The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-26
H FIRST DAY.


1L~
ley and the work OF a Republican Con-
gress we are living to-day under a new
dispensation. The horrid nightmare OF
a Democratic administration has passed
away. and We stand again In the proao
sunlight Of a better day.
A NEW MILESTONE
During the last year we have surpassed
the red-Ietter year of 1892 and have set
a new milestone upon the pathway OF
American prosperity and progress
Foreign sales OF merchandise have been
beyond ALI precedent. In three years other
peoples have purchased of us d~.750.OOoOO
more merchandise than we have bought of
them. This vast sum is required to bal
ance the worlds trade account with US.
II is a sum eight times greater than the
trade balances for any two years of Mr..
Cleyeland's administration; and four times
greater than the aggregate trade balances
for his entire term. Sixty per cent. of the
customs duties are now paid IN gold. Inese
conditions have secured To us a net impor-
tation Of gold during the three years or
$500. 600. 600. We have a gold stock OF more
than 81, 100000, 900, OF which $SJD,UOO,OW Is In
actual circulation among the people and in
the channels Of trade, either in coin or In
gold certificates.
Our store OF gold Is more than that OF
England and Germany combined. and far
in excess OF that held by any other nation
OF the world. The gold reserve in the
treasury is more than double the amount
heretofore required; while the monetary
circulation OF the country aggregates more
than 5000. 100000, and the per capita cir
culation exceeds s26, as against $2l-l5 In
1886. Money may be had for the asking at
rates OF interest so low as to leave but a
nominal profit to the lender after tax
charges are paid.
The credit and financial standing of the
government is such as TO insure the sale of
2 per cent. r~efunding bonds at a premium.
The products OF American factories are
finding such a market throughout the civil
Lied world as TO give those engaged In
manufacturing more orders than can be
filled. Furnaces that have not been lighted
for years are In full blast, day and night.
This revival OF prosperity is not limited 70
the Industrial trades. TIL products of field
and farm find a ready and profitable mar
ket. More farm mortgages have been paid.
or renewed at reduced rates of interest,
within the last three years, than in any
other like period in American history.
failures have become NOM
inal in number and in sum. Lake, river
and railroad traffic is enormous Labor
Is employed, wages are being increased
daily. and hope and confidence dominate
the entire business world.
Three years have gone by and the dire
full prophesies of the wordy itinerant of the
Platte remain unfulfilled. His cries of i'm
pending disaster are as loud as ever, but
they are drowned amid the glad shouts of
contented women and children and the joy
Jus idu6ulcI VI Ills Wcl-leQ COuntrymen.
His theories have been crushed. one by
one, by the stern, unyielding facts of actual
experience, till he is left without an af-
frmative issue for the approaching cam
paign- The cherished dogma of 16 to L
abandoned. he sinks 10 the level of his
party, to become an apostle of negation-
q destroyer of other mems policies, and a
builder of none for himself.
Happy indeed are the conditions under
which we are assembled. The occasion
Is pregnant with hope and purpose. 1t
stirs to life glorious memories of a splen-
did past, and inspires within us a Just
splendent future. Think a minute. A
virgin territory, vast in area; consisting
or prairies and forests. of alternating
hills and valleys broken here and there
by placid lakes and ripping rivers. the
waters of which commerce had not yet
vexed; a territory wrested from the lilies
OF france py the cross OF st. George.
while yet the home of primeva solitude:
uninhabfted save by wild beasts and savage
men, has been transformed in the brief
space of a hundred years into a populous.
weil-governed and prosperous common
wealth, the home of two and one-half mill
lions of people. occupied with every form
OF Industrial and social life incident to a
high and complex civilization; a common
wealth upon whose rivers and railroads are
borne each year a traffic equal to that of
an empire: a commonwealth rich In all that
goes to make up the power and glory of
a great State. the sixth in rank and in
$500
CAN CLAIM CREDIT.
I'm this marvellous transformation the
Republican party can justly claim the
larger share Think a minute, while I re-
call the names of some of those whose
lives run like entwined threads of silk and
gold through the pages of the States first
century Of history: William Henry Har-
rison. Henry s. Lane and Oliver p. Nor
ton, the most intrepid, stalwart spirit of
a most heroic age: Schuyler Colfax, Alvin
p. Hovey n Benjamin Harrison. Stop.
my countrymen. and think. Tears should
mingle with, these cheers. There is an
other. whom a Republican State convention
cannot forget-one whose name and fame
Is linked with that OF Indiana, as is linked
the name and fame OF Washington and
Lincoln with that of the Union. We buried
him but a few weeks since on the banks
or the broad river he loved and beside
which he lived and died. His loss to us
was great, and we are not yet comforted.
Our hearts are still heavy with grief. For
the first time since the birth of the Re-
publican party We are to go into a political
contest without his inspiring ~eloQuence and
wise counsel. We miss him. an, sirs. we
miss him. And yet. to us, he is not dead.
his influence lives and will live forever.
His spirit Dervades the hall I'm which we
sit From these walls there come to us
echoes OF his wit, reason, invectiye and
eiOquence, until Tor the moment we forget
our loss. and seem to sit again under the
spell OF his matchless oratory, a~pplauding
his periods. and laughing and weeping with
MIN as OF yOre. No, my countrymen.
Richard w. Thompson
Is not dead.
He's just away"
Here, in this assembIage, on the floor
there: yonder. in the gallery: on This
stage, from which he so often smoke To
US. let us renew our faith in the doctrines
he proclaimed. and here make high re-
solve to perpetuate in power the partv
he loved and served. 1t is a consolation to
know that his fame is secure. His name is
engraved on the forefront OF the centuries
and Is not TO be forgotten. He now be-
longs TO the immortals. Peace be TO his
ashes.
The management Of State affairs under
the administration of Governor Mount has
been at all times honest, economical aid
Intelligent and presents a striking con-
trast TO that of prior Democratic admin
istrations.
the 9th day of March. 1899, the In
annapolis Sentinel. the State organ of the
democratic party, contained this caustic.
but Just arraignment OF Democratic Of
Meals In reference TO the management of
the state institutions: sThe men who were
selected by the Democratic party have
brought everlasting disgrace TO the party
that has honored them. They have proved
recreant TO the trust committed to them
and have robbed the State with a free
hands
Under Republican administration these
institutions have been taken out of the
control OF partisan pOliffcs and rlaooa