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tooth campaigns tho party made accessions from
tho most democratic element of tho republican
party.
Tho democratic party must stand for justico
to all, and since tho interests of the laboring man
aro most threatened now, its guardianship of his
interests must be open and steadfast. The labor
ing man needs shorter hours in order that he may
have more time with his family, moro time for
Intellectual pursuits, and more time to gather the
Information necessary for intelligent citizenship.
The laboring man needs arbitration for the settle
ment of difficulties which : present can only bo
sottled by the clumsy and expensive method of
fored by tho strike. Ho needs protection from
government by injunctionf in order that he, like
other citizens, may enjoy the safeguard of trial by
jury. In other words, he needs to be protected in
"tho enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit
.of happiness," and the democratic party must be
his champion wherever his interests are assailed.
The interests of the farmer, the merchant,
and the professional man ought to be as jealously
guarded as tho Interests of the laborer. The par
ty's position on the question of Imperialism, on
the trust question, on the money question and on
the tariff question ought in the ruture, as at pres
ent, to guarantee to all that protection which
comes from fearless application to all branches
and departments of the Government of the Jeffer
eonian maxim of "equal rights to all and special
privileges to : one."
It was said in tho beginning that all party suc
cess depended In part upon the knowledge which
the people had of public questions. Every campaign
speech addressed to voters, every editorial dis
cussing public questions, assumes not only that
parties appeal to the judgment of the votei, but
- that parties rely upon the enlightenment of tho
voter upon tho questions at issue. The demo
cratic party has been handicapped in recent cam
paigns by the fact that so many of the papers
purporting to be democratic papers looked to as
the exponents of party principles have been con
trolled by corporate influences hostile to the in
terests of the masses. When tho crisis came in
18D6 and the lines were drawn between tho de
mands of plutocracy and the rights of the peo
ple, these papers deserted and threw their influ
ence to tho republican party. As soon as the cam
paign of 189G was over thow at once claimed a
place at tho head of tho democratic army, and as
serted that the party not only should, but would,
assume again the same position of subserviency
to organized wealth that it occupied under the
second Cleveland administration. Not only were
democrats, in one section of the country misled as
to the sentiment of democrats elsewhere, but re
publicans who were dissatisfied with their party's
policy were given to understand that the demo
cratic party contemplated no real reform. This
misrepresentation of democratic principles and of
the democratic position continued for four years,
and then, in spite of tho misrepresentation, the
democratic voters met In their several states and
Indorsed the Chicago platform only two states
and territories out of the whole number falling
o make such 'indorsement During the campaign
Df 1900 some of the papers that left us in 1896
.having been punished severely for their apostacy
y S? l uacf "?". eave a nominal allegiance
SJiJffnm SS but T 0f thoso that Save this
nominal allegiance destroyed the value of their
fcupport by their constant attc.ks upon the demo
cratic position. As soon as the olecUon was over
the papers that had remained outside of the par'
ty as well as those which had ostensibly returned
to it, again renounced, in chorus, nearly all that
was fundamental in the party creed. They again
KmeAiCha?e aud demanded repentence on the
part of the democratic voters.
