Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1900-06-07

commanding the support OF the CONNER
cial press and strong in everything except
great and mighty truths, while the sole
reliance Of the democratic party rested
upon its fidelity to the interests of the
people expressed in plain Anglo.Saxon
in the Chicago platform.
In 1896 the democratic party entered
the campaign, figuratively speaking, in
rags and tatters, a veritable pauper so far
as the external was concerned, but in.
finitAly rich and strong internally. 1t
had nothing to offer to the time server
place hunter or flesh pot politician. 1t
was unable to attract the vulgar by any
display OF ostentation, it could neither
put uniforms upon the unthinking or
dazzle their eyes with pyrotechnics, but
1t stood for great truths that involved the
prosperity and happiness Of the people
and the perpetuity Of free institutions. Its
anneal was tn moral forces. 1t trusted
the intelligence Of the people and Iur.
nished them candidates to vote for whose
loyalty to the principles Of the party
were never called in question.
The result OF the contest in 1896 vindi-
Gated the people. The democratic candi-
date received six and half millions of
Impoverished and unpurchasabe votes,
and by the votes Of the white population
OF the country alone would have carried
two-thlrds Of the states. Measured by
intelligence, the victory was sweeping.
and when all things are considered no in.
teligent man will underestimate the
tremendous power Of the Chicago plat
form in that memorable campaign. The
party gained million votes over the
number ever cast for any party in pre-
ceding election, and every vote was an
Endorsement OF the platform. While the
democratic party did not succeed in elect.
ing it's candidates because OF the I'M
limited corruption fund that was used
against them, and the terrorism that was
practiced upon the people by the money
lenders and the employers Of labor, we
have never heard an intelligent man dis
pute the fact that the election OF McKin-
ley was due TO the corrupt use of money
and the undue influence exerted by the
wealthy and powerful over the weak,
dependent, and helpless members Of
society.
Why, then, should any democrat ask
that the platform that stood the test in
1896 he now emasculated? Such re-
quest is not made by any man who was
10 yal to the platform and the party four
years ago. The clamor that the platform
be trimmed comes from these who fought
the party in 1896 and who now believe
that the party is upon the eve OF great
triumph. The demand is made not in
the interests OF the people, not in the in.
terests of success Of the party. but is
made in the interests Of those whose
money and votes were against the people
in the last contest.
Issues have arisen since the last presi-
dental election involving the integrity OF
the republic, issues in the presence Of
which none others can take precedence.
These will be met intelligently, patriot
ically, and with firmness, and they will
bring added strength to the democratic
party. The new issues will be incorpor'
ated in the platform by the same men
that made the platform Of 1896, and the
convention will place the emphasis upon
each plank that it deserves, rewriting
such planks as changed conditions make
necessary to adapt them to demands Of
the present. But in SO doing the rugged
integrity that characterized the platform
Of 1896 must he preserved in every line
30 that the enemies Of democracy may
scan the platform in vain to find thereon