VI.

Address before the Republican Club of the City of New York, January 31, 1908.

Fellow Members of the Republican Club:

In the adoption of the resolutions which preceded the call of this meeting, you have conferred upon me an honor of which I cannot express adequately my appreciation. It is enhanced by the fact that it comes from old friends and associates—the fellow members of an organization with which it has been my privilege to be identified for twenty years, and from a body of loyal and earnest Republicans whose zeal for the welfare of the Republican party and unselfish devotion to its interests are known throughout the country. I cherish your friendship. I esteem your confidence. And in recognition of both, and of the obligation imposed upon me by your action, I shall define my position.

Since I took office I have sought to make it clear that I would not become involved in

factional strife or use the powers of office to further any personal interest. I am, and have been constantly, solicitous that the administration of the affairs of this State shall not be embarrassed by collateral considerations, and that every question shall be presented and decided upon its merits, unaffected by suggestion of ulterior motives. For this reason I have avoided gratuitous discussion of questions foreign to my official duty. But when, in justice to those who have honored me with their confidence, and to the party which, as we all desire, should act freely and with full information, it becomes a duty to speak, I have no desire to remain silent. Nor should I in any event care to preserve availability at the expense of candor.

The Republican party is the party of stability, and the party of progress. Its fundamental policies have determined the course of the Nation's history. Largely, they are now without serious challenge and are removed from any controversy the issue of which might be regarded as doubtful. They include the policy of Union in opposition to every divisive sentiment or disrupting force. They include the policy of establishing the national credit upon a sure foundation, in opposition to those

financial vagaries which, paraded at one time with solemn argument and fervid appeal as the hope of the people, are now by common consent relegated to our museum of political absurdities, wholly amusing save for our keen appreciation of the peril we narrowly escaped. And they also include the policy of protection to American industry in the interest of the wage-earners of our country and in order to safeguard those higher American standards of living which our people will never permit to be reduced. The Republican party has maintained the national honor, and under its direction American diplomacy has attained the highest levels of honorable purpose and distinguished achievement. The great names of the party are the priceless possession of the American people, who, irrespective of partisan affiliations, are grateful that the violence of opposition did not deprive the Nation of their leadership.

The Republican party to-day is charged with weighty responsibility. By reason of its ascendancy in Congress nothing can be accomplished save through its instrumentality. It has been the party of constructive statesmanship, and with its present opportunities its destiny is in its own keeping.

We are contemplating a new administration at the close of one which to a degree almost unparalleled has impressed the popular imagination and won the confidence of the people. The country is under lasting obligation to President Roosevelt for his vigorous opposition to abuses and for the strong impulse he has given to movements for their correction. Differences of opinion now as always exist with regard to the best means of solving some of the extremely difficult problems that are presented. But those who earnestly desire progress and the establishment of our security on its necessary foundations of fair dealing and recognition of equal rights, appreciate the great service he has rendered and the fundamental importance of the purposes he has had in view. We shall have in the next campaign a notable vantage ground, gained through the general admiration of his strong personality and the popular appreciation of the intensity of his desire to promote the righteous conduct of affairs and the welfare of his fellow men.

The most impressive revelation of modern history is the picture it affords of the widespread struggle against every form of oppression and exploitation, and the onward march of the people toward the realization of the

ideals of self-government. This movement, sometimes checked by arbitrary power, sometimes impeded by ignorance, sometimes suffering from the perversions of selfish ambition, sometimes under the urgings of passion running into wanton excesses with their inevitable reactions, nevertheless broadly viewed is an irresistible movement against which in the long run the opposition of class or of privilege will be powerless to prevail. There is no rest in human affairs. The watchword of humanity is progress. And the administration of government, in proportion to the enlightenment of the people, will reflect in ever-increasing degree their insistence upon the enjoyment of equal civil rights and upon the elimination of all evils which threaten equality of opportunity.

In this country of extraordinary resources there are presented to an unprecedented degree the advantages of a free society. We are blessed with a system of government admirably adapted to maintain the rights and to safeguard the opportunities of all. It has not been designed for the benefit of a few, but for the many. It is not a government for any class; it is not a government for the holders of privilege; it is not a government for the talented or for the rich; it is