The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-07-08

o De y~rOlTarIC0. IL IoEAiIE = lSSdCS
mon the public mind. n the next
.anvass will have TO deal with some OF
he most mon4entous questions that
have agitated the republic since its
formation. The Monroe doctrine. that
cardinal tenet OF democracy which for
severty-fve years has been the &
to all patriots Of the new
world struggling 10 free themselves
from the Cxactions and tyranny of the !
monarchies OF Europe, and which, by |
reason Of our strength and power as a :,
nation. we have forced the govern |
ments of the Old World to recognize
and acQuiesce in. is now by the re-
publican party about to be surren-
dered, and We are about to be forced
to enter upon a career Of territorial
aggression and expansion which, if
adhered 10, will surely mark the be-
ginning Of national decay and the
early dissolution of the republic.
Democracy jealousy guards the pol
icy and traditions of the founders
of the republic, while it adapts itself
to the exigencies and requirements of
national progress and development.
Democracy favors the ~upholding of
the hands of the government in the
vigorous prosecution Of this war for
humanity in which we are now en-
gagged. and will vote whatever sup
plies of men and means that shall be
required to make victory crown our
arms and to vindicate the national
honor. Democracy which advocates
a tariff for revenue only, with mere
incidental protection, favors the en-
conragement and development of
so that the surplus pro-
ducts of the farm and the factory
may be exported to the most prof.
able markets of the world. Democ-
racy favors the building and mainte-
nance of a large and powerful navy
to protect that largely increasing COM
merce, and the acquisition of coaling
stations, freed from neutrality decla-
rations, wherever in the world they
may b. needed, to enable our navy TO
become more efficient in the protec-
ton of American rights and interests.
But democracy opposes the acquisi-
ton and retention of large territories,
whether they be situated in Europe,
Asia or Africa, which will involve
our government in constant inter-
national complications, and demand
the maintenance Of a large standing
army in time of peace to be ever ready
to defend. A large standing army in
time of peace is the engine of despot-
ism and the peril Of a republic.
With these principles of democracy
enforced, our country having fought
a successful foreign war, which will
have effaced the last vestige of sec
tiOnal animOSity, our union will enter
| upon a career Of usefulness which will
make the American people the hap
piest and most prosperous people in
the world, and under the providence of
God the great civilizing factor Of the
twentieth century. applause.
This being an off year state politics
will necessarily claim the attention of
every candidate for office. For nearly
twenty years our beloved state, under
democratic rule and influence, had
recovered from the devastatiOns of a
long and ~exhausting war and from
the curse and blight of republican re-
construction. During all that time
our state government was economi-
cally and honestly administered; our
laws were promptly, peacefully and
impartially enforced; our schools for
both races were literally encouraged;
cessful and constantly increasing,
until the advent again of repub-
canism in that evil and fateful year
of 1894. And what has been the cOnse-
~quences? Just as soon as the legisla-
ture man Of the faces and
names which figured conspicuously as
prominent actors before the FraudCom
mission of 1868 were seen cropping in
the lobby and the galleries-and fraud
and corruption even stalked through
the legislative halls. Drunkenness
and incOmpetency crept upon the
UtlCll, WHlCH DelOTo ina ndU SnOn0
so respondent for it's purity and abil-
ity.
The races, which had been living to-
gether in peace and amity, are becom-
ingf again eStranged; the executive of
our state is constantly engaged in per-
SOnal brOilS and the executive office
once adorned by Vance and Jarvis,
Scales NJ Fowle and Holt and Carr,
has been converted into a plotting
rom whore q nor0hicfia onI ~ n
cabals are held and unholy political
schemes are Matched; curses and bias
phemies are frequently heard; and
pistol assaults gun menace and in
suits are hurled at visitors, without re-
gard to race or cOlOr-until the virtue,
intelligence and religious sentiment
of North Carolina is aroused as I have
seen it before, and our people,
righteously indignant, are determined
to rid the state Of this whitening incu-
bus. And by the assistance of the
Eternal God they will do so, and our
commonwealth will once more become
regenerated and redeemed from the
control of those who have brought it
into contempt and disgrace. CTremen-
dous applause.)
Let us all then who love the state
that bore us, unite in a crusade against
these despoilers; the holy land is in
the possession of the Turk and the in
idel-the fanes of your ancestors are
being defiled and poluted-gird on
your armor then, We sons Of Caro-
lima, and let merchant, mechanic,
farmer and laborer, physician and
lawyer, preacher and teacher, all
unite in one solid phalanx and
march onward against them step to
step, and shoulded to shoulder, until
the last vandal is driven from power
and peace and tranquility is once more
restored to our distracted state. And
then u people with one accord will
excialm in the language Of the psalm
lst that again mercy and peace are
met together and righteousness and
a have kissed each other"
thank o again for the great
honor.
Mr.. Bellamy's speech was applaud
ed throughout his utterances, and
when he concluded, hundreds Of the
delegates and spectators and citizens
crowded around him and extended