Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1894-10-24
The Tribute Paid by Mr. II. +. Byrd to
Clereland, Wilson and the DEM
Ocrdtic Party

Rot Of speccl de'irered at CQ,oa Bcidgc, Octo-
Der 12h.
Fellow Democrats of the Second West
Virginia District Eleven years ago you
elected to Congress and sent into the arena
of public life comparatively unknown man.
He comes back to you an historical figure.
You bonored him with your confidence, In
return he has made your district illustrious.
You commissioned him to be your standard
bearer and he has planted it upon the unas
sailabe ramparts of history and embazon-
ed your chosen policies upon the intelli-
gence of two hemispheres.
When the country had declared emphat-
ically for tariff reform the Hon. William L.
Wilson was at once selected by public pref
erence aud opinion to formulate into law
the expressed will OF the people He was
selected because of years Of study and con-
scentious thought had given him COM
plete and perfect mastery of the intricate
and perplexed problem of intelligent tariff
reform; because as champion Of the peo
ples cause he never let 81 dare not" wait
upon 81 would !" because though lacking
the ingenuity of the politician and the arts
of the demagogue he scorned all things base
and selfish aud "emid all the fierce light
which beats upon high names he has ever
worn the white flower of .blameless life."
Like the unstsined knights of King Arthur's
round table, his strength is as the strength
of ten because his heart is pure.
This contest which is now fragrant is not
limited to the narrow confines of a single
district. The fight is against William L.
Wilson, Democratic chairman OF the ways
and means committee of the House, the
knighted and armed St George of tariff re-
form.
The Republicans have dedicated him to
political destruction, even as they succeeded
in destroying Frank Hurd and w. R. Nor
risOn.
When the great Consul Of France mar
shalled his soldiers upon the banks of the
Nile and beneath the pyramids built by
Egypt's mummied kings, he cried, Sol
ders forty centuries look down upon you"
And so | say to the men of Hampshire, the
Democratic party of the nation looks upon
you, and she expects every Democrat in
Hampshire to do his duty
ba ba+ borna upon vour ri
phant voices VIM. l.. Wilson will re-enter
the Halls of Congress with gathered strength
from contact with the people and thrice
armed with the consciousness of your APP
proval
But standing amid those rock ribbed bills,
amid people whose unfaltering fidelity has
made this country a veritable Gibraltar of
Democracy, can exercise with a greater
name even than that of your Ilustrious rep
reseutative.
As Cesar called upon the tenth legend
when his fortunes were trembling in the bal
ance, as Napoleon called upon the Old
Guard when the last assault was to be made
so can the Democracy of the Nation call
upon the Democracy of old Hampshire.
A 7ote for Wilson is a vote for every prin-
ciple the Democratic party stands for. 1t
is this party to whom you have cluDg thro'
so many years of disaster which asks you to
trust her in the future, as you have trusted
her in the past, and she promises you through
her strong aiding champions Grover Cleve-
land and William L. Wilson, that she will
preserve the faith.
will not tell you that the Democratic
party is perfect or that she speaks with the
voice of infalIibility. Perfection does not
belong to humanity But though like the
sensitive needle that guides the mariner
over the traceless sea, the splendid Democ-
racy of our country may be distracted for a
moment by sinister and sbhorrent forces,
yet like the needle her alterations are only
temporary aud accidental aud in the end,
and at last, she points with unerring GER
ty to the North Star of our hopes the Sa-
cred Affairs of lh,rty and OF justice.
Like all grca; parties whose organized
purposes have hsped civilizations and con-
trolled history the great Democratic party
is not the creature of accident or ambition,
but expressing the asperations of people
she is an instrumeutality for the achieve
ment of wei! defined purposes,
Only through the loyalty, the discipline,
the wise patience and controlled energy OF
the individual members of the aggregation
can these great and beue6cient purposes be
achieved
/ have told you frankly aud your distin-
ah;Ed ra,. Fs1vu yr.r