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10 Cbc Conservative *
SOUND MOXKY DKiUOCKACY IN THE
SOUTH.
[ By Hon. Josinh Patterson. ]
It may be assumed tliat Brynu will be
the democratic candidate at the approaching
preaching presidential election , and the
free , unlimited , and independent coinage -
ago of silver , at the ratio of IG to 1 , will
be the vital issue. Now and then we
note a disposition on the part of demo-
crats'who openly or covertly oppose the
nomination of Mr. Bryan , to relegate
the silver issue aud to bring forward
opposition to trusts and imperialism us
the paramount party question. Mr.
Bryan himself shrewdly joins in the
opposition to monopoly and expansion ,
and would willingly make it a subordi
nate feature of his canvass , with the
hope thereby to conciliate sound money
democrats. It is almost certain that
both parties will declare their uncom
promising opposition to trusts , and that
each will vie with the other in an unin
telligible assault on these real or sup
posed enemies to the public welfare.
Until armed resistance to the author
ity of the United States in the Philip
pines ceases , and the administration at
Washington auounces its purpose to
carry out some definite policy in respect
to the government of those islands , it
will be impossible to formulate an issue
on which the democratic party can
safely go to the country. It is evident
that avowed opposition to trusts , however -
over meaningless , will bo common to
both parties , and the future is too in
definite to forecast a party issue growing
out of the acquisition of Spanish terri
tory.Mr.
Mr. Bryan has all the machinery of
the party at his back , and the men now
holding office or who are prospective
candidates for office , no matter what
their individual opinions may be , will
subserviently support his candidacy.
The silver issue , as the democratic party
is now constituted aud allied , is the only
one that has any adhesiveness. All the
discordant political factions which sup
ported Bryan in 189G came together on
the silver issue , and it is the only com
mon ground on which they can stand in
1000. Whenever this bond is broken ,
the combination which made Mr. Bryan
a formidable candidate in 1890 will fall
apart , and then , and not until then , will
the democratic party return to its faith
and become what it has always been in
the past the bulwark of the constitu
tion and the political homo of the advo
cates of equal laws and popular rights.
Not only does the very existence of the
Bryan combination depend on making
silver the slogan of the campaign of
1000 , but it will bo the policy of the
republican party to aid Mr. Bryan in
the accomplishment of his purpose , on
the assumption that as long as the
democratic party is committed to a
doctrine which enlightened nations
throughout the world have repudiated
as a heresy , it will never secure the
confidence or get the support of a major
ity of the American people. The
manipulators of party policies aud party
tactics all conspire to the same end and
it is , therefore , as certain as anything
can be in the future , that Mr. Bryan
will be the candidate and silver will be
the issue in 1000. It is equally certain
that Mr. McKiiiley will be the candidate
of the republican party.
This situation is embarassiug to the
sound money democrats throughout the
country. While numerically small as
compared with the following of either
of the great political parties , yet , in
point of intelligence and patriotism , they
include in their number almost every
democrat the party looked to for leader
ship eight years ago. Today they are
wholly outside of its councils. No
democrat who believes in Mr. Bryan
will look to Mr. Cleveland as a leader ,
or would even admit him to the councils
of the party. Democracy , as now
taught by Mr. Bryan and his followers ,
has for its creed the Chicago platform ,
and adherence to that creed is the test
of party fealty. While Mr. Cleveland
and the democrats who believe with
him , have been absolutely consistent
and stand today for everything and
against everything they favored or op
posed in 1892 , they are wholly out of
touch with their former associates who
follow the leadership of Mr. Bryan.
Many of them , believing the action of
the Chicago convention in 189G was an
episode in the history of the party which
it would never repeat , voted for the
party uomirrees under the delusion that
democrats would all get together iu
1900. In this they were sadly mistaken.
They largely contributed to the great
vote Mr. Bryan received and by their
votes encouraged his followers to believe
that they could elect him in 1900. Had
the sound money democrats bolted from
the Chicago convention , as they should
have done , and then and there placed
candidates in the field , Bryan would
have been so badly beaten that the way
to reconciliation and reorganization
would now be easy. Sound money
democrats everywhere are convinced
that the election of Mr. Bryan to the
presidency on the Chicago platform
would be disastrous to the country.
They believe his election would result
iu transition from a gold to a silver
standard of value , which would inevi
tably produce a great financial panic ,
paralyze industry , destroy public aud
private credit , and bring all the indus
trial classes to a state of extreme dis-
treFS. They stand , as they have ever
stood , in opposition to the policies of the
republican party. To protection , to
centralization of power in the federal
government , to the idea that the coun
try has outgrown the constitution , to
extravagance in public expenditures , tea
a largo standing army , in short , to
4 4 ,
paternalism in government , no matter
in what form it presents itself , they are
unalterably opposed. And yet , they
believe it would be better for the coun
try and the general welfare of the
American people for McKiuley rather
than Bryan to be elected president of
the United States.
But the sound money democrats re
siding in the South are environed by
difficulties which do not embarrass the
sound money democrats of the North.
The race problem must , necessarily enter
into the calculation. There is a very
large percentage of sound money demo
crats in the southern states , but they
will not affiliate with the republican
party as constituted and organized in
these states. They are not of the num
ber who would oppress the negro , but ,
on the contrary , they are actuated by
sentiments of the utmost kindness
towards him and would see him enjoy
all the rights of person and property
under equal laws. However , they
recognize that he belongs to a race only
beginning to tread the paths of civiliza
tion , and is wholly unfit for the exercise
of the elective franchise. They are
firmly convinced that universal negro
suffrage was an appalling mistake , aud
that it has resulted iu great harm to
both races. For more than a quarter of
a century the white men of the South
have asserted their right to govern and
have united for the purpose of main
taining white supremacy in these states.
On the other hand , the republican party
has stood for universal negro suffrage.
Whenever and -wherever it has suc
ceeded , lawlessness , corruption , and
social paralysis have prevailed. It is
freely conceded that there are a great
many worthy and estimable citizens in
the South who belong to the republican
party , but they are not in control , and a
great many of them vote the democratic
ticket in local elections. The truth is ,
the republican party , as now constituted
and led iu the southern states , is little
more than an organization which meets
in convention every four years to send
delegates to the national republican con
vention , with a hope , on the part of the
politicians who manipulate it , to control
the federal patronage. These manipu
lators of republican politics in the South
have no disposition to affiliate with the
sound money democrats , and would re
gard their accession to the republican
party as an intrusion. They are content
with the federal patronage and want no
interference with their prerogatives.
So , however the sound money demo
crats may differ with their free silver
brethren on the silver or other questions
pertaining to national affairs , they can
not afford to make a breach with them
in state and local matters. Many re
publicans in the South who realize the
force of what is hero stated have voted
with the democratic party in local , and
the republican party in national , elec
tions. Should the sound money demo-
