The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-03-25
sATURDAY.....~.MARcH a5. 1895
henry watser.sa on the Next csn-

&tU1y WpttcfoSa Vh tAN 49,
paign.
Correspondent Of the Louisville Cour'
ier. Journal asks this question:
Accepting for the sake Of the argu'
ment. your view that silver is, If not a
dead issue, at least a dead weight, with
what would you replacesit, and how
would you line up the party in 1900, 50
as to give us fighting chanoei
Mr.. Watterson answers liz aneditoral
Of three columns. beginning as fol-
lows:
"In the present confused state Of the
public mind--the passing OF old issues
and the coming Of new ones making on
every side kind of chaos of factions
lit is not an easy task, even theor-
etically. to mark out clear, oonsis'
tent track for the free. unobstructed
movement of a great political army and
yet il the Oourier-J Journal were COM
man ded to do this. and given the
power, Ii would make the attempt.
but before it began the work OF
reconstruction it would throw out the
debris of Populism which has accumu'
lated among the general mass OF
Democratic wreckage 1t would &C.
cept the verdict Of 1896 as to the cur
rency: it would accept the verdict OF
the Spanish war as 10 the acquisition
Of foreign territory; 1t would recog'
nize the elevation Of the American
Union into worlt power and accept
the responsibilities of this, nor ques'
tion how or why. Addressing itself
to the problems thus newly created, it
would propose to deal with these prob
lens very much as Jefferson and his
associates and successors dealt with
the problems which the acquisition OF
Louisiana and Florida and the erection
into various degrees Of State
hood Of the Northwest Territory raised
up in the earlier years Of the century.
Then. having cleared the decks for
action, it woulo proceed to formulate
a line Of domestic politics having these
four ends in view:
FOUR PLANKs FOR A PLATFORM.
"First-The destruction Of combina-
tions Of capital designed to limit pro-
duction, to raise prices, and TO pro.
mote monopoly.
"Second-The raising of the public
moneys by taxes fairly divided be-
tween production and consumption /;
beginning with tariff for revenue
only and ending in graded income
tax, oppressive to no class or interest.
'Third-The recovery to the people
Of all franchises belonging to the peo-
pie, bat diverted from public to private
uses. by the purchase Of corporations
and individuals, corruptly working
through State and neutrality-suspicious..
'Fourth-Such reorganization
and reform of our judicial system as
will remove the courts farther from
the influence Of the rich and make
them more accessible to the poor a re-.
suit not. to be reached by excited appssais
and revolutionary menaces. but by
calm, conservative methods, originating
in the benign and orderly operations
OF an enlightened public opinion. I"
u. Masterson next proceeds to dis
cuss the Republican Party, saying:
1.-The Republican Party is primarily
a party of organized capital. 1t was
its high protective tariff policy which
drove the entering wedge of class dis
tinction into our body corporate, pro.
ducing in all the centers Of population
the wide and dark contrasts Of poverty
and wealth and, along with the heavy
hand Of the unequal tax gatherer, laid
the foundation for the locust plague Of
trusts, which threathen to swal-
low up both the accumations Of the
weu.to do and the fruits Of the daily
labor Of the toiling many. The Re-
publican Party must be dislodged from
power before the country can hope for
any thorough reform Of the peculiar
evils and abuses which spring from the
rapacity of mercensry politics and or
ganized capital.
PLAYING INTO REPUBLICAN HANDS
But the Republican Party can never
be dislodged from power by move
ment 20 radical In Its character as TO
make Republication synonymous with
the preservation Of the public credit
and the maintenance ofthe public order.
AL such movements play into the
hands Of the Republican leaders. That
party, which even seems ia be men,
zoe to the national integrity, must
inevitably lose in national elections.
The Democrats could have carried the
election In 1895 except that the ex-
tremes Of the Chicago platform and
the excuses Of thesucceeding campaign
frightened and solidified all the conser-
vstive elements Of the country.
''Mr. Mckinley was by no means
strong candidate. He was in many
ways the weakest Of candidates.
Foot loose and fancy free. upon
sound. old fashioned Democratic plat
form, Mr. Bryan could have been
elected. hands down, in 1896. I"
Mr.. Watterson, after explaining that he
r,ospon ~ the ITnifad Sfatea love thair