Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1901-08-22
THURSDAY. AUGUST %. 1901.
STATE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM.


where decided position should be taken
silent or delusive. But this is about what
was to be expected. The Virginia Democ-
racy never makes any emphatic declara'
tions of principles on questions that are
debatable, and it never has any regard
for consistency. Its platforms are made
for the immediate present situation and
have no regard for future conditions or
past pledges.
If any one will take the time to read
the platform of the Virginia Democracy
adopted at Norfolk in May, 1901, and
then read the one adopted by the Demo
Gratis at Norfolk last week, they will ind
that what we have said above cannot be
disputed. In the platform Of 1900 they
say:
1--WE hereby endorse the principles OF
Democracy as enunciated in the national
platform of the party adopted at Chicago IN
1896. We heartily endorse William Jennings
BRYAN az the logical Democratic candidate
for the Presidency of the United States
and we instruct our delegates to the
National Democratic Convention to be
held at Kansas City to vote accordingly.
Onsthe 18th inst. Mr.. Barkesdale, tenn
porary Chairman of the Democratic con-
vention, in speaking of BRYAN and his
principles of Democracy said: 'Twice have
we followed William Jennings Bryan and
free silver to the sepulchre and once to
the resurrection; there can be no more
resurrection of the dead, no more rising
from the grave"
Acting on this suggestion of the tenn
porary chairman the convention placed
monument over the grave Of Bryan and
Organism, "the principles of Democracy
as enunciated in the national platform OF
the party adopted at Chicago in 1896"
On the monument they placed the follow
ing epitaph:
"Ihe Democrats of the State of Virginia
in convention assembled, reattirm their
allegiance and unfaltering devotion to the
National Democratic party and declare
their admiration for the leaders from
Jefferson to BRYAN, who have borne the
party's standards in victory and defeat.
This is q Wonderful resolution of respect
for the dead leader; and could have been
evolved from the brain of no other body
of men but Virginis Democratic conven'
ton. No doubt it struck the Richmond
News as being very funny.
The conduct of the last convention has
demonstrated the complete lack of SINGER
ity on the part of the Virginia Democracy
In its platform of 1900 it said: Y
I Resolved, That it is the sense of this
convention that in framing new constl-
tuition no effort should be made to disfran-
chise any citizen of Virginia who had
right to vote prior to 1861, nor the de-
scendant of any such person, and that
when such constitution shall have been
framed it shall be submitted TO a vote of
the people for ratification.
At tie convention last week the Virgin
ia Democracy failed to say anything about
the suffrage clause in the new constitution,
and refused to ratifv the pledge made in
Nav, 1900, to submit the new Constitution
to the people for ratification or rejection.
We see an utter lack of integrity
on the part of the Virginia Democracy, as
furnished by it's conventions, from the fact
that the very msn who wrote the pledge
of 1900 was made permanent chairman OF
convention in 1901; and in the course of
his remarks before taking the chair ap-
pealed to the convention not to take any
action upon the suffrage question. He
said: 81 do not desire that this conven-
ton, in its declarations, shall say one
word calculated to hamper the work of
that body of brainy and experienced Vir-
ginians assembled at Richmond. The
constitutional convention should be left
free"
In the course of his speech Mr.. Glass
also undertook to claim that the pledge
which he wrote and which was adopted
bv the convention of 1900 did not bind
the Democracy to submit the Constitution
to the people, but was intended to pledge
Its submission to only apart of the people,
This contention is 80 transparently untrue
that it is disgrace to the man who made
it and an insult to the intelligence Of the
people of Virginia. But the Democratic
convention needed the advice Of its chair.
man, who is member of the Constitu'
tional Convention, and has left that body
unhampered. In fact the failure to say
anything about the sufage question OF
submission Of the new Constitution to the
people amounts to an instruction to the
Democratic members of the Constitutions
Convention to disregard the pledges made
IN the platform Of 1900.
The platform of the Virginia Democracy