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Show PI H P iJll1-: ... THE VOTER'S DUTY, The Republican party will not find it easy to ; convince the people that it would have done better had it been in power or that it would do better if it could be placed in power now. Yet more difficult would be the task of convincing a sober judgment that anything would be gained by handing over to the Republican party that partial power which at the utmost would consist in l.epubhcan supremacy in congress backed by Republican adminis trations m states electing governors and legislators. American experience of divided political responsibility has nev-' nev-' er been happy. A Democratic president contending with a Republican Re-publican congress, or a Republican president contending with a Democratic congress, has never been, even in times of peace, an effective disposition of political forces. Waste and inefficiency have usually resulted from it, and it is not possible to imagine that a great war in its critical stages could be more effectively waged if energies and responsibilities should be so distributed. We yield to no one in profound respect for the wisdom and the patriotism of men like Colonel Roosevelt, Mr. Taft and Mr. Root. But when they say that the voters of America ought this fall to return a Republican congress, and argue that the time has -come to impose upon Mr. Wilson's administration the fearless inquisition in-quisition and the practical legislative check of an opposition political po-litical majority, we are unconvinced. Irresponsible power is indeed in-deed a serious matter and no human being is infallible. But a congressional minority is .quite competent to ask questions, to bring mistakes into the light of publicity and to register protests. It is necessary for the preservation of our liberties to create the certainty that Republican congress would itself make lamentable - and possibly well nigh fatal errors in its desire to play a decisive part in the conduct of the war at a time and under circumstances when it could not be, as the Democratic party is now, wholly responsible re-sponsible for success or failure. In our judgment, hard-headed-ness demands that this responsibility should not be destroyed. Ilswe think, the plain dictate of common sense that the people hu"i return a Democratic majority to congress and assure to President Wilson the support of a Democratic law-making power. The Independent, New York. ' |