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LINCOLN, NEB., SEPTEMBER 29, 1904.
No. 19
OTIS JEFFERSON .OF 1904
Speech of Thomas E.. Watson
Btt , Houston. Texas, September
5 23, 1904, 3
i. ii
Hon. Thomas E. Watson of Georgia,
- the nominee bt the populist patty for
I president of the United States ad
dressed a splendid audience at Turner
hall, Houston, Tex., Friday, Septem
ber 24. While he was still suffering
' from the effects of the severe , cold,
' which came - near prostrating him
while in" Arkansas, he had recovered
, sufficiently to make himself audible
x throughout the great hall. His hearers
. embraced all shades of political belief
and the applause given him evidenced
the fact that he was, by no means with-
out sympathizers. ' , r ,
Long before the hour for the speak
, ing the big auditorium began filling
J up, and when the hour of 8 arrived
there was scarcely a vacant seat left.
. A few moments later the windows and
doors could be seen framing a sea of
. As the speaker ; appeared a mighty
: cheer went' up, all classes joining. Ac
. couipanylng him were Hon. Jonn II.
Kirby and Hon. Edgar Watkins, both
democrats, and Hon. Miltoa 1'ark,
chairman of tM r !-
t tiro cj-a. i?z.',. '- r l
Avy ,C'J:zr -CtzzTH:.' hon
'-Baid: ' .
: To every voter tis t":t e' ml ta
. sacred. It la not c!y !'j I' p
- weapon with which t3 c;.tC 'i
civil, con&tlt'-ticnl Ilirrty; L..-t . "7
- hi3-liivliuxl ez;r; c! j-catii-l
- c-inioa c.3 to r i :zl C
ur:a which ilJA rO tl : I f L i ft.
ij a trust d?J:r-ti to tin V; -,.(;.
, -:---rtyr- "! ' ' ' --
'. l f:r :r:u Lit : .. v
v. i-
cl:v ly i jtrj t3 t
T . -:t: : it ficn
r;::izs hu:zan-r-l
fn It,
c:
1
trtl
c
V.
It::-;-
i.-v . i
, ; . . j l -
Ii'ji yc.:. r 7C-?erlty... ana your
liberty, uerzd." U?i th-t ballot la a
spirit of, coiecrctl-a, . Ce wot thy of
the heroes who wca fi for you. , Don't
betray the sacred trust. Consult your
reason before you vote. Let your
heart go with your hand when you
vote., Do that, and no matter who gets
your support It will come to him in.
the spjrlt, which patriot statesmen air
ways contemplated when they: gave
youthe right of self-government. Cast
that ballot in any other way, with any
other motive prejudice, passion, blind
obedience to partyand you wll.have
done that which makes the political
student despair of government by the
people; that v&i$&ss
Mtr -rci Cie ine wust commitica 10
Ji'JT - - A . .. . La '
your hands by the heroic men .of the
, past; that which lowers you as a man,
Injures your neighbor as It does jour-
self, and weakens the- lines of those
who strive upward for better laws, bet
ter rulers, happier homes.
Voters! In this year of grace 1904,
. for God's sake, for the sake of your
selves, your children, your country,
--consider, consider, consider, before you
. vote! ,
. A political party has no right to ex
ist, has no right to the support of in-
. telligent, honest men, unless that party
. is In fact a combination of wen who
Mold the same opinions, have a com
. mon purpose, and who seek to uulte
their Individual strength in outer that
I tho common purpose may bo enacted
into law. Any organization lr the
body politic, which can not be moas
' iired by this standard, has no leftltl-
r.ate right to be considered a political
parly. Unless It has a creed which
en bo put Into plain words which
tho avern-TO man can undrr&land; un
lens It baa a common purpose, ; the
i. ..ktniJ).)ttn..int Pit M K (-Ii If ft r mm a
'iC actlona p'.iriose which
"-V Hin,l wll'lnR to proclaim to
hM! It H H u.frrt inn.
frfiilni! lK. ri lllr,l
Nral
innin o til
(lUiint; on eRilh
outs to dli lace
t
had been tried and found true, rather
than for those whohad been tried and
found wanting. But if, as in 1904, there
are principles at stake which over
shadow any mere personal preferences,
if there are wrongs and abuses which
threaten the very life of tho republic,
then every voter owes it to himaeir to
ask, which of the political parties now
In the field strjads for those convic
tions which are nearest my heart?
