The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-02-15

| quet, ard l want to thank you still
more cordially for having changed the
date of the banquet In order that L
might be here, and 1 want to say to you
that you here acted wisely in not ac-
cepting the date which l suggested, be-
cause, when 1 suggested it, 1 did not
know that tomorrow was observed by
so many of you as a religious day, and
l was glad to recognize your faith and
to come a day earlier in order that
might not be the means Of compelling
you to do anything that violated your
own ideas. (Applause)
L always enjoy meeting those who are
assembled as you are to advocate and
advance ideas which we believe in COM
mon. l never miss an opportunity to
talk to DemOcrats-and I don't object
to Populists and silver Republicans be-
ing present when 1 talk. Gaughter)
l remember a campaign only two years
ago, when / was the nominee of the
Democratic party, by convention that
represented more honestly and faithful
ly the sentiment Of the party upon
public questions than any convention
that has been held within a generation.
When the Chicago convention of 1896,
by the mandate, not Of bosses, but of
voters, declared in favor of the Chi
| cago platform and nominated me as
| their candidate, l might have had rea-
| son to expect the support of all who
| called themselves Democrats, but at
that time I saw men who had received
honor at the hands of the Democratic
party who were holding office given
them by the Democratic party, turn
and carry their guns over to the side
Of the enemy; and when L saw Republic
cans leaving the Republican party and
coming to my support, and Populists,
I welcomed Them and I shall not drive
them back now. Great applause)
THANKS, BUT NO COMPLAINT.
I honored the men who came, I did
not criticise the men who went. You
will not find that have ever criticised
a Democrat for going back upon the
ticket in 1895, if he really believed that
the triumph Of the party would be
harmful to his country. To me coun-
try is above party. CA voice, Good, "
| and applauSe) No convention on earth
would ever compel me to injure my
country. I hold love of country above
all other things, and when these Demo-
Gratis went out and said they went out
in order to save their country, l said,
go in peace" because 1 respected the
men who were willing to follow their
conscience wherever it led. But as I
said to them, GO in peace" so 1 was
glad to welcome these silver Republi-
cans and these Populists who were
willing to join with US on the dominant
issue of that campaign, although they
might not be able to agree with US upon
all the questions involved, and in these
men, faithful ever since, I have found
truer Democracy than can be found
| among those who erect a golden calf
and bow down to worship 1t and call
it Democracy. Applause.)
L am one Of those who believe that
the people in church have right to
write the creed; I am one Of those ~ +
believe that those in a church have a
right to say what lhan must believe
to belong to the church, and while I
| have no objection to a man going out
if he doesn't believe in the creed. T
have contended that the man who went
/ out of the church because he didn't
believe in the creed adopted by ma
jority who stayed in couldn't take the
| church with him, he had to go alone.
applause and laughter) I have said
that those who left the Democratic
party had right to leave, but when
| they left they left the Democratic par
| ty, they didn't take it with them
daughter and applause)
ISSUING NO INVITATIONS.
I am one of those who believe in in
wiling those who left to come back. I
believe in leaving the door wide open.
|
Qaughter) ON this subject. I believe in
saying to every man who went astray
in 1896: Come back whenever YOU. get
ready, but the house is not going to be
moved or the door enlarged to let YOU
come IN. daughter and applause) 'The
| door that was big enough for you to go
out at Is big enough for you to come
in at" (Applause)
My friends, why was 1t that the Dem
oc1atic party aroused an enthusiasm
| in 1886 that it had not aroused before ?
1t was because the Democratic party
stood for something. 1t was because
Democracy was So defined that people
| could tell what Democracy meant. For
several years we had been writing plat
forms on dominant issues so like the
republican platforms that, unless YOU
announced before you read the plat
Tcrm Which platform you were reading
from, the audience was apt to be con-
| FUSED. Qaughter0 Republicans and
Democrats had declared in the same
language, almost, on the money ques-
tlon, which was recognized by the
| financial element as the dominant Dues
| ton, whether the rest of the people rec
ogn1zed 1t or not. And in 1896 the party
SAID something that meant sometime.
and the people rallied to the Democratic
party because they felt that at last il
had separated the Democrats from
those who were not Democrats.
DEMOCRACY MEANS SOMETHING.
When. in the days of Jefferson. there
was definition Of Democracy, it made
Democrats loyal, and for a generation
there was no essential change in the
platform of the Democratic party. Whv
IS 1t that people look back to the DAYS
Of Jackson? Because in those DAVIS the
Democratic party meant something
ana they said they kept voting for
jackson long after he died Oaughter)
MOI that they voted for the man, but
because ne stood for something.
Why is it that the Democratic partv
means something today? It is because
1t stands for something. And, nv
friends, while 1 am not a prophet or
the son Of prophet, I venture the
prediction that the youngest man in
this audience tonight will not live long
enough to see the Democratic party
repudlate one plank of the Chicag go
platform Great appiause)
w men L say that [ don't mean that
We snail assume hostile attitude to-
ward those who differ from us. We
simply say, This is Democracy as we
understand it," And, my friends the
more they study that platform the bet
ter satisfied they will be that it repre-
sents the real. true Democracy.
Every once in a while I hear some
body suggest that we strike out some
thing in order to harmonize I believe
IN harmonizing; 1 believe in harmon
1zing personal differences-not princi-
pies. You can't harmonic man who
believes in monopoly with one who on
poses monopoly. You might as well trv
to mix oil and water. The Democratic
party is opposed to monopoIv TT lie