Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1892-06-27
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M.
aostnt when the genius Of
,smen e,l ID into existence our
.splex aud dual form Of government,
1t has been the mission Of the Demo-
cratic party to see that the very letter
and spirit Of the federal compact should
be strictly observed by the parties in
interest. both state and National, and
that every right Of local seli-govern-
ment aad freedom from federal inter-
ference which the States had expressly
retained, should be held sacred and In
violable. Opposed to Capitalization In
any form, it has fought to the end every
tendency in that direction, and has IN
Cured the lasting and bitter enmity OF
those political, commercial and financial
forces whose aim it is TO construct
great central and mOnOpOlistic power
i'm the hands OF a few by which TO wres U
from the toiling millions either their
polideal freedom or their hard-earned
wealth.
With that conservatism which is the
safeguard Of popular government, its
steps toward commercial and financial
reforms have sometimes been slower
than the views and wishes OF many Of
its members, but the Democratic
party as a whole has al
ways recognized that the inter
ests Of the people were best subserved
by that deliberate course Of action TO
which the commercial and financial
world could adapt itself in the progress
of reform, rather than by a rapid revo-
luton in existing conditions.
As the conservator Of the liberties
and material interests Of the people, its
battles with mouopolistic greed and
the power Of aggregated capital have
been many, and time has always justi-
fed its cause Of action and placed the
eagles Of victory upon its banners.
Il has survived the disIntegrating
forces Of sectional autagonisms and civil
strife, and stands to-day, as in the days
OF its founders, the Party Of the People,
and the only power which has stood be-
tween them and that fate which has at
last overtaken the people Of every other
Republic Of which recorded history has
spoken.
SUCH are the principles which have
given to the Democratic party life and
vitality, and a usefulness which must
exist as long as the Republic, or until
the centralizing influences Of partizan
and class legislation transform our Gov
eminent into plutocracy, and render
the principles upon which it was found
ed but empty formulas without force or
conservation,
To-day, this splendid organization,
which has fought so long for the rights
and liberties OF the people, stands in
the greatest danger it has known since
it's foundation; not so much from the
tremendous monopolistic and central
izing forces which are arrayed to give
10 desperate battle, as from a detection
i'm its ranks which threatens its very tx
istence.
Many Of its members belonging to
the agricultural classes, by whose best
interests it has always steadfastly
stood, having become dissatisfied with
the attitude OF some of its leaders on
the question OF free and unlimited coin
age Of silver, seem willing to desert the
party, and place in the field Farmers
Alliance or Third Party ticket for
county, State and federal officers, for
which they will cast their ballots.
Firmly agreeing with their party in
every other declaration of principles,
they seem, because Of this question alone
to be willing to pursue a course which
can only ConSummate In riveting more
firmly the chains with which the tricks
OF their enemies and the aggregated
wealth OF the East and North have
bound them. By no means within
their reach can they, in the present
emergency, accomplish any other end
than the destruction OF their political
liberty and material interests, and the
defeat Of all that has protected them in
the past from the very dangers they
now fear,
For years the Democracy and its
leaders have striven for them through
many hard. fought contest, in order
that the excessive burden Of taxation
under which they labored might be re-
moved, and now, but a single effort is
needed to accomplish this grand reform.
Is this the time, in this supreme mo-
ment, when one united assault will &C
complish the end for which the Demo
cratic party has so long and unceasing-
ly fought, for those who have stood by
IL with such devotion and unialtering
faith, TO turn their backs on the battle
field and desert their colors?
To preserve 70 every American citi-
zen the right to free snd unQuestioned
suffrage; TO every State, freedom from
federal interference in the domestic az
fairs Of her citizens; to save the whole