A simple question, a vital question,
a question which goes to the very bot
tom of the situation. It must be
asked; Jt should be answered. .
Pefore you vdte, compel tbw candi
dates to speak out like honest men,
so that you can vote your hoceat con
victions.. And remember tn)r The
only ballot which is ever, t'thi own
away" Is the ballot which violates your
sense of right. Every vote which runs
counter to the sincere opinions of the
voter is a prostituted ballot, Is a trai
tor to the cause of good government;
is an apostate fron rrlrA .;, K
r-ojit
Jit"-t l-"tr, w0t to stanjsj '
: tit" in tib JWSrva-
riiVzz.t'- J' ,
CP
In every speech which I txv inads
la this csilz I tivs ("clrrsi ay
r-:!)i-3 tcrtillty to nmlltcrta
;r; " l: -re -r::rt-i 1 TheocL ':i
i.:... : ,.,-v; - a
d ib r :3lv r ,''U-:iry,-
I.ich. hss tfi vtitU.1 ty tie thtre
lives ti c;rr- 'i clrlt cf JeSrsooiaa
' crey t . v -a found in the II-
' 'iVi t" T Iy rc'liica tD-
-tr'.'tj rt-t
, . , . r i . c ' i j - ? XT 3 I
c-.;:;i-3 xry V.ia to:T-ve: th? stmt's
r.?.rt itatrue. For ths tolflrj of thcra
c-Jriy ; I have beta nzii to gu"cr-;
but I i rz-iy to eursr for ttzzi, zzi
m r; ; 3 Co to fz'.zf: . ,5- -f "
' - V -. " -.
; . ;,. t."7L.j r:
j. l-v ;ror:t:J ttza nycclf.
If yea xflll jrariqa na for alluding to
ray earn beck, I will say that h tny
"Life aad'Times of Thomas Jeffetson"
the doctrines of Hamilton and tho, lit
erary assaults of Roosevelt and Lodge
and other republican authors uiion th
south and upon th' southern states
men of the Jeffer;8onian school are re
pelled with all the force at my com-?
mand. ,..'-.j:'i.;..
From my head to my heels in ray
heart and my jconsclence, In sy nipathy,
and In mental conviction, I am a Jet
tersonlan democrat! Never have I been
anything - els-from 1890 i"
yj)
presenthomi--- t::5JTVuAiZxaoii
public. I challenge all the
icgiuus oi euvy, naireu ana malice to
find a single sentence in, any speech,
a single line in any of my writings, a
single vote in congress, a single act,
or word, or thought of mine that was
not absolutely In line with Jeffcrsonian
democracy.
Senator James K." Jones of Arkansas,
so I am told, found his voice a few
days ago and spoke his, little piece In
the New York World. The people's
party, says Jones, Is working for the
republicans. If there Is any one man
whom the public would heartily for
give for keeping his mouth shut at this
particular time it is Jones ot Arkan
sas! Among all the asslnine bluudereis
who butchered Bryan's campaign
lS'Jfi, the Saul of the whole lotl
meat, hulking booby who r
head and shoulders above all
boobie.H, was' Jones of Atk-'
that memorable year of li'.v
cratic senatorial visitor trv
convention who was '
niottprage the battcre
chine for populist vr
Ar!an:iU3. It bel
to Bryan lo poll"""
only a blunder"
etHihl hvsj"
of intnitaV
the por"'
play Into their hands as was done In
1SIM5 by Jones of Arkansas.
The republican party had lis Bur
chard, but he was an accident, he Just
happened along at the critical time, and
while he was an nes, there was no pe
culiar mark, brand or distinguishing
trait about his assininlty. lie wad an
ass and that ends the story, And
the beauty about Burchard was that
he knew his place on , the catalogue,
and having' been duly told what kind
of an animal he was, he went oft Into
decent, ' permanent, almost respectable
desuetude. But In .Jones of Arkansas
the democratic party owns a great na
tional donkey who does not know that
he is a donkey; who never reaJzea that
his bray differs in melody from Schu
berts 'serenade," and who can not be
made to see that his ears are more
prominent than his head. Burchard,
who killed Blaine In 1884, was a mere
cup of water; emptied at ittav rt:t
time, he mar""?! H
tv wvtzf'zizytn&n&sjt
r taln, a' perennial atrearaj
"Men tz:y cent and aenx;?jr go," but
Jonea c a forsver." Ha put oct
the f 5 b l.ZZ: ts t.:i it r'-ala la
190'J;
fcr ;
.3 U t:lzz It f:i!a r . Vzlly
t- 3 f ou-tr v;-i,o cui';t t3 L:" 5 d t;;a
er place la the afrscticzi cf Ce nub
Ucsns than Jones t: Arkc2zs? As a
grave-dlrssr for daraocr-tlc rrc-t-c-"
tlal candidates, he is ttiojutely vriti:
out a peer la this heavy, vajrid, jr
t-!3, c!iiaber?p9, inlrcilc, Jcca
of .ArlrsEC-s. .'-.i- v... ". i
rfcat to. trt tut ttb: talk ij
"Zrz;lr.?, r:i:i frcn Trker?" tird
rtjr
5 rr.
