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Vol. XVI. LINCOLN, NEB., SEPTEMBER 15, 1904. . No. 17
THE JEFFER.SONOF 1904 "
At a monster meeting in the Tab
ernacle, Nashville, Tenn., on the 8th
day of the present month, at which
more than 2,000 people of every walk
of life were present, Thomas E. Wat
son, people's party candidate for presi
dent, again delivered one of his mas
terful addresses. Republicans and
democrats of national ' prominence
were mingled with the audience. Con
spicuous among these were:, Sena
tor W. B. Bate, Congressman John
Wesley Gaines, John McMillin, Inter
nal Revenue Collector John E. McCall,
United States District Attorney A. M.
.Tillman, Chairman of the State Re
publican Executive Committee J. C. R.
McCall and other men equally as well
known in politics and affairs. The
meeting was presided over by Hon. H.
J. Mullens. Mr. Watson's address
follows in full: '''.-
Fellow Citizens: For' the first time
since . the civil war, a national party
has dared to nominate upon its presi
dential ticket a man south of Mason
and Dixon's line. In this campaign
that southern man, who is proud to
say he is a southern man, in blood
and. in sentiment, is the only candi
date who stands upon a platform of
Jeffersonian, Jacksonian democracy.
Applause.) And yet, almost without
exception, those politicians and edi
tors of the south, who claim to have
in their peculiar keeping the , word
"democracy" are doing their utmost to
misrepresent the candidate, and to
grind him down into the mire of de
feat. Isn't that a singular situation?
if the candidate really be a southern
man, if he really stands upon demo
cratic principles, has he no right to
sympathy and support 'among his own
people of "the south? j
Tonight I beg you to listen to me
patiently, while I endeavor to appeal
not to your passions, not to your sym
pathy, but to your reason to your
judgment. It doe3 seem to me that it
is high time that the average man of
the south should do some of his own
thinking, and should-act for himself
according to his own ' light, and not
forever obey the crack of the party
.whip. (A) i-iause.) .
Your ballot! What is it? I wonder
sometimes if American; manhood stops
to think what the ballot really repre
sents, and what it is. In the first place
it represents the triumph which cham
pions of popular- liberty won from ty
, ranny in the- years that are gone. The
time was when this race of white peo
ple had no such thing as free speech,
tad no ?uch thing as freedom of the
pen, had no such thing as freedom of
conscience, had no such thing as free
dom of the ballot. How did the race
get it? By following the lead of those
fcrave pioneers who unfurled the stan
dard of revolt against existing op
pression, against existing tyranny,
whether of king or class, and. conse
crated to the purpose of lifting the
common mass of humanity up upon a
higher plane of civilization, demanded
for the people the right to vote for
themselves. (Applause,) Therefore
the ballot the ballot is the trophy
the evidence of Victory which the re
former won in the years that are gone;
and many a brave manjost his life
lost his life at the headman's block,
or on the battleflelJf.beft)t(sHnat piece
of , paper came inter tWhands (iff Hie
white race. (Applause.) ' Not only is
It a souvenir and sacred heirloom of
the years that are gone reminding; m
forver of the groat reformers of the
while race who have stood the stress
and the storm, and mad the fight for
the- riRhts of the common people. Not
only that, but it Is, after you have got
It, the weapon, th blood I cms weapon
with which you defend hdme and flre
ftlde. wife and (hil l, 41M1jr and lire
from the opprew-lvennji of fOse who
mkht. If their emma hmm were
Kiibmlitid to. drive yu't buck again
Into u condition vt flat rrrvltnde.
Internal vigilant bdng h prfc of
liberty. tlit to whhh yon Miall put
that wraiMin-th;i? Mood!; wcuinmi by
which civil liberty l to b U-pt afur
It In won that wi'stttou with aU!4
lKllatnt Mii)iM be ut"d wherever
your HbctH-r are at Male, ant In
mul a way to prerve tho Mcre-,1
feerUa of the past. (Applause.)
I hop to (Jod that every man who
tikes hit ta!!ot on the 8th day of N
vember to cast it. will remember that
"through this piece of paper speaks to
me the heroes of the ages that are
gone; through this piece of paper
speaks to me the human race in its
struggles for liberty; with this piece
of paper I either lose something of
what was handed down to me, or I
add to the sacred treasures of liberty
which ought to be carried on for fu
ture generations." (Applause.)
, Now, it may be that society will
some day evolve a condition in which
the independent voter will accomplish
his ends by simply casting his inde
pendent ballot.- It is sufficient to say
that we have not reached that stage
yet. . Nothing can be accomplished
now without i'aoization. In politics
organizationym
,ns a-political.'' party.
What is apolitical party Che com
ing together ofv a body .of men who
have the same convictions, the same
purpose, and who wish to unite their
hand3 and hearts and mind3, so that
the strength of all may be combined
tocarry out that common purpose.
(Applause.) - That is a political party.
And with your ballot in your hand
you march, citizen of the south,
march, citizen of Tennessee, with that
party which represents your convic
tions. Otherwise you have done vio
lence to your conscience and to those
convictions that ought to be as sacred
to you as life. (Applause.)
