The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-04-14


of our fathers.
Then "Our Republic with its then 60, 4
000, 900 of population its wide dos
main-its incalculable resources, with its
millions of happy homes where plenty
and security, contentment and peace
reign supreme; with an honest, pure and
powerful government sustained by a.
patriotic and intelligent people, where
the humblest citizen will be protected in
his rights, when the burden of taxation
will be reduced to the lightest possible
weight, consistent with strength and sta
bility and where jobbery, schemes, fraud
and corruption will not be; where the
laborerer shall receive Just compensa-
ton for his labor and where the laws
will be administered to all alike.
Then Our Republic" under the con-
troll of the democratic party will be, in
deed, government "of the people, by
the people and for the people, and then
from east to west, from north to south,
from the lakes 20 the gulf, from ocean to
ocean, will be peace and plenty. Then
"Our Republic" will take on new impe-
tus, and those that shall come after us
will bless the administration of "Our
President, and point with pride, as we
now do, to the fact that the richest pages
OF American history have been made up
from democratic administrations. And
finally, as an assembly of men who love
their race, and believe it of divine origin,
and therefore, both free and capable OF
self government, as citizens born to a
heritage of citizenship, as democrats
reverently believing in the faith Of our
fathers with hearts aflame with pride
and filled with love, let us arise and
stand in honor of "Our President" and
Our Republic"-a republic of states
can Undesirable union, composed of in
destructable States" and let us pledge
anew to this rebublic to each other, to our
kindred clubs, to our fellow countrymen,
the fealty of our lives, our fortunes and
our sacred honor, appealing to the God
of nations to bless this fairest daughter
of the nations-tbis glorious queen Of
human hope-this mighty protection of
christian civilization with this richest
benedictions. And in conclusion let us
all strive so to conduct ourselves as mem
bers of this political organization, that
we may do our part to perpetuate these
blessings to our posterty and instile into
the minds of those who are looking to
us for guidance-the youths of the land
those lessons of honesty, economy and
patriotism taught by our fathers and
cherished by the democratic party; and
which, united, have brought "Our Presi>
dent" to his and "Our Republic to its
present greatness and grandeur.
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY''-B. d. BUFoRD
FELLOW DEMOCRATS OF THE JEFFER-
son CLUB:-You call on me to respond
to the toast THE Democratic Party +"
The word Democracy" is the essence of
the creed of the democratic party; it is
derived from an ancient Greek word and
means Government by the People" it
means more; it means Government for
the People" In all ages people have
struggled and overthrOwn their oppres-
sors, but how rarely have they found
what they sought The rule of the mob
came first, afterwards the commune, to
II
one man rule. When our forefathers re-
belled against Great Britain, they did 50,
not on account of great oppression, but
simply because they did not have repre-
sentatlOn with taxation. Before they sep
arated they gave forth to the world code
of principles, the declarations Of indepen-
dence! That declaration of principles is
to day the foundation of the representa-
tive form of government. Its author,
Thomas Jefferson, was the founder of the
democratic party, as he is the patron
saint of this club. After we had gained
our independence, next came the strug>
gle for proper form Of government. A
large part of the continental congress
doubted the expedicncy of popular form
of government, and the government fell
into the hands of the federalists. To
Thomas Jefferson more than to any
other man is to be attributed the over
throw Of the fedcralists' doctrines What
were the fcderalists' doctrines? They
believed in centralized govern
ment; they believed in the government,
through its agents, controlling the whole
country without regard to the wishes of
the people; they also believed in a United
States Bank. which was almost sover>
eighty within itself. The whig party fol-
lowing the federal party in opposition to
democracy, had its old spirit. Its doc
trineS were: Enrich the few and they
will take care of the many Next and
last came the republican party born of
fanaticism, intolerance and hatred, in
creased by the crazy followers of every
wild chimera ard of every ism. They
had only one bond of cohesion, only one
principle common TO all, opposition TO
negro slavery. When slavery died, the
Abolitionists, many of them original
democrats, abandoned them and thus be-
reft of all principle except expediency,
they lived s"lely by and for public plum
der Under this party our public do
Main has been squandered to enrich a
gang of monopolists, and under this
party alone could such creatures as
Gould and Vanderbilt he possibly defeat
ed in the presidential election of 1876.
But having the purse and the sword,
they inaugurated president that no in>
telllgent man of any party believed was
elected and who has now sunk into insig-
nifcance and contempt. In their last
expiring efforts they put before the peo>
pie for their suffrages, that brilliant ban.
dit, James G. Blaine, whose whole career
was marked with elirontery and fraud.
His defeat has indicated the American
people from eternal disgrace. One of the
cardinal principles of the democratic par
ty is opposition TO Capitalization. We
believe the states are not provinces, to be
governed by satraps of the president,
but to be republics within themselves,
having charge of all their domestic rela>
tons, subject only to the constitution of
the United States; we are emphatic advo-
Gates of home rule. Believing in the
doctrine of the greatest good to the great,
est number, every democrat must concede
to every individual citizen the greatest
personal liberty subject to the laws. If
he is democrat, he must be opposed to
any special grants or privileges TO be en-,
ioyed by the few to the exclusion of the
great mass of the people; he must be ops
posed to any special legislation and all
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