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week's issue of Tho Commoner the attention of
every "want to win" domocrat In his neighbor
hood. Even on tho low plane of expediency, thero is
every reason why tho attempt to ropublicanizo the
democratic party should he defeated. It would
not, in tho end, profit tho democratic party if it
should loso its principles even though it won the
offices. Like tho victory of 1892 it would bo an
oxponsivo victory; but if after democrats sur
render their principles they aro required to sub
mit to dofeat, the defeat will bo all tho moro
humiliating.
It is of tho highest importance that every
flcmocrat who loves his party understand the sit
uation and realize that disaster will certainly
come upon the democratic party if the reorganiz
ing element controls in the convention of ly04.
It is, therefore, important that every democrat
who beliovcs that his party should remain true to
its principles and faithful to tho people tako
part in tho work of preventing tho republicaniza
tion of tho party. In this contest tho aid of ev
ery real domocrat will be needed for it must bo
plain to every one that the money bags of the
trusts aro behind the so-called reorganizing ele
ment and that if theso reorganizes can. win a
victory by tho expenditure of money, money will
be spent In generous amounts.
One method of preventing tho success of tho
reorganizes scheme is by tho organization of
democratic clubs In every precinct throughout tho
country. Theso clubs could accomplish a great
work If they would see to It that only democrats
who may bo deponded upon to ropresent the peo
ple's interests aro choson as delegates to demo
cratic conventions. Tho Commoner will furnish
a form of constitution and mombership blanks
for the use of democratic clubs upon application
to this office. As rapidly as these clubs aro or
ganized, thoy should ,bo reported through theso
columns.
JJJ j
Attempting the Immpossible.
On another page will bo found a letter writ
ten by Mr. Richard L. Metcalfe, editor of tho
Omaha World-Herald,, to Mr. Norman B. Mack,
editor, of, the Buffalo Times, together with Mr.
Mack8 reply, It seems that Mr. Mack, soma
weeks ago wrote an editorial expressing a desire
for harmony, and shying that it ought to bo
possiblo for tho supporters of tho Kansas City
platform and the followers of Mr, Cleveland to
find some, common ground upon which they could
unite. Mr. Metcalfe, recognizing Mr. Mack's earn
est desire for party success, asked him to sug
gest the basis of harmony and, in order to as
sist him, propounded a number of questions. Mr.
Mack's reply snows that ho is still fully con
vinced of tho correctness of the party's position
in tho campaigns of 1896 and 1900, but in the,
hope of conciliating gold democrats ho expresses
a willingness to deal with the money question in
a very goneral way. It will be noticed that he
does not favor amblgultyr as the Cleveland demo
crats do, and lio is noi willing to ignore the
money question as many of them would like to
do. He seems to desire a declaration in favor of
bimetallism, loaving tho matter of ratio to con
gress. He says that tho ratio was the bone of
contention, and starting out with this error it is
not strango that his conclusion should be faulty
For twenty years tho democrats of the house and
senate voted constantly for free coinage at tho
ratio of 1G to 1. No other ratio was ever pro
posed. Even tho republicans have never though
of changing tho ratio. Thoy have been in power
now more than six years, and yet no attempt has
been made to change the ratio. Tho republican
administration has coined more silver dollars
Binco 189G than have ever been coined before in
tho same length of time, and they were all
coined at tho ratio of 16 to 1. The ratio is
thoroforo, not an issue, and never has been'
Those who oppose bimetallism, have found fault
with the ratio, but when a- man flndB fault with
the ratio of 16 to 1 tho chances are a hundred to
one that, if given his way, ho would not restore
bimetallism at any ratio, '"he offer to leave tho
ratio to congress is not a compromise. It is a
tacit surrender of the whole subject. Because
that would simply carry the party back to the
practice that prevailed prior to 1896 of electing
to congress men who pretended to bo bimetallists
but who always found some objection to doing
anything.
It will be noticed that Mr. Mack does not an
swer tho questions put by Mr. Metcalfe in regard
to bank currency and asset currency. This i
doubtless an oversight, because ho has been so
frank in dealing with tho othor questions that
there is no reason to believe that ho would in-
The Commoner.
tentionally avoid this one, although it Is one of
the most troublesome of the questions asked by,
Mr. Metcalfe. '
The paper money question is troublesome, no i
because thero is any difficulty In answering it
from a democratic standpoint, but because the re
organizers who oppose tho restoration of silver
also favor a bank currency, but in the case of
the bank currency they cannot say that tho in
creased production of gold has settled tho con
troversy between bank notes and greenbacks.
