Evening journal., 1898-01-14

ment in which he entered. These
were all accomplishments, or If you
please virtues. consistent with that
sturdy Democracy that he professed
and believed in. With the halo of the
battle of New Orleans encircling his |
head, he easily became the popular /
darling of the hour. He encountered i
envy and detraction, but the arrows OF |
calumny fell from his shield of Amer |
can manhood harmless at mis- feet. He
never deyiated from the path in which |
he believed his duty led. He turned |
neither to right nor left in pursuing an |
object that he thought worthy and
I'm the line of his duty. Thus equip
ped he made an ideal leader for the
Democrats, who at that early day
were sometimes known under other
names, such as Democrat t-Republicans.
Republican -Democratsand Followers of
jefferson, but they were then, as now.
arrayed against all those theories Of
government and all those principles of
politics that ignored so largely
the rights of the people; doubted their
capacity for self-government; dis
trusted their power of self-restraint
and the advocates of which believed
that they must be governed by an
Oligarchy. That struggle has been
| going on from that time to the pres
ent. The great duty OF Democrats has
been to stand against the policy to
steal away power from the many and
place It in the hands Of the few That
tendency is always with us. / say to
you and l say to them, that the whole
history of the Democratic party, from
the earliest times to the present, mark
1t plain and clear, that that party is
the repository Of those principles and
of that faith that must always defend
the power Of the people and their
capacity to take care of and govern
themselves
Men differ about the issues Of the
, hour, as they arise, one after the other
, New issues must arise; but all along
the pathway of our history, from the
time of Jefferson down to this hour,
whatever may have been the question
OF the day that was paramount for the
time. and passed back into the realm OF
history, there remained a steady and
strong current of Democratic feeling
that underlay the foundations OF this
government and kept strong and stable
, the fabric of local self-governmeni
upon which our whole safety, in future
= as in the past, must depend WITHOUT
/ had a very different history.
e Now there was no one in tho his
c tory Of our country that did mere Z,
{ illustrate in his lifetime, and in the op
9 portunities that power and Place ant
r, the favor of his fe,iOw-citizens granite,
r him to make clear those great prin
4 clples of the social compact, than tn,
r great man whose name we reverenoe
y especially tonight. EARLY after hi
b entry into the political field, he ar
? rayed himself with those who profess
. ed to follow jefferson, and Who ar
y to-day called Democrats. He believe
Q with intensity that the people cf thi
u country were capable Of taking care o
/ themselves, and required no centre
J. power outside as the self-arrOgate
l. providence assumed by some party. BE
3, lieving that, illustrating II in his lif,
d he became the leader of the pOl.tica
'e forces which finally brought him int
n the highest place in the gift Of a FIRE
lc people-that Is, chief executive OF thi
great republic OF republics AS he ha
a been undismayed by power and in
d huence and wealth when he was strug
% Cling as a poor citizen Of Tennessee,
L his head was not turned when b
d possessed pOwsr and influence and th
i command of wealth He never forge
L that he was a Democrat, and, as pres
V dent OF the United States. he has le
II TO those who came after him, lesson
Ot Of manhood, and of devotion to prir
q, ciple. which, If they are followed, wi
m tend to brighten our future as It hf
)r our past. He grasped at no power
10 which had not been granted TO him
TO the Constitution of the Un4Jed State
es He refused to exercise Others, eve
AT when urged to do so by men of ei'
As quence and learning and influence. J.
u, did not seek to make this the great an
10 glorious consolidated empire THAT y
vi hear 50 much about from those who a
0u imbued with those ideas. He did n
ne believe In a splendid and expensive go
r ernment. He believed that the gOveI-
ne ment was the servant OF the people tn
II had elevated him to that high post, al
ol he never forgot it. He made mistake
We he was passionate and overbearfng
~. those who were unpatriOtic; but all b
us capacities, all his powers, all the enc
on gies Of his great and magnificent hea
IL and soul were directed on keping th
80 government ON the lines upon wnh
70 the fathers had started II. And so
president more than he, none mo
\. | Ndlldllliy lilstu We, Hldlh pdiAce eAAo .
ne doctrine of local government,
ne we call it now, but we didn't used to
7s afraid to call it states rights. And
M "a be a states rights Democrat dldl
lu nu used to be a thing to be ashamed
1e and it is not a thing to be ashamed
~ now. He knew that in a great cou
,as try like ours, with a population sprea
ns ing over it from East to West, that !
w time would come when the tyranny
a majority would produce a despoti.
-, ..o as hard 10 bear and as dangerous TO I
sS, freedom of man as that from which
l ,Sn had escaped by the revolution, CT VIII
"a he was a boyish witness. Thirte
ny colonies became thirteen soverei
~ IN states. which divided up that power
-. that consolidated power could never
10. used to trample upon the rights OF
Ia5 people. That was the origin OF
IA IA faith in every particular in Uhe mar
,nu II of local sef-government. 1t has ot
o-l our happy fortune to have as a heritt
uy things which modern philosophers.
aT ere only seeking to obtain-models OF 10
- self-government. You went ma
-, ~ England or in France, any discuss