Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-10-10
SATURDAY EVENING. OCT. 10, 1896

anclentS, InOS6 WHOM luc gus WEI w
destroy they first make mad" Never
was this mora signally exempllfed than
in the case of the republican and gold
boilers leaders in the,Presidential con
test now pending. No sooner had the
Chicago convention adjourned than
they began furious and violent de-
nunciation of that body. The men who
shaped its proceedings were among the
most eminent men of the country, Sen
ators, Representatives, Governors, ex'
Governors, editors and politicians who
had long figured as the leaders Of the
democracy. They could compare in
character and talent with any of the
public men of the day. They could not
be bought. They demanded free coin
age Of both metals-a policy PROFOUND
ed by Jefferson, Hamilton, Washing
ton, Henry Clay, Webster, Calhoun,
Hunter, Andrew Jackson and Thurman,
to say nothing of a host ofgreat thinkers
in Europe and America. For this they
were viliied as communists, populists,
and anarchists. Now, it is apparent
that all this vile billingsgate has not
made single vote. 1t has aroused the
democracy and offended all decent men.
This is blunder number one
Another folly of the Eastern press was
to deride the farmers of the West and
South as ignorant, vulgar, uneducated,
long-haired, and in every way unfit to
share fame with the East The Southeron
was described by their pet ora
tor as an "unreconciled slave holder"
seeking to cheat the negro, and the
Northern farmer as too lazy and good
for nothing to work. No gold organ
called halt on this blackguardis1l. OF
course, it has only Served to arouse
the indignation of the masses thus
foully slandered by those who assume
asuperior morality and civilization. This
is blunder number two. A third act of
folly was to denounce the Chicago con.
vention as populistic. The populists
number strength estimated at from
one million to two millions of voters.
Add this vote to the democratic vote
and the republicans would clearly be
outnumbered, even with the aid of the
boiling democrats. Now, could there
be anything better calculated to ensure
cordial fusion of the populists with
the democrats on Bryan than to de-
nounce Mr.. Bryan and those who put
him up as populists, and this, too, in
language of hatred and insult? Here
YOU have blunder number three. Another
mistake was made in the treatmen. OF
the laboring vote. 1t was feared by re-
publican managers that it would be
lost. So we see mingled policy of in
timidation on the one hand and an
enormous bribery fund on the other.
If with all this money the republicans
expected to accomplish anything they
ought to have kept quiet about the
grand corruption fund, land by all means
to have avoided even the appearance of
coercing the poor mans vote. To force
men to join Mckinley clubs or wear
badges is one of those supreme follies
worthy only of idiots. Such is the in
science and blindness Of wealth, how
ever, that these managers did not see
that their methods would arouse the
deepest resentment of the laborers.
What could they do better calculated
to incite a general agreement of the la
borers to rise up and destroy
them at the ballot box than
the mode they have adopted
Again they have, while boasting of their
gigantic campaign fund, sueered at the
democratic managers for being unable
to raise money. They utterly ignore
the fact that an overwhelming majority
of the American people of both parties
resent the idea of the Presidency being
bought with money. They fail to see
that there is something far more potent
than money in political fight and that it
is the idea of the masses that the money
power, the trusts and the combines of
the land have conspired to control and
rob them of property and liberty. The
scheme of having the railroads furnish
free transportation, or nominal rates
for delegations, to be shipped to Canton
to hear Mckinley speak was a very
shallow one. The whole business hos
an artificial and purchased flavor that
is unmistakable. McKinley's speeches
have fallen utterly fiat and have made
no impression whatever. Summing up,
it may be said that from the beginning
until now the republican managers and
papers have by their violence and folly
helped the democrats to achieve vic
tory. They have insulted the farmers
and the laboring men who, after all, are
the backbone of the republic, and who,
if they unite, are fully able to control
its destines. Probably if QUAY and
Platt had been in command. soma of