Neither can they say that an enlargement of the
volume of money makes an asset currency safe.
It will be found that tho men who are opposed
tG the restoration of bimetallism take tho bank
er's view of finance on all phases of it, and if
given control of tho party they would be as ser
vile tools of Wall street as any republican lead
ers could be.
Mr. Mack thinks that the democratic atti-'.
tude on the trust question must remain unshaken, '
and yet he will find that Mr. Cleveland's follow
ers aro just as much afraid of effective anti
trust legislation as they are of government paper
or bimetallism. Under the last Cleveland admin
istration nothing was done to interfere with the
trusts, and the reorganizes, if in control, would
expect to get their campaign funds from the
trusts just as they did in 1892, and then leavo
them undisturbed.
Mr. Mack favors an income tax, which Mn
Cleveland, Mr. Hill and their followers oppose.
Mr. Mack also opposes government by in
junction, but it will be remembered that the
Cleveland element was as much opposed to the
democratic; position on this subject , as to tho
democratic position on the money qutstlon, and
the same may be said in regard to all the- ques
tions affecting labor.
Mr. Mack believes that the party should stand
by its opposition to imperialism, but this again
offends papers like the Courier-Journal and tho
Atlanta Constitution, and the men who are will
ing to sacrifice anything that they think stands
In the way of what they call "success."
It would be easy to agree upon the tariff
question, because tariff reform is as indefinite -as.
protection
Mr. .Mack's program would hardly be, .found -acceptable,
because the , Kansas City platform
democrats would not be willing tojgnore the vari
ous phases of themonor question and- accept a'
gold bug candidate, and the Cleveland men-would
not bo willing to accept the other planks in the
Platform unless, of course, they are given both
tho candidates and the organization, in which
case the platform would be immaterial because
they would not feel themselves- bound by it
Mr. Metcalfe has had ten years experience
with the gold standard loaders of the party and
he knows that back of all their pleas and pre
tences, there is something which makes them op
pose the democratic party when it is going in a
democratic direction, namely, their interest in, ,
and their sympathy for, organized wealth. Mr.
Mack leally icans toward right principles, but
like Hpmo other good democrats he is so anxious
to find some basis upon which the party can bo
united that he persuades himself to belieye that
the impossible can happen. If he will read U.u
v!m nr0twTd rnr' the Chicag0 ChronIcle ''
will fiEd that The Commoner has already nointea
?M dimiCUlty' The W0rld says S substance
that the only way to sedure harmony is for the
democratic party to abandon the things that aro
objectionable to the Cleveland element (which
means to abandon the interests of the ' people)
and the Cnroniclc insists that the only thing
necessary is to throw populism (meaning the
platforms of 1896 and 1900) overboard Mr
Sf f tyn P X larg0 tore of disappoin?:
ment if he thinks that there will ever be har
mony between the men who think as Mr. Cleve
land does and the men who believe earnestlv in
the platforms of 1896 and 1900. Harmony be
tween these elements is absolutely impossible,
5,irnnSLtlieiJ 8Patw. eir aspirations, their
purposes and their methods are directly antagon
istic, to each other. If thoy are hitched to tho
cemocratic plow they will not pull together, Tmt
thfnnl11 l- itsveisht against theS weight of
the other Either faction can do more alone than
it can pulling against the strength of the other.
J!f n?fc LniUo Interest of harmony, but.in tho
interest of discord and disaster, to try to recon
cile irreconcilable elements.
JJJ
A Son of Destiny.
Miss Mary C. Francis has published through'
the Federal Book company, of New York, a story
of Andrew Jackson under the title "A Son of
Destiny." It will prove of intense Interest to tho
iVOLUME.3, NUMBER 10.
admirers of the hero of New Orleans and will bo
instructive to those who havo been prejudiced
s against him. While the book quite successfully
brings out the principal points in Jackson's nri
vate and public life, it is written in the form of
a narrative and other characters aro so inter
woven as to make tho book read more like a
novel than a history. Accepting the theory that
no narrative is complete without a love story th
author has made one of Jackson's .staunchest
friends the hero of an affair of the heart.
