The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1892-08-04
AN ABLE SPEECH.

make the following extract:
| 'There are already 287,779 gov
eminent officials ard employees, and
the value of railroads in the United
States is given by the eleventh CEN
sus as s8,500,000,0OO; the value of
telegraph lines in 1880 was s116,-
100000, the number of railroad en-.
ployes, in round numbers, 100000 !;
the number of telegraph employees in
1880, 22,809, ard the amount of
wages of railroad employees, exclu>
sive of the officers. is given at $780,
100000. The plan of government
ownership of railroads and telegrap oh
lines would impose upon the coun-
try an army of 1,060,588 employees
drawing salaries amounting to sum
estimated at, say, $780, 100000. How
will you acquire this property? Will
you not have to pay for it? Does it
net require money? Must not this
money come from the pockets of the
people? Now that is the scheme
which has been offered you. If this
government would embark in such
an enterprise it would cost you bill
lions of money and force upon you
a great army of officials to sustain
the party in power and be tremen-
dous and fearful stride towards the
Capitalization of power, that would
imperil your liberties. One Of the
greatest dangers to our system OF
| government is the Capitalization of
Federal power, and against this pol
icy the Democratic party has fought
during all its history. We want no
more power conferred upon the
general government. 1t has too
much now. | feel that as pro-
found conviction. | feel it as lover
of liberty, | feel it as a friend of the
people, | feel it as father when l
contemplate the future OF my chill
dren and say here what | intend to
say everywhere that the great need
of this country is to put limitations
upon the power of the Federal gov
ernmeut. There is the gravest dam
ger in the constant disposition to
grasp tor more power.
There is another plank in this
platform about which | would like
to speak more at length to the farm
ers. If you will trace the history of
the land plank in that platform and
ana!yze it closely, you will find, |
think, that it contains the germ of
one of the greatest political heresies
to be found in that declaration of
principles and which in it's last
analysis means that you have no
right to hold the absolute title to
land but that like the sea and the
sky it was made by the Creator and
belongs to every body in common.
If these people cannot get relief by
the Democratic party they cannot
hope for it at all. 1t does not claim
that it is perfect; it does not claim
that its leaders have not sometimes
made mistakes, and some of its
members been inconsistent, this
would occur in any political party.
All that | osk is that you will judge
J the party impartially by the record
} and by what the party has done, and
not by what one man or a minority
has done or failed to 10. The Dem
ocratic party through all it's history
has been the friend of the people,
it has always and is now opposed to
any policy or principle in the inter.
est of any particular class. or section
1t Judges no man by the locality
, where he lives, or the business he
follows, it does not seek to array the
farmer against the merchant, or the
man in the country against the man
IN the city. This is not only un-
democratic, but it is unrepublican,
and un-American, and he who would
array one class against another is
not friend OF either. He who
would excite the preJudices and an
tipathies of the poor against the
rich, would, if it suited his purposes
as we'll, use the power OF the rich
against the poor. Heretofore We
have been united because we be-
lieved that in unity and solidity was