
HARRY T. STIGER
Williamsport, Pa.

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Why the Republican Party Should
Be Successful Next
November
By HARRY T. STIGER, Williamsport, Pa.

That Government approaches nearest the ideal which guarantees not
only full and, equal liberty and justice to its citizens, -but so shapes its
policies and legislation as to afford them every opportunity to exercisfe all
the talents and faculties with which they are endowed.
The administration of public affairs in this country has been conducted
by one or the other of two dominant political organizations, whose fun
damental principles and policies of government have always been widely
divergent. The sober judgment of the American people, however, in
matters affecting their material welfare will assure the continuance of
those policies and those principles which, in their experience, have pros
pered our nation.
Born during the intense heat of sectional differences, and dedicated
to the principle of liberty and equality, the Republican party was first
entrusted with the responsibilities of government 'at a time when our
country and its institutions trembled in the balance and was facing a
crisis appalling in "its every aspect. It preserved the unity of the States
without damage to our Constitutional structure, disbanded a military host
and sent it home as simple citizens of a land saved by American heroism.
Capacity to Govern Demonstrated
Conceived and baptized in a crisis, it remained to be seen whether this
political party was fitted to cope with the everyday problems of our na
tional life. The annals of history do not furnish a parallel for the im
mense progress this country has made during its guidance under the
policies of successive Republican administrations ; its capacity to govern
and to meet every question that arises has been amply demonstrated.
With wisdom and foresight it hastened to throw open and to distribute
the public lands to settlement and to unite what was then the wilderness
of the West with the thriving East by bands of steel, resulting in the
foundation of loyal and prosperous commonwealths beyond the Rockies.
Protection to American Industries and labor — the cardinal economic
principles of the Republican party from the date of its birth— has stimu
lated the industrial, commercial and agricultural interests of this country
to such enormous proportions that history affords no parallel, nor any
other nation a comparison. Under this system the crude rules of nature
have been modified by the higher rules of human reason, to the end that
we have in a large measure become master of nature instead of her slave.

It has raised the wages of the American laborer and mechanic far and
away beyond that paid for his hire in any other country or under any
other condition ; it has made the wheels in the greatest diversity of -indus
try and enterprise to turn; it has compelled the engines of commerce to
pant, the forge to glow and the towering furnace to fling into the darkness
of midnight its volcanic glare; it has stimulated human endeavor and
ingenuity in every possible field of activity, and carried the products of
our industry to the ends erf the earth.
Standard of Value Maintained
The Republican party has successfully withstood every radical assault
on the national credit; it has maintained every dollar of our circulating
medium at the highest standard of value against the persistent and foolish
demands of those who would have depreciated our currency and brought
dishonor, disaster and shame upon every interest.
Had it accomplished little else during the last decade, the Republican
party deserves the praise of our own people and the admiration of the
world for the masterly manner in which it settled the disturbing and vexa
tious Cuba question. The island republic, created and erected under the
guiding hand of this government, is now enjoying greater prosperity and
happiness than she ever knew in all her troubled history. Despite the
great and hypocritical hue and cry of the opposition, the Republican
party has brought to the benighted Philippines an example of the best
colonial government and administration that history records; protecting
the peaceful, restraining the evil, granting them the largest measure of
liberty they are capable of assimilating, educating them for a higher and
nobler citizenship, it has set them on the highway of peace, prosperity and
orderly self-government.
The most gigantic engineering enterprise of modern times — the con
struction of an interoceanic canal across the Isthmus of Panama — is
swiftly and surely nearing completion through the aggressive policy of
the Republican party, and the visionary dreams of Balboa will soon be
come a fact, and the long, anxious expectations of the world's commerce
be realized. Worthy of People's Confidence
The Republican party should be successful on November 3rd because it
has proved itself worthy of the full confidence of the American people.
It has nobly met every crisis since its formation, and its principles and
performances have made us the most prosperous nation on the globe,
The high station we occupy today in ,the councils of the nations has been
gained by its triumphs in diplomacy in the face of Democratic pessimism
and opposition. Its rule of action is not founded on theory nor the im
possible dreams of the visionary, but it is founded on the rock of human
reason and experience, intelligently applied and vigorously executed.
It deserves to succeed because the principles espoused by its opponent
are diametrically opposite and antagonistic to those which have worked
the welfare of our nation. Forty-seven years of our history have been

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covered by Republican control and achievement, except the doleful period
of 1892 to 1896. Let every man recall the past and let his experiences
light his political pathway in the future ; let him be guided by reason, not
by theory, passion or prejudice, and he will be persuaded that his interests
and the interests of his country demand that he support, uncompromis
ingly, the Republican Presidential and Congressional nominees.
It will succeed because it has placed in nomination as its standard
bearer a man to .whom the people can safely trust their political fortunes ;
a man whose experience in government preeminently fits him for the
grave responsibilities devolving on the Chief Executive of this country,
and who will perpetuate the policies, principles and administrative ability
that have marked Republican government.