The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1897-04-30

PEOPLES trust. It's distinct cam
paign declaration that it was unre- ,
servedly in favor of sound money, !
the character and controlled effect !
iveness of che support it gained on
the faith of that declaration, the
universal concession that the con-
iict on financial theories constituted
the issue. which was passed upon by
the suffrages of the people, and the
country's pressing exigences and
needs, all demarded prompt and
efficient action by the party en-
trusted with power, in an effort to
place our national finances, adjust
ed~to every popular need, upon a
safe and sure basis, approved by
the business judgment OF the LAND
and secure from successful attack,
because defended by a majority of
the thoughtfully honest men of all
parties. Instead, however, of adj
dressing themselves to this task,
the managers and representatives
of this victorious party, these pro-
fessed champions of sound finance,
have, before the eyes of an expectant
people, returned in hot haste to their
wallowing in the mire of extreme
protection, offending millions of
voters by their exhibition of a party's
bad faith and disgusting millions
more by their unconcealed determi-
nation to repay partisan support
from the poceeds of increased bur-
dens of taxation placed upon those
already overladen.
In the mean time the allied forces
of calamity, encouraged by these ma
lign conditions, are still active and
aggressive. They confidently speak
of the encounter in which they fail
ed of success as only 1.-the first bat
tie, and gladly hail every untoward
incident and every added pretext for
passion and resentment as new and
welcome allies in the continuance of
their crusade.
They are unwittingly wicked and
stupid who believe that disaster
waits upon the ascendancy of those
forces and yet turn away from the
plain evidence Of their dangerous
strength. Let us be honest with
each other and with ourselves. If
there are many among us who,
though not actively and actually en-
enlisted in the cause of free silver
and its accompanying vagaries, can
look with cOmplacency upon their
growth and triumph, or if there are
any who, not fearing individual
loss, are needless of the honor and
glory of their own country, and if
there are those whose childlike and
simple faith in the country's resour-
ces blinds them to all public danger,
inaction and neglect on their part
may be accounted for if not excus-
ed, but nothing can explain or ex-
cuse inaction on the part of those
who can make no compromise with
the advocates of unsOUnd money,
or who love their cOuntry's honor
more than self-advantage, or who
are convinced that an unstable and
unsafe currency inevitably bodies
the greatest depth of loss and mis-
fortune to all the people of the
land. These should not delude
themselves. The peril they dread
is directly impending.
Those who believe that a crisis
is at hand can hardly fail to see that
the party in power is so joined to
its idol of mad protection, and is SO
completely doomed to popular
condemnation, that it is a useless
instrument of defense against the
impending peril. | do not fear
that | shall be accused of sinister
designs untitled to the atmosphere
of this occasion # l insist that the
path of duty and the best hope of
safety lie in an immediate and ear
nest attempt to accomplish the re-
rehabilitation and regeneration of
the true democracy.
| In a large part of the country,
where financial error is most gener-
al, the democratic name can best
arouse the political sentiments of
the people, and there, as every
where in our land, the people can
be trusted to arrive at a correct con-
clusion if they have adequate oppor-
tunity for examination and informa-
ton. Let us devise means to break
through the influence of the mis-
chievous leadership that surrounds
them, and without arrOgantly as
suming that no rights or hardships
afflict them and that no reforms in
their conditions are need, let us
meet our countrymen face to face
in argument and counsel We shall
find in every locality able, heroic
men, willing to struggle against the
tide of misconceptiOn. Let us hold
up their hands by organized effort
and timely assistance. Let true
Democrats meet the passion and
bitterness of their former associates,
who have assumed the leadership of
anti-DemOcratic wanderings, with
firm expostulations, reminding them
that Democratic convictions and
Democratic conscience cannot be
forced to follow false lights, how
ever held aloft, and let US at the
same time entreat them IN the name
of honorable political comradeship
and in the memory of glorious vic
tories won by a united Democracy,
to turn from the way that leads to
party defeat and destruction.
The task is not an easy one, but