If I were a republican on' principle
if I believed in the declared and prac
ticed principles of the republican par
ty I should not hesitate a moment how
to vote. If that platform represented
me; if my convictions spoke there;' if
my purposes were embodied there, I
would not hesitate a moment; I would
go fearlessly, and march with the
ranks of the republican party, and fol
low Theodore Roosevelt to the very
death. Why?, Why? Because he
would be my standard bearer. , He
would be my representative. He would
be wanting to do what I would want
to do. His purpose would be my pur
pose. His hope would be my hope.
His party would be my, party. And,
it being a free . country, I wouldn't
hesitate to 4 ell any man "Roosevelt
stands for me, and I will stand for
Roosevelt." That is right. That is
common sense. That's courage. That's
manliness. That puts the hypocrite ' to
shame. (Applause.) '
But, with the convictions which I
hold, Roosevelt represents . the thing
that I would fight from morning to
night every opportunity I got, every
day of my life from now until the
folding of the hands across my breast.
(Great applause.)
He stands for those things that I
detest. He stands for those principles
which, in my judgment, are subverting
our republic and making it a sordid
despotism of wealth. He stands for
that governmental policy which puts
the dollar above the man which.puts
the corporation above the people,
which puts the few above the many,
which puts the dass above the mass.
And, believing that way about it, I
would blow my brains out before I
would contribute to the success of re
publican principles. (Great applause.)
But if I believed in the republican
principles I could not vote for Judge
Parker, although he comes so close to
the republican platform (laughter and
applause) I see no reason why those
tvi) eggs might not have been taken
out of the same nest. (Laughter.) To
me they are two drinks out of the
same jug. (Laughter.) And If I could
get drunk enough to vote fur .Parker,
I think I might take one more drink
J Hat a little one. and vote for the other
twin. (Iouightcr.) l.et'si see about
that! I would votu always for the Kn
uluo. or iginal, Simon-pure at tide. If
that wa.i -ltu iktkle I wanted, i
woulu't want-an notation. (l.auxhter.)
I wouldn't want u ropyJ, would want
a he uruwul. lAppUu.) 1 dun t
raltlut 4'ouuiettVU dollar; rwiuit thy
1 1 al Tillui 3. I Laughter) I Vin t
want the "Just an good; I aut p.
ral thine" (Latijihter.) lWaine
(he "jua lt" la alwajsi a liar an t
a hypocrite. (.vVla)
Well, nnw, let N Mf It onght rft
to be a matter of mere mateinent. It
iut to t a matter f demonstration.
I promised to a I Ires i yod J tlgfcat
and your reason, not your sympathy,
not your passion. Let us see it I can
demonstrate that.
You are told in the south not to
vote for Roosevelt, because ho is for
republican principles. You arc told to
vote for Partter. And yet Mr. Par'rer
in liis speech of ' acceptance' has 'no
wher had the manhood to.' tell you
wherein lie differs from Jloosevelt on
a single material issue. (Cheers.)
Now that is true. Don't tell me any
thing about your platform, because, for
instance, in the tariff plank, you start
in with "All protection is a robbery;"
a nd before you get through, you don't
know whether you are for tariff for
revenue only, or high protection. You
must take your platform construed
by your candidate. In other words,
1i3--cjmtrmi4bn of the platform is of
ficial is- rnnding, is conclusive. Not
this stump speaker; not that stump
speaker is responsible. Not this edi
tor; not that editor; but the man
who wants to get your votes; the man
who is the official spokesman of his
party; the man who is the standard
bearer of .' national democracy his
word is conclusive.
, Now, let us take Judge Parker's
acceptation speech, and find, if wecan,
where the difference is between him
and Theodore Roosevelt. Is it on im
perialism. Oh, how this country did
ring with .imperialism! WTe went to
bed frightened at- it; and we got up
next morning surprised that It hadn't
captured U3 and carried us off. Im
perialism! - Terrible things were going
to rise up out of the islands of the
sea and come in upon us and-devour
us. Mind you, I wish to God that our
government never had meddled with a
single one of the Islands in those dis
tant seas. (Cheers.) But when I re
member that the treaty of Paris was
concluded at the urgent personal soli
citation of. W.- J. Bryan himself, it
looks to; ine like both, the parties are
committed to the proposition that the
holding of the Philippines was a good
thing to do. or, at least a necessary
evil. Both are committed to It. Now,
having-got them, what are you going
to do with them? Roosevelt says, "We
will give, them self-government when
ever they are prepared for lf'That's
the substance of it He doesn't set th
time, the peace, or the manner. Judge
Parker, in his speech of acceptance,
says, "When they are ready for self
government we will give it to them."
(Laughter.) There you've got it. But
whether the Filipinos will get it ma-
Lterially in advance of Gabriel's trum
pet, would be a hard thing to say. My
own opinion is that the islands will get
their independence when the demo
cratic and republican capitalists ex
ploiting them will get ready for it, and
not before. (Cheers.) Upon imper
ialism there is no difference that you
can figure out in plain English be
tween the acceptance of Roosevelt and
the acceptance of Judge Parker.
