Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1843-07-29

Alter the regular toast had been drunl
at the Wing dinner al Philadelphia on III,
18th instant, tho following letter was reat
from Hon. JonN M. CLAyToN:
NEWCASTLE, DEL. July, 3, 1919.
GENTLEMEN | was honored by you
invitation 10 dine with The Wings of tbt
city and county of Philadelphia. Though
other engagements demand my presence
elsewhere, yet in heart and feeling | shall
be with you on that occasion.
We are rapidly approaching that cfisi.
IN the affairs of our country upon which
her destiny, whether for good or evil
must. as | think, %f,turely depend. The
Presidential contest in 1914 will be preg.
natt with more important consequences
than any which has occurred in our past
history. Experience has fully demons.
trated that there is no possibility Of recon.
cling, by any compromise or halfway
course 10 be- adopted, the a%ntagonizing
principles which regulate and govern the
two great parties now dividing and agita.
ting this nation.
There is no ball. way house into which
tho timid and irresolute may now retreat
under the preteAt of an affected candor
and moderation. We must resume orr
former honored station among the nations
of the earth by the faithful discharge of our
State as well as National responsibilities,
or we must lie down in shame under all
the opprobriu,n Of the most degrading
epithets which foreigners have recently
lavlshed in prof,aslon upon US. We must
restore the currency which the milton en-
Joyed for forty years out of the fifty-four
during which the American Constitution
has been in operation, or we must re.es.
tablish the sub.treasnry and introduce the
the hard. money system adyot ated by mo-
dern democracy. We must give the poor
man, who has nothing but character and
industry 10 depend upon, credit for his cap
ital, or we must sink him to the condition
Of the labor in other " ~hard-,noney" coun-
tries who works for a shilling n day and
finds himself. There is now no longer
amy pretext left for such as have sought
to eyade the true issue before the country
by Exchequer projects or other decisions
- " ShulHIt4is VI hit IGAI CDIltGSt
il must be decided whether we shall have
a currency worthy efa nation of freemen,
such a one us may contribute nrach to.
wards making us a nation Of slaves. We
must have a system that would yield the
a fair reward for his toll and enable
him to elevate. his condition in life by the
aid Of hat reasonable credit which his
character as a man and his industry ought
to confer upon him, or we must accept the
proposition made by our opponents, which
credItto wealth and property alone,
which in the name of Democracy excludes
all but those who enjoy property or wealth
from trust and confidence; and the %inevi.|
able tendency of which will be-, if not TO
make the rich richer, to make the poorj
ooorer and TO entail poverty on their des-
;endants. With the present Administra-
ion the age of experiments and ~expedients
$ passing away, and must expire on the
eth of March, 1916.
In the mean time, let US make one gal.
ant effort 10 save our country from tire es.
Adjustment of an aristoeracy among US
rom the taost detcstable of all arsstocra.
sies-an aristocracy Of wealth, without
talent or merit TO gid its CALLING
hahn. The day and the hour rapidly ap.
roach when the other great question must
llso be finally decided, whether we shall
,rotect Our ovn home labor against the
Of foreign legislation and foreign
'pposition. In this field, too, there is
low no halfway fence or hedge, behind
the political coward can shelter
any longer. Even the enemies
f a protective tariff proclaim their con-
smpt of all " cowboys in the approaching
and | trust we have now learned
} regard them as more dangerous to US
IAN fair and open opponents. In a word, {