The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1899-04-20

public expenses, that labor may be
lightly burdened; the honest payment
of our debts and sacred preservation Of
the public faith; encouragement of ag-
riculture, and commerce as its hand
maid; the diffusion of information and
the arraignment of all abuses at II Q
bar of public reason; freedom of relig-
ion; freedom of the press; freedom of
person under the protection of the
habeas corpus; and trial by iuries inn
partially selected these principles
form the bright constellation which has
gone before us, and guided our steps
through an age of revolution and ref
ormation. The wisdom of our sages,
and the blood of our heroes have been
devoted to their attainment. They
should be the creed of our political
faith-the text of civil instruction-the
touchstone by which to try the SER
vices of those we trust; and should we
wander from them in moments of er-
ror or alarm, let us hasten to retrace
our steps and to regain the road which
alone leads topeace, liberty and safety"
This is the platform upon which
Thomas Jefferson built the democratic
party. Is there line or a word in the
1896 Chicago platform in conflict with
these principles? Then what is the
matter with the Henry Watterson and
Perry Belmonts, and that class of non
descript "sound money" men who
docked with the Hannas aud Quays
in 1896? Simply this and nothing
more: They are after the spoils of Of
fee and have no real regard for the
preservation of the principles of the
party. They remind me Of that cheer
full idiot who said so far as he could see
tle sun was of no material value to
anybody, for it never got up until after
daylight and then we could get along
very well without it, utterly ignoring
the fundamental fact that it was the
coming Of the sun that made this light
possible. And so it is with the men
celebrating Mr. Jeh'erson's birthday
while ignoring his principles. They
overlook the fact that we have already
revolutionized the internal policy Of
the government, and are now striving
with might and main to revolutionize
its foreign policy. II not, what means
the laundering of our guns from our
warships on the coast of Samoa? Our
'entangling alliance" with Germany
and Great Britain on that island has
made it necessary to send a warship
there with big guns to teach the simple
Samoans that all the "iust powers Of
government are derived from the con-
sent of the governed?" Is that the
mild and human lesson Admiral Kautz
was dispatched so many miles to teach
that simple people? Already our guns
have battered down their towns and
killed their people. One of our gal
liant tars has been killed and three En-
glish sailors have persisted in keeping
the ''peace" over there. And we are
now going to demand an indemnify of
Germany for the lives of these men.
That will unJangle this "foreign alli-
ance" like Alexander of Macedonia un-
til the Gordian knot under the inspira-
ton of the oracle. Finding it intri-
cate and difficult to unite he unsheathed
his sword and severed its strands. And
so peace reigns in Samoa now, but it is
like the peace of Warsaw under the
tripartite partition of Poland by the
royal robbers, it is the peace of death.
Every we'll informed citizen knows
that the United States house of repre-
sentatives has ceased to be delibera-
tive body, and has been changed into q
mere political club to register the
edicts of Speaker Reed. If this change
in the law-making department of the
government is notrevolution, pure and
simple, will some one be kind enough
to tell us in plain and straight forward
language just what it is, and in what
respect it differs from other revolutions.
Marbleton, Tenn. M. T. 2.