Now, let us take up something else.
What about the trusts? The trusts!
Mr. Roosevelt says there are legal and
illegal trusts; good and bad trusts;
criminal and non-criminal trusts; and
that the criminal trusts must be prose
cuted and punished, a list of them not
being handed in at the time. (Ap
plause.) -
The democratic platform declared
that we needed now legislation against
the trusts. Judge Parker, In his speech
of acceptance said; "No, we don't need
any new legislation; the law as it
stand la good enough; all you have
got to do la to carry It out." Against
whom? When? And how? Judge
Parker upon that subject Is gloriously
indefinite, and furnishes no bill of par
ticular?!. Therefore on the subject of
the trusts there U absolutely no dlf
fennre that yon can Ktate In plain
KiiKlifili. h that the common man can
tin b'V tanvl what It I.
wA'i " tariff- Oh. what a
't' v i V'V In1 tariff I dur-
id iiM"M-afi;ku.ni: lionwry or ine
pMir p-op!! U'h mrh a wonder thnt
tli. poor txopte have no many Mends
th d.iy In-fore ebcilon; and jt ih
uer can k tliat tariff rnted. Thf
dMK ratio platform ay tb tariff
tnu 4 be revh.,, that all protection !
a robbery. Mr, Rooeve!t. la his Npeoch
of acceptance. .n that the tariff
ahmiU be rev bed from time to time,
without saying What is-the .time
(laughter) and in what respect the re
vision should be made. Gloriously in
definite! The English language has
suffered more this year in being used
to keep people from saying anything
than ever before. (Applaune.) Shakes
peare used it to say thing3; Milton
used it to say things; Byron used It
to say things; Burke, Chatham, O'Con
nell, Grattan, PatrUk Henry, Thomas
Jefferson, Andrew Jackson they all
used It to say things. Now it is tved
to cover up things and hide things.
(Applause.) -'
Judge Parker says the tariff ought
to be revised, without saying whose
toes shall be trod on because it is
largely a question of whose toes you
are going to tread on, you know. When
you are going to revise the tariff, you
are treading on somebody's corns im
mediately. Now, whose corns are you
going to tread on? Judge Parker
does not state. He says in advance,
"I won't have that office but four
years, even if you give it to mo; and
in four years I won't be able to do any
thing to the tariff." Therefore he sur
renders in advance, almost before the
line of batUe Is. formed, Heruns up
the white flag on the tariff question,,
and absolutely surrenders to the re-'
publicans. (Applause.)
Let us see what else now. I think
there was a question of national banks
that figured. very much in the demo-'
cratic campaign books which I have
got here. The democratic party went
back to the Jacksonian and Jefferson
ian doctrine that national banks were
of deadly hostility to republican gov
ernment, and that they must be abol- '
ished; and that the government must
take back, to itself the sovereign power
to create money and to issue U to the
people.. .Where is that platform now?
Where Is that declaration now? It has
been dropped. Roosevelt in favor of
national bankaj Parker in favor of
national banks! There they are like
two black-eyed peas on the question
of national banks. , . ,
Take the income tax. Jeffersonian
democracy! The taxes should be laid
upon the rich, but the necessaries of
life should go untaxed, to the end that
the poverty of the country should not
be burdened with the expense of gov
ernment, but that the wealth of the
country should be burdened with tho
government. Isn't that right? That
is good democracy. Therefore Jeffer
son said. "Put an Income tax, not on
the . poor farmer's farm, which - may
not produce any income; not on the
merchant's store that perhaps is bank-'
rupting him; not upon this avocation,
and that, where possibly money is be
ing lost; but put it upon the net in
come; put it on the profits." Don't
take a part of the milk. Take a part
of the cream. Take a part of the net
profits, and as the net profits grow
larger, let the tax grow larger and
larger by geometrical progression.
Graduate it according to -the size of
the income, and when the income
swells enormously, let the tax swell in
proportion, so a3 to put back into the
general fund where all can get a
chance to obtain their share of it, that
overplus which greedy fellow has got
more than his share, (applause.)
Back there in those campaign books
the great democratic party returned to
the principles of Jefferson on the In
come tax. Where is It now? It Isn't
in the platform. Mr. Roosevelt is
against the income tax, and Judge
Parker is against the Jncom tat.
They are there: a noble pair of broth
era fighting the baMleH of the rich
against the poor. (Cheers.)
There was another question, the
mouey question, and the democratic
campaign book of ! ald It was the
bkstt of all the questions para
mount In Importance hrad and shout
iU'rn, llk Saul, abovo all If fellows in
political Uxuo. They declared that
they would. lIKe Washington In 1778,
tUht ihh Mrlthh policy, and a..acrt thw
rh'hH of America to maintain th
coiiitihiHoital currency which our fa
Ih -t l nd framed, and whlt li we had
sworn to Mipport, And they nal I. 'SV
are mt only cpp to lh British
i,o( standard; but wp are unalterably
opposed to tt." ''No matter what eh
w may change, we won't change on
thli. No nutter what wo may (all
