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44
ry.
and these tendencies ought to be understood by
thoso who are about to enter upon the exercise
of the privileges of citizenship.
The democratic party leans toward the peo
ple; the republican party leans away from the
people. The democratic party has faith in the
people; the republican party has not Democrats
look back to Jefferson as the founder of their po
litical faith; Republican leaders are admirers of
Hamilton. When one knows the difference be
tween Jefferson and Hamilton he knows the dif
ference between the dominant thought of those
who admire Jefferson and those who admire Ham
ilton. Jefferson not only believed in popular
elections, but be believed in having the elections
frequent enough to keep the representative under
the control of the voters; he recognized the frailty
of man and knew that too long a tenure in office
would lead the office holder to look out for hin
self and forget the people who elected him. Ham
ilton, on the other hand, did not have faith in
the people and he desired to remove the govern
ment as far as possible from the people; he drew
up a form of government and tried to secure its
adoption, but happily he failed to engraft his
ideas upon the constitution. His plan provided
for a president elected for life, for senators
elected for life and for governors of the several
states appointed by the president for life. It was
a centralized system which betrayed in every part
a lack of trust in the masses. It is significant
of the fundamental differences between the two
parties that democrats grow more and more fond
of Jefferson, while republican leaders talk more
and more about Hamilton. As an evidence that
this distinction is a real one, It is only necessary
to review the history of the effort to secure the
election of United States senators by direct vote
of the people.
Something more than fourteen years ago a
resolution was adopted by the house of represen
tatives,, then democratic, submitting the neces
sary amendment to the people; the next house
naUo .democratic, acted favorably upon this reso-
The Commoner,
lution; then two republican houses adjourned
without action. Why did two democratic
houses favor the' election of senators by the peo
ple and two republican houses oppose it?
Is there any other reason than that the demo
crats have more faith in popular elections? After
awhile public sentiment became so strong that
even a republican house was compelled to
pass a similar resolution, but in doing so it fol
lowed the example of the democratic houses be
fore it and that, too, after an interval of some
eight years.
The democratic national platforms of 1900
and 1904 contained planks in favor of the popular
election of senators, but no republican national
platform has yet endorsed this reform. How can
this be explained? It is either because the Re
publican party lacks faith In the people or be
cause the leaders are under the domination of
the corporations which oppose the popular elec
tion of senators.
Let the young yoter consider the questions
which are at Issue and he will find that the
democratic party looks at these questions from
the standpoint of the common people, while the
republican leaders are constantly doing the bid
ding of the trusts, syndicates and other large
corporations. Which partyv will ultimately tri
umph? No student of history can doubt that
democracy will win. In every civilized country
there are two parties, one democratic and one
aristocratic one leaning toward the people and
the other leaning away from them and In every
country the democratic party is growing and the
aristocratic party diminishing in strength. Great
Britain has witnessed a recent triumph of its
democratic party, for the Liberal party is the
democratic party of Great Britain. In the House
of Lords the Conservatives outnumber the Lib
erals in the ratio of 12 to 1, but in the House, of
Commons the Liberals have 200 majority. This
new democratic government, with Sir Henry
Campbejl-Bannerman at Its head, is preparing a
home rule measure for Ireland, vL measure for the
protection of tenants of England and another
measure depriving the landlords of their multiple
yQLtJMK , NUMBER ft
votes; at present a landlord can vote in -.
district where he ha. land, buHn th7 nTai
he will be restricted to one vote and be coZellJ
to choose his residence. compelled
Thus democracy grows in Great Britain in
Russia the most despotic of the governments I
duma has already been established and S thS
election the democratic vote overwhelmed the
votes cast by the czar's party. Democracy growl
in Japan, in China, in India and throughout th
world. It grows because it is foundeS upon Irv ne
trutii. Those who trust the people makenoj
take; those who distrust the people will sooner
or ater find themselves in a minority, foTthe
doctrine of self-government has been vindicated
and will triumph everywhere. Vindicated
If the young voter will read the speeches
8SeSy demrats ad compare those Speeches
with the speeches made by republicans he will
find that the democrat seeks to make society
prosperous by making the masses prosperous
believing that prosperity comes up from the peo
pie; the republican leaders seek to make society
prosperous by making the corporations prosper
ous, believing that prosperity comes down from
the employer to the employes.
i.YLunB Tt)ter' on wbIch side will you fight
with the people for popular government, brought
near to the peoplefor government of the people
by the people and for the people, or will you
..v.vj ui mo pcupiu ior sen-gov-ernment
and build upon an intermediate power
between them and those in authority? Will you
protect the exploiter, the grafter and the plun
dererthose who grow rich upon the earnings
of the public, and having grown rich, debauch
society, politics and government? Citizenship in
a republic involves responsibility; prove that you
appreciate that responsibility by, first, studying
the differences between the parties and the dif
ferences between the policies presented by them
and then make your vote represent a freeman's
will always remembering that truth will triumph
whether you fight for it or fight against it. You
may delay the triumph of the truth, but you can
not prevent it.
GLIMPSES OF SPJkIN" MR' BRYAN'S forty.first letter
The peninsula which Spain and Portugal
divide between them is the part of western
Europe least visited by Americans, although it
stretches out like a friendly hand toward the
western hemisphere and has furnished not only
the discoverer of North America, but the colo
nizers of Central and South America. When
early last June we attempted to secure home
ward passage we found the ships sailing from
Hamburg, Bremen and Antwerp already filled
and had to look to a Mediterranean boat for
accommodation. I mention this experience in
the hope that It may help some other traveler
who finds himself in the same dilemma, for we
not only secured satisfactory accommodations
on one of the North German Lloyd steamers,
.the Princess Irene, but had In addition an op
portunity to see the most backward country in
western Europe, the stronghold of the Moors
during the middle ages and one of the great
fortresses of the globe.
