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Show uu EXTRAVAGANCE OF THE ADMINISTRATION. Colliers, as all know, is an independent inde-pendent weekly, so its opinions may be accepted as devoid of partisan narrowness. nar-rowness. Here is what that paper says of one of Woodrow Wilson's great promises: "Certain documents and extracts from documents make clear the argument ar-gument upon which the Democrats are very much on the defensive at this moment The first is from the national platform adopted by the Democratic convention at Baltimore which nominated Woodrow Wilson. " 'We denounce the profligate waste of the money wrung trom the people b oppressive taxation through the lavish appropriations of recent Republican Repub-lican congresses, which have kept taxes high and reduced the purchas ing power of the people's toll We demand a return to that simplicity and economy which befits a Demo cratlc government and a reduction in the number of useless offices, the salaries sal-aries of which drain the substance of the people.' "To this declaration emphasis was added by yet another expression, the last line of the platform, phrased in consciously solemn words: " Our pledges are made to be kept w hen in office ' "Pass now to the actual figures of appropriations during the time the Democrats have had control of con gresn: 1911 $ 978.ri21.087 1912 996.799.462 1913 988,353.340 1914 1,057.605,1594 1915 1.089,408.777 "That these figures tell the truth, that they are the sort of statistics which reflect the spirit as well as the letter, is proved by some words uttered by one of the ablest Democrats Demo-crats in the House, Congressman John J. Fitzgerald of Brooklyn. Congressman Congress-man Fitzgerald has been chairman of the appropriations committee eer since the Democrats came into power. pow-er. Before that, while the Republicans Repub-licans were in power, he was the leading Democratic member of the committee. His entire connection with the appropriations committee has been marked by earnest effort to restrain government extravagance. These words were uttered by him In a spirit of despair: " i am looking now at Democrats who seem to take amusement In so licltlng votes on the floor of the House to overturn the committee on appropriations appro-priations In its efforts to carry out I the pledges of the Democratic platform. plat-form. They seem to take It to be a huge joke not to obey their platform plat-form and to make ridiculous the efforts ef-forts of the members of our party who do try to live up to the promises tbev made to the people. . . . " 'We charged the Republicans for twelve years of my service In the House under Republican administration administra-tion with being grossly extravagant and reckless In the expenditure of the public money I believed that charge to be true. I believed that my party I when placed in power, would demonstrate demon-strate that the charges we had made iln good faith were true. We are entitled en-titled to the- help and to the support sup-port of the members on this side of the House In honest efforts to carry out tho pledges of the Democratic party, and In our attempts to show that what wo charged in order to get Into power was true We have not had that support. Our Democratic colleagues have not given that support sup-port to us thus far durintr this session ses-sion of congress. They have unnecessarily un-necessarily piled up the public expenditure expen-diture until the Democratic party is becoming the laughingstock of the country'-' "These facta ought to be driven homo everywhere. Some people shout that the Democrats ought to be reelected re-elected as a 'vote of confidence for President Wilson.' Our own view Is that some Democrats ought to be re-elected and some ought to be defeated." de-feated." oo |