Walla Walla Statesman

Garfield's Republicans
Not a few of the Republican county conventions in this territory have set forth James A. Garfield's Republicanism as theirs by right of adoption, and in the same section indorse the present Republican programme of the nation. There is contradiction in these sentiments. The Republican party, by the very law of its principles and organization, could not realize the promises which the incoming administration of President Garfield made. Garfield did not believe in the theory of paternal government; he did not believe in an unrestrained construction of the Constitution. He believed in the just and true distribution of the burdens and impediments necessary for the maintenance of social order, so that each man should have an equal chance with his fellowmen. He believed in a theory of government that would not lead to excessive administration. He did not believe in large revenues and a full treasury, because that means high taxation, large expenditures, wastefulness, jobs, plundering and official corruption. He was a good deal of a Democrat in that he believed in a strict construction of the Constitution, a narrowing of the interference of the government, equal justice to all men, special privileges and exemptions to none; in economy, simplicity, low taxes a sufficient treasury. Read the record of the Republican organization since James A. Garfield, the martyr President, received his death wound, and discover in it, if you can, the principles of that great man.