(
"CI c
la c3 c.
it
crai3 r.us r:c:.r;.n tna i K ' if -licans.
That result is r.::. 'z .f in
dent of war. We have czl'J.: z to Co
with that. Jt is our busineca. t; tij
to the line-let the chips fill aa; itcy
may. If our campaign hurts the dem
ocrats moat this year, that is cot our
fault. It Is the fault of Jones and all
the others who sold out the principles
of democracy to Wall street at fct.
Louis. Had Jones and his crowd re
adopted the Omaha platform, or go;ne-
thfli2 Rimllar nmt than
tu , vuv i itiuuisir' i
ume sucn real oM':if!HzZri.
Vimr!rZZMi pirty could not
nave aonc, uusincss in i04 at all. It
was the astounding betrayal of demo
cratic principles by Jones, Hill & Co.
which gave the people's party the op
portunity to renew the fight for'
tersonian demoracy, . Inasmuch r
are now advocating the same
which Bryan democrats ad
1 J 4 . . - - .
eight years, it seems a tt'
we should be abused.
publicans." If anyp
principles.
The tru
so Clip
7
caii be answered, "Ye3." Abuses do ' ;
exist, arid reform must be had. ! " "
Does any. sensible citizen expect
these reforms from the republicans? " ,
Responsible as It is for the systems' ;
we now have, they boldly dectate that . - r
conditions are satisfactory and shall y"
not be changed. They stand pat. Not V
timidly, not doubtfully, but bomiy, ag
gresslvely-they assure us that present . "
conditions are satisfactory and shall
be maintained, In the republican par- , - :
tyf. therefore, we - recognize the open . .
enemy, defying us to combat. Wo ac-, '
cept the challenge, and we do combat '
them" all along the line. Wfcombat "'. "i--their
principles. We make war upon " .
their measures. We seek to uinltmiua , -
the very foundations upon winch thy
have reared their citadel. We want to ' C '
breach the wall and drive out the Ham" , ' :
Ilt6nlansthe men as well as tho
ures, ,
T
in; th r,:""r;.i;-Tt7.:-"t f : l
floc:3v.:t cut, trt tl :; c:- .:::: t
le-v';-uriturtr ,t:.3.1irs c:t
ti.:;v;i la. 1 v.t-rr.-t t5 r-: :
rn, t,:t : : c!tt.3 i;; -:.; ,
' - ' '--vr-if , ;
M 1. f i . - '
. i 1 1. :rr::i ct:-ii. x t. -ccr-i-:tio
T. -r Eif3. cz i cc ;j;l Lit t3
rse"!lri. Tr.:i cans Vi!! t'rset
rrr -:r an4 tha Wall c;r:.f ti!:r;ri,
I'cr c'-tt yerra Tzrkcr L:i vet: J tha
f"-)..f':y:r-t'::::t r:ti:ri c:ylr7 C
it r!-U.- .T:a 3 i c i
r'1 1 !T.b:t 3 trr:r: - -' ; .'' -',
v:'." lzt-t:l?- rt ltr.trr.' z
3 -
if I v.-ri r. I
r ivzr zt3 Ut. Ir'rr. L". '
t.IIi then far e'e-t y:rr, 1
v;V:.z-X saylr.3 tt?7,T:;;a r;
r-73 a cold- Ctracirrt, !
t ;pport VzvYzr. Ha tili 1
eay; that the c-ii C'
He merely says ttzt j
if I were a republl"'
for, Parker. I e!
tatioa and vot?
For the la: '
cratic leader
t:.
( v'
slve burr
tfonsy
ute