The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-07

y
nown to our arms on land and sea. The
eager response of the volunteers to the
call Of the president was the admira-
ton of the country. In their achieve
ments upon the field Massachusetts
has borne a conspicuous part. Massa-
chusetts will ever be closely connected
in history, with the Respondent PROV
ess of our navy. Her sailors and ma
rines We're upon every ship. The names
Boston and Concord are as insepa-
raole from the first battle of the war
with Spain. as from that which opened
the struggle for independence. We
have heard with deep concern asser-
tons that the hardships of our SOL
diers had been aggravated by official
incompetence and neglect. We en-
dorse the action of the president in
providing for thorough and search
ing investigation, that the American
people may have full and early inform
alton Of all the facts.
The practical lessons of the war must
be carefully needed. They teach the
necessity of a larger army Of regular
troops, kept always in the highest state
of discipline and equipment; a.><eor-
ganization of the National Guard to be
always in condition Of efficiency for
immediate service; a larger navy com
mensurate with our power, our COM
early completion of our system of coast
defenses. In a word, constant readi-
ness for war as the surest guaranty
of lasting peace.
We affirm anew our support Of sound
money. True to the pledge of the st.
Louis platform, the president and con-
gress earnestly and in good faith
strove to secure an agreement of the
great commercial nations for the coin
age Of silver and gold at an established
ratio.
The attempt has utterly failed; all
our currency must rest upon the single
gold standard. Every dollar must be
kept equal in value to the dollar in
gold. All government indebtedness
which by the terms of the contract is
payable in coin must be paid in gold,
at the option of the creditor. We re-
joice in the defeat of the Teller resolu-
ton in the republican house of repre-
sentatives, as the repuiae of an at
tack upon the integrity of our none
tary system and the fair fame of the
republic.
The time has come for the reform of
our currency in the direction Of the
ready conversion of its different forms,
each into the other, and tho redemption
Of all in gold upon demand, with ade-
quate provision for the extension of
banking facilities to tho agricultural
and sparsely-settled portions of the
country, to the end that in those sec
tions capital may be responsive to the
demands of business, and lower rates
of interest prevail.
The war with Spain, undertaken by
the United States from the highest mo-
tives, has been justified in the intelli-
gence and compassion CT mankind. Our
brilliant victories have brought us sell
emn obligations and grave responsible
tiles, for we cannot, in the interests OF
honor, humanity or civilization, return
to Spain the peoples whom we have
freed from her tyranny.
The people Of Massachusetts do not
propose to abandon the ancient
doctrines of republican liberty, upon
which the Commonwealth and the coun-
try are builded, and by which ehe
American people have grown to be
without a rival among the nations in
wealth, power and happiness. What
they enjoy themselves, they desire
shall be enjoyed by all other peoples,
especially by those whom the valor Of
our soldiers and sailors have wrested
from Spain, and whose destiny must
now be determined by the United
States alone. While we would not in
terfere with the diplomatic negotia-
they be so conducted and terminated
as to secure to the Philippine islands
and to Cuba in amplest measure the
blessings Of liberty and self-govern-
ment.
The building of the Nicaraguan ca
nal to. be controlled and operated by
the United States, is now imperative.
Our possessions in the Caribbean seas,
the annexation of Hawaii, our position
mi IT,, I'll, =,
table voyage of the Oregon, have made
its necessity clear to all. We confident
ly look to congress for the early I'M
dertaking Of it's work and its COM
pletion with all reasonable dispatch.
The laws of Massachusetts passed in
the interests of wage earners, tab
fishing short hours of labor, CO. pail
sorry education for children, frequent
payments of earnings, guarding as far
as practicable by law life and limb
from the risks of machinery and de-
manding the best Sanitary conditions
for the work shop and home-have
proved wise and wholesome. If, in the
industrial development of the country,
they have. become adverse factors in
competition, the remedy is not in their
repeal, but, through education and the
efforts of organized labor, to procure
the enactment of similar laws in the
other states of the Union.
The highest citizenship in Massachu-
sets must be maintained. Depending
largely upon the rate of wages, it will
inevitably decline when met with cheap
labor Intelligence in the immigrant,
his capability of early assimilation into
the body of American citizenship are
essentials to both the welfare and safe
ty of the nation. We, therefore, favor
further restriction of immigration by
requiring of the intended immigrant
that he be able to read and write, and
we confidently look for the early pass
age of the bill providing this educa-
tional test, already passed by the SEN
ate and pending in the house of rep
resentatives.
The American fisheries in the North
Atlantic have been the constant care
Of Massachusetts,. They have played a
great part in her settlement and devel-
opment. They are schools of seaman
ship and nurseries of our merchant
marine and navy We consider their
preservation as of the first Importance
to the nation, and we protest against
and will oppose any action which will
put them in peril
We commend the administration Of
our state government for the past year
as in accord with the high position of
Massachusetts and her past traditions.
We submit the names of the faithful
public servants by which that admin
istration has been conducted, together
with the principles we have enunciated
today, and ask the approval Of the peo-
pie of the commonwealth.
The platform was Unanimously
adopted.