The Irish standard., 1896-10-17
polite and elegant gall to accuse their
brethren of abandoning for Republican al

\ DTeLnren OF aDanuOnln3 tor RGpuDlican al
| lies the Democratic cause of tariff reform
then set deliberately to- work to elevate
to power the party Of protection! That's
what call cheek .ncarnate, impudence pre-
eminent, audacity absolute, insoIence in
sufferable! These fellows posing as "the
representatives Of Democratic principles?"
And what kind of Democracy, pray? "A
I Democracy which denies the right Of ma
jority rule! A Democracy which assumes
that a minority shall dictate to the majority
what shall constitute the party crsed! De.
! mocracy whose tenets must be determined
by coterie of se,f-constituted priests, in
stead Of by the duly accredited representa-
tives of the people. It matters not how far
the Chicago platform may depart from
the confession OF faith of the regular De-
mocracy. and no man hath right or title
to the party name who declines to support
! the Chicago nominees The Presbyterian
church has rejected some OF the extreme
tenets Of the Calvin:stic creed; yet no man
has right to proclaim himself member
of that denomination who denies its pres
ent doctrines One may be a Jefferson.an
or Jacksonian without being Democrat,
lust as he may be a Calvinist without be-
| ing a Presbyterian. That political party
which makes no progress, which cannot
adapt Itself to changed conditions, had best
! get off the earth, for it is utterly useless
as much out Of place as crooked stick in
the age of steam plows. We don't care two
! whoops in Halifax what Jefferson said or
did under different conditions in the long
ago; what we are trying to guess is what
| those wise men would say and do were they
| here today.
The plain fact is that the indianapolis
| convention was composed, for the most part
of old political hacks who have been left
behind as useless lumber in the grand
march of progress-men who are incapable
OF learning even N the school of expert
ence; men who have either been already
relegated to the rear, or who read the meme,
meme tskel upharEin on the walls Of their
to longer rule the party, they are ready to
crafty their pique by wrecking it, The
nominees of the Mckinley Aid Society are
really better than the rank and f!e of that
monstrous collection Of political fossils and
savage soreheads; but are representative in
that they have outlived their usefulness.
do groan for burial. Should they be elect
ed. Palmer would be "a and Buckner 80
when their term of Office expired in 1901.
The IconocIast has great respect for old
age; but that octegenar.an does not exist
who is in full possession of his mental
powers. Gladstone and Bismarck are the.
worlds most remarkable specimens OF
green old age; yet the 'sGrand Old Man" "
began to exhibit unmistakable signs OF
mental decay early in his eighties, and be-
fore reaching four score years the Iron
Chancellor was wisely relieved OF the bur-
thens of public life The men who have
made favorable mark on the pages of the
worlds history after passing their eightieth
wear may be counted on the fingers Of one.
hand. AS men, we can make low obe.sance
TO the hoary hairs Of John NJ Palmer; but
as citizens we must select for the chief:
magistrate of this new nation, which nears
it's days before it and the tumult OF Its l'fe,
not slippered pantaloon whose race IS
to the past, but rather one who Wili-rlses
equal to the mighty problems OF the future
In these Kaleidoscope times, when condl-
tions press upon us for which there Is no
precedent, we must have in the pilot-house,
not one who IS yearly losing, but one who
is daily learing. We are told that the
Ship Of State is in dire distress---s running
upon the rocks. her masts shivered, her
canvas ripped to rags, the threatening oil
lows breaking across her bows. AT sucn
time 'twere sheer madness to place the helm
or. No matter that in days agone he
plowed Messina's stormy strait while Cha.
rvbdis frowned and Scylla beckoned, under
matches with him, and send to the helm an
able seaman, with judgment clear and eye
alert, with nerves Of steel and muscles Of
beaten brass.
The platform adopted by the Indianapolis
convention is on a moral and intellectual
parity with it's Democratic professions. It
is such tissue of antilogies, such sym
postum Of absurdities that we may well
suppose it written by some man as far into
the scar and yellow leaf as even the neo-,
Democratic nominees. 1t should, have for
preface Minister Terrell's famous axiom
to the effect that Consistency is the virtue
of fools" 1t mocks at the idea that the
price of silver can be enhanced by leg.sla-
ton, while accusing the Republicans Of rails
ing the price CT commodities by tariff laws.
It IS the part of the religion Of the Demo
cratic-Repubican party that free coinage
Of silver is sublimated protection for the
producers of that metal and that protection
is an evil simply because it gives to COM
modities an abnormal market value. Clear
ly if protection will raise the price of soap
it Will have a similar effect on silver The
platform breathes the spirit of state rights,
yet colnmends Cleveland for invading
sovereign state with federal troops despite
the protest of the governor. who it has been
amply proven was both able and eager to
restore order 1t attributes all our in
d:vidual ills to Republican extravaganza
in appropriations and the Populist threat
OF free coinage" The most expensive Re-
publican government since the war ex-
pended less than 81 per annum in each $3.50
of national wealth. most Of it Immediately
finding its way back into the'pockets Of the
people. The expense was outrageous it's
true; but scarce sufficient to create COM
mercial panic among people who had been
through the fiery furnace of a civil war.
The tota, vote for presd dent in 1892 ex-
ceeded twelve million; hence sfthe Popul;st
threat of free coinage" was calculated to
have as much effect on our currency as DR..
Jehovah Boanergen Cranf,Ps Prohibition
e1ordiums on the price Of bourbon. Why
men VINO spend so much time and lung
power throwing bonuets at themselves,
should deliberately sign certificate oe their
own id.ocy, is one of those things that no
fellow can find out.
IS The Indianapolis convention is SUI: gene
ris in that It insists that the god standard
is a good thing per sc, and declares ealpaat-
ically against b1neta,lism, as that term is
generally understood. It would perma-
nentiy re1egate silver to secondary place,
limit It's co.nsgs and base it upon its yellow
TN "a m hind him al