The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1895-11-30
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.

overtaken the national democra
cy, there is an abundance of pro
phets who insist that democrac,
is at last done for, and the end o.
that party arrived. Is this true!
For if true it is of tremendous i'm
port to the country at large and
to the entire world.
Since those days when the col.
Jared Saxon serfs followed theil
Norman owners to where the Bar.
ons exacted the great Magma
Charter from theSreluctant King
John, there has been no single
step taken in the forward advane
of human liberty but the common
people have supplied the bone
and muscle of the contention. 1t
was not the barons who humbled
John of Plantagenet, but their
retainers, falsely led to believe
that they owed allegiance to their
feudal leaders, who made the
great charter possible. 1t was
because the barons were support
ed by great army that their op-
position was successful. And so
with that republic of Holland.
the great prototype of our loved
country. 1t was not the belted
knights, the lords and dukes and
barons, who sustained William
the Silent. 1t was the Beggars of
the North Sea, those sturdy yoe-
men, who continued that awful
war long after its great leader
lay dead from the bullets of the
assassin. 1t was then the COM
mon people who gathered around
the weak banners of the leaders
OF that great revolt against the
puissant Phillip of Spain, and at
last accomplished that success
which made our own Revolution
possible, and which eliminated
in the beacon light for the world,
the United States of America.
So it was not the fact that democ-
racy is routed, but that democ-
racy was wrong, which accounts
for the recent defeat. Succeed
ing to power because of the
bold stand taken by President
Cleveland against the lntrenching
powers of protection, the democ-
racy offered strong hope to the
people. Inasmuch as it failed to
fulfill these avowed pledges did
it loose the confidence of the peo-
pie. with the opposition offered
the Wilson bill by Messrs. Hill
Brice and German did the party
loose prestige and fall in popular
favor. The defeat of the demo-
cratic party did not occur at the
polls last election; it occurred in
the Senate of the United States
now nearly two years since. Then
it was the hurt occurred; that the
mischief was done; the harvest
came this fall.
But these are mere matters of
passing history. Those who ac-
cept the fundamental doctrines
of democracy; who believe that
in the individual rests the whole
hope of freedom; not in socialism
as expressed by governmental
protection, and the thousand
things which crowd for "aid"
where no aid is to be given, will
not loose hope. Success does
not always rest with victory. Of
fees are not the entire measure of
value. tits not so much who
rules, as, how, in which the mass
es are interested. And in this
particular the hopes of democra-
cy rest on sure and certain foun-
dation. To elevate the masses !:
to give to every man equal oppor-
tunity; to dissolve the present un-
holy affiliation of taxes and pro-
fit for the few; these are what in
terest those who are truly demo-
Gratis. Gifts profit little. "For
what is man profited," said the
great Nazerne, 'sif he shall gain
the whole world and lose his own
soul.' So, whether defeated or
victorious, the party which relies
on the people must win, if free
dom win, and therein rests the
future hope of democracy. Shorr
of false relations and separated
from unholy compacts, there is a
future for the party which aim.
to serve the poor man as we'll as
the rich; on whose banner is in.
.n,..luI 4I u