Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1894-10-23


The Tribute PAID by Mr.. II. e. Byrd to
Cleveland, WILSON md the Dent-
ocrattc Party
Part Of a speech delivered at CapOu Bridge, 0eto-
Der 12tiI.l
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 honored him with your confidence. In
return he bns made your district illustrious.
You commissioned him to be your standard
bearer and he has planted it upon the unas-
sailable ramparts of history and emblazon-
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-
scientious thought had given him a COM
plete and perfect mastery of the intricate
and perplexed problem of intelligent tariff
reform; because as champion of the peo-
pies 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 amid all the fierce light
which beats upon high names he has ever
worn the white flower of blameless life"
L.
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
diers 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
She expects that borne upon your trium-
plant voices VIM. L. Wilson will re.enter
the Halls of Congress with gathered strength
from contact with the people and thrice
i Al ~
proval.
But standing amid those rock ribbed hills,
amid people whose unfaltering fidelity has
made this country veritable Gibraltar of
Democracy, 1 can exercise with a greater
name even than that of your iIlustrious rep
resentative.
As Caesar called upon the tenth legend
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 vote for Wilson is vote for every prin-
ciple the Democratic party stands for. 1t
is this party to whom you have chung tbro'
SO many years of disaster which asks you to
iiuoG L4S4 ia IliC lulhACS stS VIZ bhNS tlLSbGSl
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 infallibility. Perfection does not
belong to humanity. But though like the
81,
over the treceless sea, the splendid Democ-
racy of our country may be distracted for a
moment by sinister and abhorrent forces,
yet like the needle her alterations are only
temporary and accidental and in the end,
and at last, she points with unerring GER
ty to the North Star of our hopes the Sa-
cred Affairs of liberty and of justice.
Like all great parties whose organized
purposes have shaped civilizations and con-
trolled history, the great Democratic party
is not the creature of accident or ambition,
but expressing the ASPIRATIONS of people
she is an fundamentally for the achieve
ment of well defined purposes.
Only through the loyalty, the discipline,
the wise patience and controlled energy of
can these great and bene6cient purposes be
achieved
have told you frankly and your distin-
guished chieftain has told you that the
Democratic majority of the present Houses
of Congress did not do all that we hoped
There were sins of omission and there were
sins of commission. But let us dwell less
upon the little in which we have failed and
more upon the great and enduring work
that was accomplished.
Let US try to realize not only the great
ness of the work but the immense difficult
ties which were eloquently described by Mr..
Wilson himself in a memorable speech
"When the eyes of the prophets servant
were unseaIed he saw encamped around the
prophet mighty hosts and chariots invisible
to other eyes. So when the servant of the
people comes to deal with the tariff question
he sees with clearness of vision not grant.
ed to others those mighty hosts, the powers
of wealth and cnI1 biuatiors Of mnnonolv