That misrepresentation is still goini? on and
as a result some well-meaning democrats have
been led to believe that the party anno? succSS
Jnn Jif a surrcnder oC its position, and republi
can reformers have been repelled from rather
liuF8?, t0 thG. Party' Truth is omnipotenT
r! i T tr must be scattered broadcast if it
13 to bring forth a bountiful harvest Most of tho
so-called democratic dallies have lameStaWv
failed to scatter the seeds of democrS wly
toth? ,them haJe 8pent more K aplSg
for tho democrat c position or nriHniei. . . S
who have been loyal to X Dartv thi SB t?Se
In presenting deJocraUc truTh or TchalTengin'
republican error. n r u cnaiiengmg
republican error, if K. T ""c" "lAu.cnauei
aidered democratic tHm had taEL
years since 1896, spent as much time In exnound
SS,Zd dofendin& th0 democratic pos tion i as "the"
republican papers have spent in expounding and
w uuulluve fnf, permanent vic
The third influence to bo considered is tho
The Commoner
effect of industrial and local conditions. Tho
Homestead riot greatly aided tho democratic
party in 1892, while tho good crops between- lbao
and 1900, and the unexpected increase in the pro
duction of gold, largely helped tho republican par
ty in tho campaign of 1900. That temporary con
ditions often decide a national election is well
recognized. Testimony recently produced showa
that President LIcKinley when a candidate for
re-election in 1900 sent a special representative
to the head of the anthracite coal trust and urged
the settlement of the coal strike because of tho
fear that a continuation of the strike would jeo
pardize his party's chances. That good times help
the party in power and that panics Injure tho
party in power is admitted by all. The panic of
1873 resulted in such an enormous change in sen
timent that Tilden had a popular majority in 1876,
notwithstanding the large majority secured by
Grant in 1872.
It is impossible for any one to forecast tho
crop conditions or to prophesy with certainty in
regard to the industrial or financial conditions
'that may develop before thaf time, and it is
therefore impossible for any one to speak with
certainty as to the democratic prospects of 1904.
As the farmer sows his seed and cultivates his
crop, taking his chances on the seasons to enlarge
or diminish the yield of his land, so the demo
cratic party must plant the seed which it thinks
best and cultivate it with assiduous care by tho
propagation of democratic doctrine, trusting to
conditions to either hasten or retard the party's
progress. Those who fear to sow or fail to cul
tivate, cannot hope to harvest a bountiful crop
in the domain of politics any moro than they can
in the realm of agriculture.
In answer to your inquiry, therefore, permit
me to say that while no one has the power to
foretell the result of the election in 1904, tho
democratic party and by that I mean not a few
leaders, but the voters of the democratic party
should apply democratic principles to all ques
tions, should present democratic arguments to all
who will read or listen, and face the future with
confidence, assured that whether transient con
ditions and changing circumstances shall be fav
orable or unfavorable, truth will finally triumph
and every righteous principle be ultimately es
tablished. (The above was written In reply to inquiry"
from The Statesman, published at Austin, Tex.)
Laziness.
With the coming of spring there is apt to" be
the languor sometimes called spring fever which
attacks the boys who are old enough to work.
It is so pleasant to rest under the shadow of the
tree or stroll along the stream with hook and
line that where some necessity does not assist
it requires some effort to throw off the feeling
and undertake work with energy. Laziness is
the weed that grows where industry is not sedu
ously cultivated to use tho comparison that some
one has employed to describe the weed and the
plant laziness seems to be the child of Nature
while Industry is the step-child. A little reason
ing would teach the boy verging upon manhood's
estate that laziness is a physical condition to be
shunned while industry is a physical habit to bo
cultivated. All that it requires to convert a lazy
boy into an industrious boy is the stimulus of
the will and the habitual triumph of the will
over the Inclinations of the body will permanent
ly transform a sluggish and slothful creature into
one alert, quick and active. And what will stim
ulate the will? Give tho boy a true conception of
life and let him understand that God has linked
enduring enjoyment with uprightness and honest
toil. Let him learn that the are not only
most useful, but most happy who have something
to occupy their hands, their heads and their
hearts.
The body needs exercise and without sufficient
exercise it finds itself less capable to resist tho
inroads of disease and the advances of age.
Tho mind needs exercise. Unless it is em
ployed the faculties are dulled and tho mental
preceptions grow less acute. The heart, too, needs
exercise; unless it is frequently employed in
deeds of kindness and benovolenco it will shrivel
up.
