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Show THE WILSON ' ACCEPTANCE 3PEECH. The Evening Telegram: We do not believe that privately JuBt among ourselves our Democratic friends will grow enthusiastic over Mr. Wilson's Wil-son's speech of acceptance. He had several weeks In which to prepare It, but, nevertheless, It was only a schoolmaster's address to tho school la tho morning. The keynote of It Is that the age and country aro progressing nnd thnt tho Democratic pnrty must keep up with tho procession. But when he comes to explain how his speech does not fll a long felt want. Ho tried to put in the Ideas that were In Mr. Cleveland's mind when In his letter of acceptance ho dealt In glittering generalities how the tariff tar-iff must be readjusted, but business must not bo disturbed by the transaction. tran-saction. Mr. Cleveland's letter was Intended to please everybody those who did not know his real views, by the implied promise that business should not bo disturbed; thoso who did know his real views, that It would bo all right, thnt ho would not hesl-tato hesl-tato about signing a tariff bill for rovenuo only, business or no busl-nes. busl-nes. Wo suspect that Mr. Wilson's denllng with that subject In tho samo way will bo accepted by his party. On tho Phlllpplno question hU mind Is ovidently only half mado up. His statement that tho Philippines do not belong to tho United States Is a brand now Idea. If they do not, then neither does California, Utah, Now Mexico nor Arizona, for tho titles ti-tles aro precisely alike. There nover ooforo has been n cloud on tho title to either tho land ceded to us by Mexico Mex-ico or tho Islands ceded by Spain. What should bo done with thorn has been n question of expediency from tho first. Tho Republican party has proposed nnd promised that tho Islands Isl-ands shall bo given back to tho natives na-tives so soon as there shall bo a rcnsonablo prospect that thoy can govern themselves. Mr. Bryan's Idea Is that they shall bo surrendered Just as soon as a compact can bo made with a few 'coding nations that will prevent their being captured by some aggressive power that wants mora land. But to do that now would bo shirking a manifest auty for It would not bo "n half year until tho head hunters would resume their old work, andthef men In power would continue jhe practice followed by Spanish officials for a hundred yearB namely, to enslave tho people and steal nil "the revenues'. On the subject of controlling tho waters of the Mississippi and tributary tribu-tary rivers thero is no divided opinion opin-ion In the United States. Tho only question is how can the work bo . done effectively nnd not in tho fu- , ture, ns in tho past, havo It nearly all ' terminate in a wasto of monoy. The most startling thing of all in this speech Is what the candidate sayB about our merchant marine. It is to be restored without bounties or subsidies sub-sidies by somo new process which CtfM ho did not outline, until our ships 1 cover the seas. What his proposition proposi-tion Is no man can understand, nt least, no man but hlmsolf, nnd if he understnnds it ho gives no hint of how tho grent work Is to bo performed. perform-ed. It ennnot be by giving mnll contracts, con-tracts, because they nro only another form of a subsidy. It ennnot bo by throwing off the tariff on goods Imported Im-ported In American ships, because when the tariff Is fixed, nccordlng to Mr. Wilson's idea, there will be nothing to throw off. Steamships are costly institutlona to run, ro costly that at present no American company could, had it a full line ot new ships. of tbe first wnter presented to It in New York harbor, put those ships to work in any foreign trade and pay expenses. A ship like tho City of New York, for Instance, burns about 1200 tons of coal a day, and that, at the lowest estimate, means $S a ton. A ship like the Lusitanla burns from 300 to 400 tons of coal a day, and to keep it going It and its sister ship, the British government pays a subsidy of $400,000 per year. Now by what means Governor Wilson proposes to run ships in competition com-petition with those ot Great Britain or Germany or France and. pay expenses ex-penses is his secret. No one can possibly pos-sibly share it with him, unless It bo Mr. Bryan. Perhaps he Intends to use dirigible balloons foTjjjnojUye power, or maybe he has ardream ot using the ways of the sea in such a. way as to generate power for them. Until something new Is developed in that line the world will havo to- accept ac-cept his promise of a great merchant marine ns a campaign roorbacU, calculated cal-culated to eneth the voto of th9 suckers suck-ers and to die as soon as the election is over. Put the conservation which Xr. Wilson expatiates on for the west !s ,.MjBi iublo to mako Mr. Plnchot jealous. 'J It it means anything, It means that tbo men on the frontier must Keep-their Keep-their hands off, 'ut the general gO'.'-"rnment gO'.'-"rnment must gr w paternal iiO do-flop do-flop the co'U nnd iron and othr mineral lands u'nl make business ,icod foi the people. There Is not a innn in the west of ordinary understanding that does not know thnt such a program means, hardship and loss to tho peoplo of the west, and a great expense to the government so long ns it is tried. It means the prostration ot business, It means the flooding of the country with government agents; it Is an attempt at-tempt to galvanize Into life a policy which tho country tried thoroughly fourscore years and moro ago and dismissed fB altogether unjust and Impartial. The peroration hardly corresponds wjth tho "sounding phrnses" of Mr. Wilson's exordium. It Is a disappointing disap-pointing speech, tho speech of nn acndcmlc schoolmaster; not qulto the Bpeech of a seasoned statesman. |