Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-04-20
WITH WORDS OF WISDOM.
Continued from first page.


ment, commerce and civilization.
Political leaders might as we'll learn
that the law of progress will sweep
away as chaff those who would place
barriers against this mighty tide
which is destined to spread the DEM
ocratic idea Of government to the ut
termost bounds of the earth. Ny def
milton of democracy Is liberty for man,
formulated into a theory of govern
ment. It means a mans inalienable
ownership of himself, it means free
thought and free speech.
In the dark ages of the past some
poor slave raised his bowed head and
looking up into the blue sky caught
inspiration from Gods free air and
sunshine that he also of right was free,
and ever since, that vision of liberty
has been an undying revelation for ev-
cry age and all climes.
Grecian and Roman slaves saw the
heavenly light, and, facing their mas
ters' swords, bravely died. Saxon
churl, with wooden collar, and our
own fathers, at Cowpens and King s
Mountain, looked upon the celestial
picture, and with a smile Of joy gave
up their lives.
Why need a true Democracy hunt for
issues in our relations with foreign
countries? It is upon domestic prob
lens, the rights Of man and man, the
relation of labor and capital and Its
stand upon these home issues that has
endeared it to the people in the past
and upon which it must finally stand
or fall.
It is folly to attempt to dwarf great
national and international issues into
mere questions of party politics; 1t
failed in the last campaign, and will
fail every time 1t is tried.
Every member Of the American con-
gress, when it comes to a foreign pol
icy, a foreign war, an army, navy, a
merchant marine, or any other ques-
ton affecting our honor as a nation,
or our prosperity as a people, should be
free and untrammeled to vote as his
Judgment and conscience dictates.
[Applause]. For myself, I would not,
under existing conditions, be willing
to hold a seat in the United States
senate upon any other terms. To al
low others to think for me upon these
great questions is cowardly evasion
of my responsibilities, and a criminal
neglect Of the true interests of those
who elected me. Loud cheers and
prolonged applause].
I am rejoiced tonight to be in the
presence of so many of the great cap
tains of Southern industry. You are
the men whose energy and enterprise
are developing our natural resources
and thus laying the foundation for the
full enjoyment by our section of all
that must follow in the wake of the ex-
panding glory of our Republic; and
this in spite of the fact that it has
become the fashion in some quarters
to sneer at what is termed the "sordid
commercial" argument in favor Of ex-
pansion and other national issues.
Our political leaders should not for
get the fact that modern democracy
had it's origin in this same commercial
instinct. Two hundred and fifty years
ago it had its birth in those cities
along the river Rhine, where, through
trade and manufacturing, the people
had become so rich and powerful that
they could compel the feudal lords to
grant them civil rights. The free In
stitutions of which we boast grew up
under the fostering care of commerce.
The rights Of the individual expanded
into rights for his city and these for
the state, so that modern democracy
owes all that it is to commercial ex-
pansion. True democracy does not
teach that there is an absolute rule
for government, and that any part1c-
ular theory of government is of per-
manent value and adapted under all
circumstances for the welfare of man.
The fathers Of this republic never In
tended to lay a foundation which was
to be always Of the same circumscrib-
ed proportions, with a superstructure
Of nicely measured parts, all to ex-
ist permanently just as constructed.
They aimed to create giant; not
pigmy. [Applause].
For a century the nation has been
content to grapple with questions OF
internal development; but suddenly in
the evolution of our national destiny
we have become one of the great pow
ers of the world, and can no longer
move in a circumscribed continental
orbit. If we would maintain our su-
premacy or even equality among the
nations of the world, the shackles
forged by narrow sectional prejudices
must be broken.
The question of the hour Is not
whether this republic is what Its
founders with the lights before them)
intended to make it; not whether this
Is theoretically an ideal democratic
government, at all times in exact con-
formity to the technical requirements
of written constitution, but whether
with the spirit rather than the letter Of
that constitution, we are making the
most of our national opportunities and
meeting the political and economic
conditions growing out Of the con-
stantly changing needs Of the people.
1t is historically true that no form Of
government ever did result from de-
liberate choice; it has always been
the logical result of conditions.
The nation is nothing but the type
of individual life, and as from child
hood to manhood we outgrow garments
and duties. these are put aside. So it is
in the evolutionary development of a