Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-09-25
WE SHOULD STAND FIRM
Pennsylvania Dury Today As Outlined
BY Hon. Charles Emory Smith.

SY F1O0. SndIlCS 0HlIlIs
The following is the speech, in part,
of Hon Charles Emory Smith deliv-
cred at Centre Hall, Centre county:
Looking to the broader field of ma
tional affairs at stake are of such tre-
mendous consequence that no Republi-
can and indeed no patriotic citizen Of
any party ought to feel any doubt
about his duty. Shall Pennsylvania
uphold the national administration or
shall we cripple and paralyze it? Shall
we sustain the policies which have CIV
en- us such national greatness and glory
or shall we condemn and undertake to
overthrow them? Shall we vote to con-
tinue the unparalleled prosperity
which fills the country with content
and happiness and growth, or shall we
vote to overshadow it with doubt and
to create dstrust which will bring ca
lamity? Who wants to go back to the
business conditions which prevailed
from 1893 to 1897?
PAINFUL OBJECT LESSONS.
"In deciding wnat path we ought to
follow we don't have to guess. We
know. We know in the light of ex-
perience which it would be madness to
disregard The object lessons of the
past ten years blaze the way for every
man who is not blind to the truth. In
1892 we were in the full tide of the
greatest prosperity the country had
ever enjoyed up to that period. need
not stop to picture the conditions. You
all recall them. You all remember
the business life and the industrial ac-
tivity which then prevailed. Yet in
moment of madness and passion with
out realizing what they were doing,
the people elected a Democratic con-
gress and president and instantly the
whole business sky was covered with
clouds The mere election of a Demo-
cratic congress and president created
uncertainty, halted enterprise, i'm
paired credit, checked the wheels of in
dustry and spread distrust everywhere.
If this was the effect simply of the elec-
ton and the fears it created, the results
were aggravated when the fruits we're
fully realized
DEMOCRATIC HARD TIMES.
when the Democratic party came
into power It overthrow the Republi-
can policies which had given national
security, confidence and progress, and
paralyzed business like the blight of
an autumn frost For four years the
country suffered a stagnation and de-
preston which caused wide spread dis
tress. Hundreds of mills were stopped
or ran on half time. Three millions
of wOrkingmen were out Of employ
ment. You could not altogether stop
production in this great country but
it was so checked as to cause period
of hard times. If you have forgotten
those conditions which existed only six
years ago you may make the mistake
OF voting to return to them. But no
man who remembers them in contrast
with the magnificent prosperity of the
last six years can vote to run any risk
Of changing back to the situation from
1893 to 1897 without displaying a reck-
lessness which is incomprehensible."
PROSPERITY AND REPUBLI-
CANISM.
"In 1896 the people voted to get out
Of the slough of dependency by elect
ing VIM. Mckinley president. AS the
election of 1892 had been the turning
point from prosperity to disaster. so
the election of 1896 was the turning
point from gloom and depression to a
new era of prosperity and advancement
beyond anything the world has ever
seen.
Never before has this country stood
on such heights of prosperity and
greatness and every step in this mag
nificent progress has been taken with
the opposition or the criticism of the
Democratic party. In the light OF this
experience shall Pennsylvania falter
in her Republicanism or pronounce
verdict which would weaken the ma
tional administration in carrying for
ward the great work to which it is de-
voted?"