The Elk Mountain pilot., 1900-07-24
TIME FOR THOUGHT.

| ehS NohihS " Dc
more than usually one of enthusiasm
and hurrah. There will be regiments
of Republican Rough Riders, and
marching clubs and stump oratory and
flies and drums; martial ardor will be
evolved for the hero of San Juan hill,
and the ''music of the Union" will be
very much in evidence.
On the other side, there will be ap-
peals in the name of silver-appeals to
stand by Colorado's grand old man.
once more-appeals to the reform
forces not to disband on the eve of
what may be a glorious victory; there
| Will be appeals also to the man in
stead of the dollar" and every effort
| will be made to evoke class distinc-
tions, and TO persuade the working men
and women that the party in power is
the friend of trusts" and that deliv-
erance form crushing tyranny can
only be had by voting "agin the gov
ernment."
When those times arrive, calm
thought will not be easy; prejudice and
| ,
the full tide will be running, and there
will be small opportunity for reflection.
Now is the time, then, for the voter
to think over the political situation
with care and use whatever of cool
judgment he can muster; to weigh the
claims of the two great parties-for
there are but two; to weigh the per-
formanees as well as the promises, the
character and records of the candidates
as well ms their present utterances; and
to determine, soberly and with a sense
of the responsibility which rests on ev-
cry voter, whether the country will be
better served for the next four years
by the continuance of the present ad-
ministration, or by return to power of
the Democracy and complete change
in the national policy.
In weighing the claims of the two
parties and their candidates, the plat
forms, and perhaps still more, the ut
terances of the candidates, must be
taken into consideration: but the issue
is not on words alone. Mr. Mckinley
says: Look at what we have DONE"
Mr. Bryan says: Look ut what we
promise to do" Mr.. Mckinley is in
complete accord with his party, and
we know from what has been done in
the past four years, we know from
what the Republican party has done
for the past forty years, just what its
policy will be; and we know from what
1t says in its platform and by the ut
terances of its candidates, what it will
do when the responsibility of govern
ment is entrusted to 1t.
On the other hand, Mr.. Bryan, abso-
lutely as he seemed to dominate the
Democratic convention, is not in COM
plete accord with those leaders of his
party who have the most influence in
the largest states. Further, we must
necessarily judge n party by what it
has done when 1t has been in power;
and the last time the Democracy was
In power, during the second term of
Grover Cleveland, it showed itself ut
terly unable to carry out the promises
and the policies outlined in its plat
form, and it made n record which at
the next succeeding national conven-
tion of the party it was Obliged to re-
pudiate in order to have any chance of
success at the polls.
Have we any reason to suppose that
the Democratic party has changed its
character as whole-that it has grown
more capable, wiser, more efficient, in
The four years last past? Is there any
reason to suppose that its record, If
put into power, would be essentially
different for the years 1901 to 1905,
from what it was in the years 1893 to
1897?
These are few of the considerations
that thinking men and women in Colo,
rado will do well to turn over in their
minds before the heat of the campaign
is fully on. If they do think these
things over, we do not believe they
will make up their minds that this is
a good time to change n national ad-
ministration which has brought pros
perity nt home and prestige abroad,
nor a good time to put into power n
may be, has never failed for half a
century to bring disaster at home. and
has sometimes brought anything but
honor abroad.
Democrats and Silver.