The Louisiana Democrat., 1891-10-21
TIE M1ssloB or THE DExocRA.
TIC PARTY.

| JunS0 RIS"us vi N"tooe"S'
made y speech few nights since at
an Anti meeting in Shreveport, in
which be is reported to have said:
The mission Of the Democratic party is
to fight great wealth AID corporations.
+, hich are gradually sapping general
prosperity and destroying the people.
We are Of the opinion that Judge
Pierson was incorrectly reported. s"
able man aud 80 good Democrat
could scarcely have made go loose
statement as THAT accredited to Judge
Pierson.
| There is no d"uht that the aggre-
gatiun If vast wealth in the hands uf
the few, and the inordlnate growth Of
c"rp"rati"rs, are menace to our IN.
s,i.u,i"ns; and there is as lille doubt
that these dangers are the ontgr"wth
of congressional Legislation, antag"-
nis,ic t" Democratic principles, and
! which was drsigned I" establish, u"'
der the forms Of the Republic, con.
, s"li,latpd Empire ho'ton'ed on u per.
manent plntorratic aris.ocrscy. L"
accomplish this end the Republican
system of Legislation, out of which
. these threats to our institutions have
sprung, must he perprtnased. Bnt
that can only he accom- lisLed hy the
emascnia,ion Of the sovereignty Of the
States and the centraliza,inn Of all
poSer iu the Federal government; in
o'her words, hy the final establish.
ment Of Gen. Gil'sor's theory, that the
Federal government il the sole judge
Of tue extent aud scope Of its own
powers.
Here then We find again the same
old fight, tue same old division Of par.
ties that arose al the institution Of the
Union-.hp conflict between those who
are for ,naintaining the Fedral char.
acter Of the government, aud those
who are for centralizing all p"w-r 10
the Federal head. 1t is the some old
conflict between tho true supporters
of the Fe,lral Union of States estab.
lished by the Constitution, and those
whose "' ject it was and is, TO over
throw this Uniun Of States and, by
usurpation, erect a National Consoli-
lation in its stead. This confict
arose at an early day and has l'ren
carried on npon many questions. It
exhibited itself in the discussions Of
the first Judiciary act. In the finsn.
cial measures submitted hy Alrxandpr
Hamilton, the then SECRETARY Of the
Treasury. In the assumption of the
State debts incurred in the Revolution.
IL the first sppor,ionment bill, which
was vetoed on these grounds hy Wash.
ington, in 1892. Mnrh more fnmid
ably it exhibited itself in the passage
of the Alien and Seliti"n acts, ia
1898, under the elder Adams. Again
il exhibited itself in the stormy dis.
cnssi"ns If the slavery question that
prpredrd the war between the States.
| Subsequent tn the war il ,nanifestrd
itself, as it still manliests itself, in the
issue between The tariff rrforn Drnn.
Gratis and the Protrc,i"nis,s. We have
recel,ly seen ir ~ the c"nfiict over the
Force till aud the Blair bill; aud w-
have it sga'" i" it's mos, pronounced
aud visci"us aspect in the attempt
through the An,i.lottery postal hill
desi gned to restrict the liberty "f
speech, and the free,lom If the press /;
to destroy the right Of trial by jnry
and to establish government espi"n.
age If the mails.
This latter hill comes down t., ns,
the legitimate and lineal descendant
Of the Alien aud Sediti"n laws, through
the whole generation Of crntralizinx <
measures, from Hamilton to Harrison,
! Wana,uaker aud the Anti. lottery
League Of L"ulsiana.
The division of parties is the same
to-day that It was at the origin Of the
Government; and tue real, paramount
aEd vital issue between the DeMorra.
tic party and the Republican party il:
Whether the reserved rights Of the
States shall he maintained in all their
vigor, Us Jefferson declared, and the
!, true Democracy maintain, they should
be, OF all power shall bv centralized
iu the Federal Heal, rs Hamilton,
and in these latter days, Harrison and
Wsnansker, the Republican party
and the Au,i-L"t,ery League Of Lou.
i.iana insis, shall be the case. The