The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-11-09
DEMOCRACY IS IMMORTAL
aDemocracy is immortal.'

The defeat on Tuesday will not
cause any Democrat to change his po-
litical convictions or cry out that his
party has been wrong. In 1890 McKin-
ley went down in what many thought
was an everlasting night after the
passage of the Mckinley bill. The
Republican party triumphed in 1894.
In 1874 and in 1876 the Democratic
party recovered from the disaster of
1868 and 1872. In 1904 it will recover
from the disasters which began in
1894 under Cleveland's leadership and
ended in 1900 under Bryan's leader
ship.
The Democratic party is needed be-
cause it is the only party that reveres
the Constitution and stands against
special privileges. It cannot advocate
subsidies, it cannot approve trusts, it
cannot be silent when the Constitu-
ton is disregarded. AS a minority
party during the coming four years it
will be of great use to the country.
While it cannot end the policies it
opposed in the campaign. it will en-
phasize the truths it preached. Elated
by it's immense majority, the Republi-
can party will plunge into extrava-
gance and forget it's patriotic pledges.
Without obstruction, but with proper
opposition, it will show the people
that it is in truth the conservative
party, devoted to the Republic as it eN-
listed in. the days of Washington and
Jefferson.
There must always be two political
parties in this country. The Demo-
cratic party, standing for the Consti-
tuition, against special privilege and
against Capitalization, and an opposi-
ton party that believes in protection.
subsidies, strong government at
Washington and that also believes
it can govern outside of the Con-
stitution. Now and then a new
party like the Socialist, the Peoples
or the Prohibition PARTY springs up,
but there is no room for it in the fun
damentals upon which q party exists
and it soon passes away or remains
u permanent dwarf.
The man who thinks he can today
outline the policy for the Democratic
party. ina19OO is a rash man. Four
years is a long time. Issues are not
l..
out of public policies. Parties must
make paramount what is in the minds
and hearts of the people. In 1896 it
would have been impossible for the is
sue to have been anything except
what it was. This year trusts and
Imperialism were necessarily in the
foreground. By 1904 issues now not
dreamed of may arise. 1t would be
as unwise now to talk of fighting the
battle of 1904 upon the issues of 1896
or 1900 as of 1892 or 1888.
Mr.. Don M. Dickinson says call is
to be signed by Grover Cleveland, Will
liam C. Whitney and Abram S.. Hewitt
cation of the party and issue de-
claration of principles on which the
party can be assured of victory four
wears hence. Even if the seven mil
lion of Democrats who voted for Bryan
were ready to let these gentlemen
write a declaration of principles and
return to the leadership of the party
(which suffered a more humiliating
defeat in 1894 when they were in con-
troll than in this year,, it is too soon
for anybody to write "a declaration of
principles on which the party can be
assured of victory four years hence"
The issues will grow out of the
wrongs of Mcl<inley's administration
and the conditions that prevail in
1904, and nobody can write them in adj
vance any better than the candidate
can be picked out this year. Only one
thing may be said to be certain: the
Democratic party will not, even to
secure success, advocate special privi-
lege or Il colonial policy. 1t is equally
true that neither Mr.. Don M. Dickin-
son nor Mr.. George Fred Williams will
write the declaration. and even more
true that the candidate must be a
clean man who was not conspicuous in
-.