The people will shortly determine which polit-
33 lines✦
have before them many platforms and manypromises. In what direction will they turn?There is no better way of Judging the future thanby the past. We ask, therefore, that the peopleturn from the passions and the prejudices of theday to the consideration of a record as clear asitis enduring. (Applause)REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP The Republican Party was unsuccessful in theelections of 1912 because it had persistently servedspecial interests and had lost touch with the spiritof the time. ‘Those who controlled its destiny de-rived their political inspiration from “the good olddays of Mark Hanna” and neither desired a newday nor were willing to recognize a new day whenit had dawned. (Applause) ‘To each pressingproblem, they sought merely to reapply the pro-cesses of antiquity. (4 pplause) There were elements in the Republican Partywhich were intolerant of its mental sloth andmoral irresponsibility. ‘These influences soughtto gain party control in 1912 and again, in 1916.They renewed the hopeless struggle at the con-vention recently held at Chicago. Despite these efforts, the leaders who have ma-nipulated the party mechanism for more than ageneration, are still in undisputed control. 4 The Republican platform, reactionary andprovincial, is the very apotheosis of political ex-pediency.vague promises, it wili be searched in vain for one
✦