Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1899-07-24
MONDAY EVENING JULY "a. 1899
The State of Maryland, which for St

The State of Maryland. which for so
many years was strongly democratic
has of late gone over to the enemy
We have witnessed this change with
deep regret, because of our high respect
for her former patriotic population. so
far as the struggle was helped by FAC
ton and coupled with personal war on
Senator German and his friends, we pro-
tested against it. We defended the
party organization though disapprov-
ing strongly of some things that were
done. For example, the Maryland
State democratic convention of 1895
declared "unabated confidence in the
wisdom, patriotism and fidelity OF
President Cleveland" Yet Cleveland
had, before that, VIGOROUSLY sold out to
Wall street and the bond syndicates,
had needlessly entailed large bonded
dobt on the country, had made a pres
ent of ten or twelve million dollars to
the republican gold syndicate in sin
gle transaction, and had, in order to
promote the Nova Scotia Old Domln-
ion Coal Company job, denounced the
leading democrats in Congress as guilty
of party per6dy and dishonor", IN re-
spect of the tariff bill Of 1894, which, by
the way, he did not dare to veto after
both houses had passed it. Slandered
by the President and yet more by the
Presidents friends and minions, MIR.
German in a speech Of extraordinary
power in open Senate convicted Mr..
Cleveland of the grossest duplicity and
talsehood by testimony unimpeached
and unimpeachable The issue was
made up and yet, after all this, the
Maryland democratic politici ms abased
themselves before Cleveland's feet.
Not only this, but they struck at and
slandered the system of silver coinage
handed down by Washington, Jeifer-
son and Jackson, and commended this
Presidential recreant for his hostility
to it, knowing we'll that their own dis
tinguished Senator, MIR. German, had
in the Senate voted for free coinage
bill. We can hardly trust ourselves TO
comment on such apostasy FROM demo
cratic faith. What did they make by
it all? When the election came OF IN
November the republicans, reversing
the former democratic majority OF
nineteen thousand, elected their gov
ernor by plurality of 1S,767. They
also elected the other State officers and
large majority of the legislature. Mr..
Charles n. Gibson, faithful Senator
and a warm friend of Senator Cor
man, was turned down and Yelling
ton, republican, was sent to
the U. S. Senate in his stead.
We think that this election
ought to have been an admonition
to the Maryland democrats that moth
ing is to be gained by abandoning
their principles for the sake OF policy.
Even, if they knew they were to De
beaten for it, the wise as well as the
manly course was to stick by the party
cree /, to keep in line with the party in
Other States of the Union, and to trust
to the power of truth for future vndi'
cation. If the Maryland democracy
had in the early days of reconstruction
merely aimed to run with the current.
they never would have been able 10
strike off the letters of disfranchise-
ment imposed on the State by the rad
ical leaders to serve their own wicked
purposes. This is but chapter OF re-
cent Maryland history. There is more
to the same purport which we may re-
call for our good friends across the Po-
Gomac.