Page:The Republican Party (1920).djvu/135

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Review and Prospect


tem and the meat inspection system for safeguarding the health of the people; the freeing from tax of denatured alcohol for use in the arts; and the national quarantine system against contagious diseases.

It was the Republican party that empowered the Interstate Commerce Commission to fix railway rates, that penalized rebates and other discriminations, that prohibited the abuse of railway passes, that made sleeping cars, express companies and pipe lines common carriers, required to serve all patrons impartially; that built the Panama Canal; that reorganized the consular service on the merit basis; that created a permanent Census Bureau; that brought the telephone and telegraph systems under government control under the Interstate Commerce act; that created the Postal Savings Bank system; that incorporated the Red Cross; that conserved coal lands by reserving to the government title to the deposits, while agricultural entries of the surface lands were permitted; that established the national forestry system; that provided for publicity of campaign contributions; and that promoted the irrigation of arid land areas.

Other Republican measures for the general good were the reorganization of the lighthouse service; the creation of a bureau of mines to lessen the dangers of operatives in that industry; the extended application of safety devices on railroads; the imposition of heavy penalties for the interstate white slave traffic; strong regulations for the prevention of accidents at sea; the parole of Federal prisoners whose conduct after conviction warrants clemency; the conservation of water-power sites; the creation of a Commission of Fine Arts; the creation of national parks. The record of Repub-

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