The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1897-02-13
The New, pemocracy.

The News Democracy.
The Ne.cs has always believed and believes
now. in certain things. such as revenue tariff,
sound money and the merit system, and these
things were at one time Democratic haiti
more Nelcs.
They are Democratic now, but they are not
now and never we're Democratic in the sense
that the Neics understands them.
A revenue tariff, or tariff for revenue, is
a theory, and Democratic theory. The Tx
ing of schedules, so as to produce sufficient
revenue for the support of government, with
out a considerable surplus, in this day and
generation, after thirty years of protective
tariffs, was mere matter of speculation when
the present tariff law was passed. The most
expert treasury official could not fix rates
with any degree Of accuracy, so as to produce
a proper amount of revenue, yet the Nescs,
following the lead of Cleveland, severely criti-
cised the schedules and denounced the authors
Of the bill. The Senators who formulated the
law made very good guess, with the aid OF
tariff experts, and the government would
have been receiving a sufficient amount OF
revenue if judge of the Supreme Court OF
the United States had not suddenly changed
his mind on the income tax feature of the law.
The Ne,cs is very excellent newspaper. but
it must excuse us for saying that we do not
believe there was a man upon its staff who
had any idea of the proper tariff rates that
would make revenue law that would have
Il. 4 s. he
has ever been blind follower of Cleve
land. and because the President said the
present tariff law was not right, the Ne'os said
so. too. Mr.. Cleveland knew no more about
revenue tariff schedules than the Nelrs, but
after the law had been in operation about
sixteen months, he said, in his annual mes
sage, that no further tariff legislation was
necessary.
The Netos means the single gold standard
when it uses the phrase ''sound money" That
never was Democracy The principles ofthe
Democratic party were formulated from the
Constitution, and that immortal instrument
provides for gold and silver money. Both
metals were admitted to free coinage al the
minis from 1894 until 1873, and both were
redemption money. 1t was NOT until the
meney sharks of the world combined to dis
credit silver that the single gold standard was
thought of. They knew that the cutting off
of silver would cause "a contraction of curren-
CIV. and thereby double debts and double in
terest. By combination they required rail
road and other bonds to be made payable in
gold, principal and interest, and by this means
they got the corporations by the throat, and
these in turn we're expected to take the peo-
pie by the throat and prevent the restoration
of silver as money. They have succeeded,
but the campaign for free coinage of SILVER as
well as gold. and the restoration of the double
standard, is going to be waged until the money
of the Constitution is restored-until the
Democratic idea of sound money" shall pre-
vail again.
The merit SYSTEM in Democratic sense,
was formulated by Jefferson Is he capable;
is he honest" The merit system the Ne,cs
endorses is the civil service humbug now in
vogue, a foreign importation with excressences
engrafted by set of holier than thon theorists
in this country. The Democratic idea is fire
auent elections in order to give the people a
chance to pass ppon the conduct of public
officials The Ne,rs' idea, as embodied in the
civil service law and practices under it, is to
keep officials in office for life, or as long as
they properly discharge their duties, accord
ing to the opinion of some other office-holder.
The ADVOCATE has never regarded the
Ne,os as Democratic paper, independent or
regular 1t has not promulgated or espoused
a single Democratic principle under the pres
ent management. In the past few years it
has been blind follower of Cleveland, who,
likethe Ne,0s, has had false conception of
Democratic principles, and been a fierce foe
of Senator German because it had afalse con-
eeption of the Democratic doctrine Of tariff
for revenue.
We are glad that the NeioS, in an article
which we quote in full elsewhere, has defined
its true position. Many ofits readers regarded
it as Democratic in its leanings, at least. Its
erroneous ideas of revenue tariff, sound
money and the merit system" mislead many
of its readers. and it is hoped that its declara-
ton that it is not a Democratic paper will
cause all such to cease placing confidence in
it as teacher of Democracy. The Ne'cs is
one of the best afternoon papers published.
In politics it is sort of bushwhacl1er.