The Republican Convention at Chicago has nominated Mr. Roosevelt as
candidate for the Presidency, and accepted Mr. Fairbanks, of Indiana, though he is little known, for the Vice-Presidency. It is clear that the party as a whole approves the President's world-policy, with its developments in the Far East, its expenditure on an increased Fleet and the Panama Canal, and its reassertion of the Monroe doctrine. It must be noted, however, that the attack on Trusts in the "platform" adopted is very mild indeed, and that the neces- sity of maintaining Protection is strongly reasserted. It is de- clared to be the "cardinal policy" of the party, and its measure is always to be settled by the difference between the cost of production at home and abroad. The people, in fact, are to be taxed so that foreign competition may be kept out of the home market. That is Chamberlainism, and the popularity of the plan is curious evidence that the American people, for all their shrewdness, are very bad arithmeticians. The fact is the more noteworthy because the agricultural interest, which is the strongest in the Union, is scarcely protected at all.
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