The book begins with the duel in which
Jackson killed Dickinson for his reflections upon
Jackson's marriage. Next follows the chronicling
of the war of 1812 and Jackson's wonderful vic
tory over Packingham at New Orleans. His life
is then traced through his experiences with the
Indians and as governor of Florida down to his
first presidential campaign in 1824. The growth
of his popularity is described and the character-
istlcs of tho man brought out in bold relief.
Several chapters are given to his domestic life
and a faithful likeness is drawn of Jackson's
adorable and adored wife, and her death and
his sorrow pathetically described.
A number of chapters are devoted to his first
unsuccessful campaign and to the successful cam
paigns of 1828 and 1832. Tho details of the so
cial quarrel that raged in regard to Mrs. Eaton,
Peg, as she was familiarly called, are set forth
at considerable length, In tho course of the
narrative Adams and Clay who combined to de
feat Jackson In 1824 and whom he defeated sep
arately in 1828 and 1832, Calhoun, the vice presi
dent during his first administration, but later his
bitter antagonist; Benton, his early enemy and
afterward the chief exponent of his views in tho
senate; and Webster, who opposed him on many;
questions, but was his ablest defender in tho
nullification controversy all these men appear,
as characters in the book and their elements of
greatness, as well as their political views ani
actions, are discussed. Considerable space is de
voted to the quarrel with Calhoun and to tho
questions which separated them and a general
review given of the celebrated controversy be
tween Jackson. and Nick Biddle's bank, resulting
in the senatorial censure and the successful fight
led by Benton for the rescinding of th6 resolution.
Miss Francis 'brings out admirably the pa
triotic purpose of Jackson, his indomitable will
nis self-reliance, his moral courage and his un
sullied integrity, indicating at the same time" how
he fitted into tho niche of his time and how His
superb- qualities endeared him to the masses with
whom he was always in perfect sympathy. At
the same time she does not overlook the deficien
cies and short-comings which exhibited the human
side of his life. This is her summing up:
"But with, the versatility of the Scotch
Irish, Andrew Jackson was one clean-cut facet
on the polished diamond of his race, a raco
that sparkles high in the diadem of - these
.United States in everything from half-breeds "
to presidents, and, forged as he was in the
red smithyof war and hammered on the anvil -of
poverty, he lacked only a certain balance
of the intellect to make him the greatest
man this country has ever produced. It is
well. Had it been otherwise there would havo
been nothing left of our federal union but his '
vast and dominating personality.".
nmJ0 ar num,erous biographies of Jackson,
among them Parton's three-volumo work and Sum-
SS5n0lSme- ? th? Statesme Series, the latter
"I Mon f'r0Ir th? standpoint of an opponent, but
JL ?? ' DeBUny wi" be found to be the most
Snt,!nry,f JackS0n that fc appeared
and probably it is as near the truth as we can
onintnWS T CnSl,df the id? differencees o
i w Tha? have existed and still exist in re
gard to Jackson himself and his work.
JJJ
Miles on the Philippines.
MaiS?1? Mi!f' Wh0 Went to the PhiliPPina
tafonn nvfestIeato and returned with too much
to dXii hio SU m th0 ImPerlalists, is disposed
and thl iiSCti0n betw?en th0 ay os a whole
It ornpif J CT an? soldlers wh0 ha bem guilty
and Nnlv TRepl3;in t0 a critidsm inthe Annr,
anr teii0"?1' hcSays: "Xt la mot gratify-'
mitted U ?i ,ler,0K?, 0ffences havo not been com
Se d rL?V0ld.i(Ts unless thJy were- under
BlhiP lV?in f uemin ofllcers who re respon
to ISonf niS baVe withneld re when ordered
tv anS wr ml ?' pr?tffted agataat acts of cruel
Hon tn Zl tel tcrelatIvcs at oo to take ac-
of the iSSi8i?Pto tbeSe crime8' U wil1 be 6n6
mittod 8wrl?,oft th0 army tbat sucb eds, com
mitted by whatever authority, are abhorent 'td