Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-08-02
Shall the Servant Be Master?

Washington between politicians who
have hitherto acted with the Demo-
cratic party has so befogged the tariff
issue that no one can now tell just
what the status of tariff legislation is.
They wire in and were out,
To leave the people all in doubt,
AS to whether the snake that makes the
track
Is going south or coming back.
While the people witness with any
thing but feelings of pleasure the
pyrotechnic display now being exhibit
ed in the Senate, they are not wholly
unprepared for the following statement
from Senator German:
The President scanned the platform
as an able, conscientious, earnest man
would. He had no reservation. He
was ready to present to the country his
best thought, and to tell frankly what
he would do if he became President.
felt, that the extreme action at Chica-
go would put his election in jeopardy.
He knew. just as the great captain on
the other side, Mr.. Blaine, had ex-
pressed it in 1884, that the declara-
tons of a great National Convention,
consisting of hundl eds of delegates,
had no longer weight with the Ameri
can people. 1t was the declaration of
the candidate himself to which the
people looked. Platforms were gone.
1t was the letter of the candidate, ac-
cepting the nomination and saying
what he would do if elected, that the
people accepted.
Mr.. Cleveland and the whole East
ern Continent have been acting as if
they were thoroughly convinced, that
"platforms are gone" and the dictum
of the candidate must be accepted as
fixing the policy of the party. This is
the tory policy. The tories in the
Democratic party, as those of the rest
of the world, believe as firmly to-day
as they did in the days of George the
Third that it Is preposterous for the
ordinary citizen to have voice in the
affairs of the government; that the
great mass of yokels who constituted
the producing classes of this country
ought not to be consulted about ma
tional affairs; that the idea of a gov
eminent of and by the people is
chimera that should be got rid of as
soon as it is safe to do so.
The idea that celebrations of
convention consisting of hundreds of
delegates" have no longer any weight
with the American people has become
very prevalent in the last decade. Mr..
James E. Campbell of Olio was per-
suaded to take this view of it in his
campaign for Governor of Ohio in
1891, and climbed down from his plat
form because 1t contained a declaration
in favor of Free Coinage; he was de-
feated, as he deserved to be.
Had it been supposed by the people
of this country in 1892 that Grover
Cleveland believed that the declara-
tions of the Chicago platform were not
binding upon him, and that b is person
al opinions were to be substituted tor
any of its planks that they might con-
fiict with, he would not have carried
single State of the Union.
If the solemn declarations of a party
in convention assembled are not to
have binding force with the party's
candidate, and arc not to be taken in
good faith, what is the use of putting
forth a platform? The Democratic
party has hitherto considered its can
didates as the servants, and not the
masters, of the party.
The proposition that party cannot
enunciate a platform OF principles that
will be binding upon its candidates
and that must be accepted by its rank
and file as final. is startling. 1t is rev.
dictionary. Who, pray, if not the
party itself, is entitled to declare its
principles? The election or defeat of
any man is little thing compared
with the great underlying principles
of the party; they are the citadel and
rallying point: they are to party
what breath is to the body. Thanks
to Mr.. German for his frank tearing
aside of the veil! Mr.. Cleveland and
his personal friends have acted all
along as if his personal success and per-
sonal opinions were paramount to any
party principle, no matter how time
houored. Hence, we have seen the
sacred pledges of the party disregard
ed. its time-honOred traditions over
turned, its representative form of party
government superseded by dictator.
Mr.. j. c. Boswell, one of the best
known and most respected citizens of
Brentwood, Texas, suffered with
diarrh9a for long time and tried
many different remedies without bene-
fit, until Chamberlain's Collie, Cholera
and Diarrhea Remedy was used; that
relieved him at once. For sale by