San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1888-10-25

sion bill which the president vetoed
with the general approval OF the poo
pie, while he introduced several pri-
vate pension bills which could not bo
defended. He voted for the Henne-
pin canal scheme, which some Of the
republican papers justly denounced
at the time as q gigantic and unqual'
fled piece Of jobbery. He has avow-
cd himself in favor Of steamship sub
sides, and he is, Of course, the repre-
sentative of the atrocious tariffpolicy
sf his party, which is now the vital is
sue OF the canvass, and has suddenly
become the great test of republican
orthodoxy.
Gentlemen, can such q man be
trusted as q leader in the reforma-
ton of great and hoary abusesi Is he
strong enough to lift his party out
of the mire of general Generalization
in which it has landed, and restore
it to the integrity Of its earlier days'
Is he able to work out tho regenera-
ton and publication of party al.
ready dead in its trespasses and sinsi
To ask these questions is to answer
them. Gen. Harrison, if elected, will
faithfully carry out the principles OF
his party rs defined in its platform.
He will countenance no reyolt, or
even protest, against his supreme
authority. He will do nothing to
check the current of evil which has
completely carried it away from its
traditions, and made it the servant
of corporations, monopolies and spe-
cial interests. He lacks both the
power and the will to rise above it,
while his political career has reveal
cd no sign of discomfort with the
evil tendencies and growing abuses
which have made 1t what it is. OF all
the prominent leaders of his party he
is probably least inclined to listen to
the cry Of reform.
lAS- CONCLUDING PASSAGE.
OF the candidates for vice~presi-
dent l need say but little. Judge
Thurman is known to the whole
country as a man of great ability and
large experience in public affairs. His
fidelity to the people has been
splendidly illustrated in his success
full fight against the domination OF
great railway corporations, and his
name is the synonym of integrity,
courage and devotion to his country.
OF the republican candidate it is on
ly necessary to say that he is q
wealthy New York banker, whose
craftsmanship is of an unknown
quality, and who never would have
been dreamed OF for the second Of
fee in the gift of the people but for
the money he is able to control.
Gentlemen, I take no pleasure In
depicting the recreancy Of q great
historic party in the day of its dec
line. I was present at its birth, and
saw it grow up to the full stature OF
manhood; and I was with it and OF it
iuthe grand part it played in the sup
pressing therebellion and establishing
liberty throughout the land by ire
pealable law. In the beginning 1t es.
poused the rights of the states, as
we'll as the union Of the states. 1t
resolved to rescue our national terri
tories from the polluting tread OF
slavery, and it demanded the free
dom of the public lands for actual
settlers in limited homesteads. 1t
made the declaration of Independence
the basis of its policy, and in the best
sense of the word 1t was the party of
the people. In it's first successful
battle Abraham Lincoln was its great
captain, who fell under the hand of
his assassin before his party had sim
ned away its moral heritage. Its
founders and fathers were Seward,
Chase and Sumner, who were the
real heroes of It's principles, and they
walked out OF it when it yielded to n
demoralized leadership and turned
away from the recitude Of its youth.
These great men never returned to
its fold, and thenceforward till the
meeting of its late national conven-
ton at Chicago it has steadily drift
ed, step by step and year by year,
from its early moorings, and lost the
inspiration and heroism that made
its beginning 80 glorious. That con-
vention was largely controlled by
gamblers in public Office, monopol-
lists who had grown rich by the leg
allied robberies of our tariff system,
and the agents of great railway cor
porations. 1t was called TO order by
great manufacturer whose interests
are largely involved in protective du-
ties, and its temporary chairman was
an attorney for a great Pacific rail-
way. One OF the presidential candi-
date was a millionaire, who has
grown rich by the tariff on lumber,
and another was the attorney and re-
preventative Of the Vanderbilts and
their system OF railways. Perhaps
the most active aud conspicuous, If
not the most influential, leader in the
convention was Stephen B. Elkins,
who was formidably reinforced by
such moral auxiliaries as Malone OF
Virginia, Flanagan Of Texas and
Chalmers Of Mississippi
If anything was wanting 10 show
the complete apostacy Of the party
and its absolute surrender 10 the do
minanon OF special interests and per
sonal greed, It was supplied by its
declaration in favor of cursing the