While recreation and amusement have neces
sary places in furnishing variety and elasticity,
the boy should learn that amusements have to
be the seasoning of his work, not tho entire food
of his life. ,
Habits of industry formed in youth maka
labor easy in after years. Laziness in yonth is
apt to blight tho mature years. Very few can
expect to go through llfo without labor. Many
who expect to Inherit wealth lose it because they
.VOLUME 3, NUMBER 22.
lack" tho habits of thoae who acquired it The
young man who is diligent has, other things be
ing equal, the best chance of finding leisure to
rest as he grows old, while those who waste tho
morning hours of life are most apt, other things
being equal, to find it necessary to work when
their strength is declining and when the shadows
are falling to the east
Expansion vs. Imperialism.
In discussing the Louisiana purchase recently
ex-Secretary Charles Emory Smith attempted to
use the act of Jefferson as a precedent for the
Philippine policy of tho McKinloy administration,
but the distinction between Jeffersonian expan
sion and republican imperialism is so clear that
it would be a reflection on a man's intelligence to
say that he could not see it.
The land purchased by Jefferson was contig
uous, the islands, forcibly taken by the republi
can administration, are in another hemisphere
and are separated from us by the Pacific ocean.
Tho Louisiana territory was sparsely settled; tho
Phillpine Islands are more densely populated than
our own country. (If -we take the Filipinos and
their land wo will have less land per capita than
we have now.)
The scattered Inhabitants of the Louisiana
territory came in as citizens"; the Filipinos come
In as subjects.
The Louisiana territory was settled up by
people who located on the land for the purpose of
living upon it and cultivating it; the Americans
who go to tho Philippines go there to work the
natives and to carry away all the wealth that is
movable.
Tho settlers In the Louisiana territory formed
self-governing communities; the people who go
to the Philippines go almost wholly as carpet-bag
officials or as exploiters of the helpless.
The Louisiana territory was carved into
states; the Philippine islands are to form a col
ony. The people who live in the states made out
of the Louisiana purchase share in the guarantees
of our constitution and in the destinies of our
nation; the Filipinos have no protection -from our
Constitution, and no voice in our government, or
even in their own.
The people who live on the land purchased by
Jefferson participate in tho levying of the taxes
which they pay; the Filipinos aro taxed without
representation and shot down if they object to
the exercise of arbitrary power by an alien gov
ernment , These jare some of the distinctions.
To us the purchase of the Louisiana terri
tory as an excuse for a colonial policy in the
Orient is as absurd as it would be to use the
kindness of the Good Samaritan as a justification
of the criminal conduct of Cain.
Organized Wealth.
The Wall Street Journal, which may fairly
be considered one of the ablest representatives of
tne money worshipping pc .ion of the nation's
population, rushes to the rescue of "organized
wealth." It begins by attempting to misunder
stand the phrase, and then endeavors to throw
upon legitimate business the odium that ought
to be reserved for predatory wealth. It would
be a reflection -pon the intelligence of the editor
of the paper to suppose that he does not under
stand the difference between the legitimate bus
iness enterprises with which no one finds fault
and the arrogant and insolon- attempt of tho
financiers and trust magnates to control the gov
ernment in their own priyat ) interests, corrupting
voters, coercing businesn men, and even threat
ening panics whenever sue . threats are thought
to be useful.
There is a clear line of demarkation between
those, on tne one hand, wL as individuals, part
ners or stockholders in a corporation, are attempt
ing to add to the nation's wealth by the develop
ment of industry and commerce, giving to so
ciety a full return for tn money they receive,
and those, on the other hand, who attempt to
destroy competition and extort from their vic
tims such bounties as greed and avarice may dic
tate. It is one of tno tricks of thn fox, when hotly
pursued, to rush through a flock of1 sneep or a
herd of cattle in order th t those who pursue
may lose the scent, and so tho monopolies that
prey upon the public are always sure to run to
cover behind legitimate and honorable organi
zations in order to avoi". those who endeavor to
punish them. It Is a confession of cowardice, and
an admission .that tho Institutions thus defended
cannot bo defended upon their merits.
A recent issue of the Journal illustrates the