Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1896-07-16
LET US REASON TOGETHER

We have no quarrel with fel>
lowSDemocrats who have waxed
indignant over the Chicago dec~
laratiou. Some CT the provis-
ions Of that declaration are open
to criticism, from both a politi-
Cal and a business point of view,
and others r at variance with
time>honored Democratic doc
trlnes. But, now that the smoke
of the fight in the convention is
clearing away, let u reason tor
gether soberiy upon the plat>
form, as a whole, and consider
in it's broader light what the con-
test betweenthe two parties in
November involves.
In the opening deliverance of
the declaration, and underlying
the obnoxious features, is the
foundationsstone of the true
Democratic faith. Here in cons
crete form are the cardinal prin~
ciples of Democracy-the im>
mutable principles of the party
AS against policies which are
subject to mutation, through the
influence of environment and
new conditions. These prin-
ciples are summarized in the ins
controvertlble assertion that the
Democratic party has resisted
the tendency of selfish interests
towards the Capitalization Of
governmental power, .and solidly
maintained the integrity of the
dual rights of government S
tablished by the founders of this
republic of republics; and that
under it's guidance and teaching
the great principle of local self
government has found lis best
expression in the maintenance of
the rights of the States. and in
it's assertion of the necessity Of
conining the General Govern
ment to the exercise of the pows
ers granted by the Constitution
of the United States.
Under the policies enumerars
ed in the St. Louis platform lies
the foundation>stone of the Re-
publican party. That stone was
quarried in iniquity, laid in the
mire of corruption, and conse
Grated by the high priests of
Capitalization, and the legisla-
tive superstructure the party
has been building upon it from
and including the days of recon
struction to the present time is
cemented with hatred of one
great division of the republic
the South.
When, therefore, we come
down to the real, paramount is
sues Of the campaign, they are
the same they have always been.
The parties are arrayed against
each other On the same lines
upon which they have always
stood, and to the South, espec>
tally, the maintenance of the
Democratic supremacy is as
vital as it ever was. The
Southern Democrat who al
lows the currency. the tariff, or
any other minor question, or the
unwise policies of his party in
one campaign to obscure the fact
that through Democratic ascend
ency alone can he expect the
continuance of local selfsgoverns
ment and white supremacy in
the South makes a great mis-
take. The southern Democrat
who expects that should the Re-
publican party again become en-
trenched in power it would not
be true to it's record as
the enemy of the South in
every particular, and who,
as a consequence, becomes luke
warm, invites, however unwit>
tingly, not.onlv decentralization of
the national Democratic party,
but decentralization, negro SUI
premacy, and the death of local
self-goyernment. We repeat,
therefore, let US reason together,
ellow-Democrats. and to the end
that we may do our full duty to
our part y, rltlt and u
State. If this shall be our course
we will have nothing to regret
in the long run.