A fast train makes the distance from Paris to
Madrid in a little over a day, the only draw
back being that it passes through the Pyrennes
in the night. As we had remained in Paris
longer than wo expected we were deprived of a
view of the mountain scenery and of the sum
Si re?rta f northern Spain. Morning found
Jn tte v?yy noart oi Castile an the land
scape resembles some parts of Mexico. The
STSJm18!? ithe .mld8t f dry seasoa Z
Jin haVlDg be.en Gathered, the fields look
quite barren save for the vineyards. These
are numerous all over Spain and recall the fact
that Spain, like other colonizers, tried to make
her Colonies supplement her own products rather
than compete with them. She forbade grane
hShJ8ii!n and In Mexlco not only pro-
, m CVlturo of the but the produc
fl ?Lm?l0l sPeakin& of apes, it s only
Abundant h W0 fUnd & "
elX w'mSOi C??P or so dclous. At a VI-
dSra for nlttS JfUn? they were aakin ree
hoUr w a clAU8ter--probably sed in a hot
house-that In August could bo bought in Spain
for ten or fifteen cents. The large white grapes
& lt0 Hle U?ited States ad 80ld as a lux.
T Z nsQtS wIuter months are here within
S th railr0ad one sees Primitive agri-
cultural methods. The old-fashioned threshing
floor is in common use, but Instead of the flail
they employ a machine resembling a light disc
harrow which Is hitched to a pair of mules and
drawn rapidly round and round. When the
wheat is separated from the straw men go
over the threshing floor and winnow out the
wheat, the wind blowing away the chaff. We
were informed that they had had a prosperous
year in the grain districts, but the stubble did
not indicate as heavy a crop as we raise in the
United States.
, Madrid surprised us. It contains more than
half a million of inhabitants, is about two thou
sand feet above the sea and Is really a very at
tractive city. It 'is not an ancient city, being
less than a thousand years old, but it has sub
stantial blocks, a beautiful boulevard and a pic
ture gallery one and a half centuries old, In
the different galleries at Madrid are some of
the best canvasses of Velasquez and Murillo.
As in all other Spanish countries one finds
here reminders of the national sport, the bull
fight. Bach city has its amphitheater or circu
lar bull pit, and It Is often the most conspicuous
building in the place; the fans and in Spain
the fan is omnipresent and often of great value
are ornamented with scenes from the bull
fight and the bill hoards blaze with announce
ments of the next Sunday's combat. The bull
fight is probably a lineal descendant of the
gladiatorial contests of Rome, a surviving relic
of brutality which must disappear when Spain
follows her northern neighbors in the adoption
of universal education. At present her percent
age of illiteracy Is disgracefully large.
While Spa'in has a constitutional govern
ment and goes through the -form of electing 'a
legislative body, her elections do not seem to
be characterized by the freedom and fairness
that attend elections in northern Europe. There
is, however, in this country, as in others a
growing spirit of reform which is already 'de
manding more schools and less religious inter
ference in the government. Much is expected
of the present king, both because of the inde
pendence which he has manifested and because
? QUGen COmes from Hnstand where par-
Before leaving Madrid a word should be said
in regard to the Toledo ware iron and steel
inlaid with gold. It resembles somewhat the
Damascene work of Japan and the old inlaid
work of Damascus and Constantinople. The far
famed Toledo blade was not less dangerous in
war because It was ornamented with delicate
tracery of gold.
A night's ride brought us to Cordova, once
the Moorish 'capital of Spain. It had been a
city of some note under the Romans before the
Christian era and the Moors undertook to make
it a western Mecca for the Mohammedans. There
are still to be seen two gates and a wall which
were built by the Romans and a bridge which
rests upon the foundations laid by the great
builders. The "bridge with its massive arches
and ponderous piers is interesting for other than
historic reasons as it gives evidence of the fact
that the Moors were quick to appreciate and
to follow the example of their predecessors. In
the stream; near the bridge are three grist mills
dating from the middle acres, one of which still
supplies flour to the neighborhood.
The old mosque, however, Is the overshadow
ing object of interest in Cordova, and In itself
well repays a visit to this city of narrow, wind
ing streets and oriental appearance. The ground
plan of the mosque covers about two hundred
and forty thousand square feetnearly as much
as St. Peter's at Rome, but one-third of the space
is occupied by a court. All well regulated
mosques have a court where the worshippers as
semble and purify themselves before entering
upon their devotions. The mosque was some
four centuries in building, one ruler after another
extending its limits In order to accommodate
tne increasing number of converts. In appear
ance the structure .is low and. flat and gives little
idea of its Immensity. It is surrounded by a
strong wall heavily buttressed and is entered by
huge gates. One of these gates bears striking
testimony to a remarkable agreement entered
into by the Christians and Mohammedans where
by the two antagonistic religions divided the
church between them. These gates are covered
with plates of bronze on which Catholic and Ar
abic symbols alternate. The joint occupation did
not last very long, but Abdorrahman when ho
deslred to secure more room for the followers
of the Prophet was considerate enough to pur
chase the other half from the Christians.
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