The Manitowoc Pilot

There is one fact becoming more apparent with the progress of time and that is, that this country is too large and the interests of sections too conflicting for harmonious administration of public affairs under one government. When government extends its functions beyond affording protection to the individual in the exercise of his rights, it invites sectional differences and demands which cannot be complied with. The interests of the western states have become antagonistic to those of the east, although naturally complementary, because of the policy of the government to foster certain industrial lines.

McKinley in his reply to Chairman Thurston says the people know what they want. Possibly they do, but they certainly have no clear idea of how to get it. There never was such blind groping before. McKinley is the beneficiary of this unsettled spirit and the aimless seeking for they know not what. It is no time for a man fit to be president of the United States to indulge in the language of flattery. The times need action and not compliment. McKinley's speech is just what his record justifies, glittering generalities and craze on a protection tariff. The democrats may be wild on the silver question, but that is no more senseless than the rush to the Idol at Canton.