The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1902-06-06

The Democracy of Tennessee assem-
bled in convention declares anew its
fidelity to those great and enduring
principles for the preservation Of
which it was organized, and which,
throug bout all it's history, it has striv-
en- to uphold.
The author of the Declaration Of In
dependence was the founder Of the
Democratic party. The political doc
trines formulated by him are as vital
to-day as when first enunciated, and
they must be preserved and perpetu-
ated if the republic is to endure
At no perio in the country's histo-
ry has the Democratic party been so
necessary to the cause Of free govern
ment and the welfare of society as
it is to-day. 1t is the great conserva-
tive force that stands between the
recklessness of organized greed seeking
to prostitute all the powers of govern
ment to is own selfish ends, on the
ONE hand, and that violent and revo-
lutiOnary spirit, always generated by
a long continued abuse Of government
power, on the other.
The sure result of any Government
which systematically d;sregardS the
welfare of the many to increase the
wealth and power Of the few will be to
organize al the forces of disorder for
an attack upon existing Institutions
unless arrested in time by the consery-
ative forces of society.
The Republican party, by its class
legislation, by it's constant abuse Of
the powers Of government to increase
the wealth and power Of favored indi-
viduals and favored classes is COZ
stantly increasing that spirit of unrest
that is the deadly foe Of stable and
peaceful government. / we would
establish our inSti tutiOns upon sound
and enduring basis we must return to
those bread and fundamental princi-
Piles of the Democratic party which
restrain the power of inOrdinate greed
while protecting the rights Of pro )er-
ty, and insure to all men equal rights
and to each.a fair opportunity under
the law.
To restrain the Federal Government
within the constitutional limits of its
authority; to resist its every aggres-
sion beyond the scope of its delegated
powers; to preserve unimpaired the
reserved rights Of the States and Of
the people; to maintain the right Of
local self-goyernment-these are and
have always been among the funda-
mental principles of the Democratic
party.
We indOrsc the principles of the
platform adopted by the last national
convention Of the Democratic party {;
and we commend the action of our
Senators and Representatives in the
national Congress in their SteadfaSt
efforts to have enacted into legislation
only such measures as are consistent
with Democratic principles.
The policy and legislation Of the Re-
publican party have borne their natur-
al fruit in the growth of vast aggrega-
inns nf nj n NtvI inll n lv
bringing the whole industrial system
of the country under the control of
few multi-millionaires and placing
the labOrer and the consumer at the
mercy of these great trusts and COM
binationS. We denOunce such trusts
as a serious menace to public welfare,
restricting the opportunities and alb
the substance of the people,
and we arraign the Republican party
both for its failure to enfore existing
laws and to enact others against the
trusts. The growth of trusts and 9TH
er forms of monopoly has been largely
favored by excessive rates of tariff
duty by which the protected interests
are enabled to strangle competition at
home, while protected by the Govern
mentagainst competition from abroad.
We therefore demand reduction of the
present tariff and that tariff duties
shall be levied for revenue only. We
demand that wherever the
production of any article is controlled
by monopoly the duties on such arti-
cles shall be largely reduced or entire
ly removed.
We denounce the measure known as
the ship subsidy bill, which has passed
the Senate and is now pending in the
House of Representatives, as an at