The age-herald., 1898-09-20
CAMPAIGN WILL
 BE AGGRESSIVE Joe Bailey Sounds the TOcsin at
 Chatham, Va, RECORD IF THE DEMOCRATS Throughout Last Congress Was
 Above All Criticism. PERFIDY OF THE REPUBLICANS They Must Explain to the People Their Murder of the Volunteers. JUST INDIGNATION IS AROUSED The Only Important Vote of Democrats Which Is Possible To Cause Con-
 troversy Was That Against
 the War Revenue Bill.
They Must Explain to the People Their
 Murder of the Volunteers.
JUST INDIGNATION IS AROUSED

Chatham, Va., September 19.-Congress- man Joseph w. Bailey, of Texas, demo- cratic leader in the house of representa- tives addressed large crowd of democrats today at the county court house of Pittsyl- vania. MT. Bailey said in part:
 For months republican politicians and republican editors have talked and written incessently about the mistakes of the dem ocratic minority in congress, but now that they are required to specify on our mis- takes in order to divert public attention from their own they find it impossible to make good their repeated and reckless sertions. In order to escape the just and universal Indignation which has been aroused against them by the suffering in f1icted upon the volunteer army through the incompetence or the dishonesty of those whom they have placed in power, they have been searching the Congressional Records and rackng their brain to find some dam aging accusatioA/w they can sustain against us. But they have not found it. and they will not find it. The record of the democratic party throughout the last and trying session of congress is absolutely above all criticism. I do not say it with the purpose of claiming any credit for my self, but matter of simple justice to my democratic associates I declare that that in all the history of this government no minority party ever passed through a war session of congress with so much credit as did the democrats of the present congress.
 Vote on Revenue Bill
 "The only important vote which we be- lieved at the time we cast 1t would ever become the subject of reasonable contro- verSy was our vote against the war reVe- nue bill and events have vindicated our course in respect to that measure. We op- posed the passage of that bill because we believed that it authorized a unnecessary sale of interest-bearing bonds, and the con- dition of the treasury proves conclusively that we were right. When congress con- yenes in December next it will find that the surplus in the treasury above the $100,- 900 900 gold reserve will exceed the amount received from the sale of bonds, thus dem- onstrating that there was no necessity for the government to sell its bonds.
 "Our republican friends cannot excuse themselves by saying that they could not foresee the early termination of the war, because every man who was reasonably well informed about the condition of Spain understood that it was impossible for her to continue long and expensive struggle. Owing to the greater distance between her
  was certain that it would require the OK penditure of at least $125 on the part of Spain to meet the expenditure of every dollar on the part of the United States. It was certain, therefore, that If the war cost ,,s s2OO 900 GOO, 1t would cost Spain S2oO,0o0,- 0O0 and where could she raise any such sum? Torn with civil strife, her throne claimed by pretender, her people impover- ished. she could not levy additional taxes without precipitatjng bread riots withln her own borders, and her only means or carving on the war was to borrow money. This she could not hope to do, because her bonds were already selling at 30 cents on tta dollar in the markets of the world, and bad she attempted to borrow $250 ,OO0,OCO she would have been compelled to issue SSoo'' GOO 900 worth of bonds.
 An Impotent Adversary
 "Rerore she could have sold one-han ot .hat amount her credit would have 1aIIeh still lower and her bonds would not nave commanded 20 cents on the doilar' Nllh an adversary unable to raise money py taxetjon and powerless to borrow 1t, the and of The war was in sight before 1t was begun The republican leaders in congress knew this as well we did, or II they did not know it, they are not wise enough to be trusted with the administration or tnts government. But with the knowledge that the war must soon end, and knowing that with all their wastefulness and eXtrava- gance it would probably not cost over two hundred midion dollars, they proceeded to enact a law which imposes one hundred and fifty million dollars in annual taxes upon the people, and authorizes the con- traction of five hundred million dollar. Upon that monstrous proposition almost every democrat in congress voted mo- and our only regret today is that there was a single one of us who felt called upon by his sense of duty to support it.'