The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-07-24

among Democrats who believe in a gov
ernment of the people and are willing
that all the departments of the gov. 'ilr
ment shall be operated by the people
and for the benefit of the people Diff
ferenceS of the mind can be reconcileds
differences of purpose cannot. Between
one who IS at heart an aristocrat and
one who is in reality a Democrat there
Is a great gulf fixed. And. it may be
added, among the aristocrats there Will
be found the sane division that exists
among the beasts of prey-some have
the courage of the lion and others the
cunning and treachery of the fox, bur
they can hunt together if their object
is spoil, whether it be ayowed or con-
cealed. Between those really Demo-
cratic in purpose there can be no per-
sonal or permanent alienation, because
having no Interior motives they are
open to arguments and amenable to
reason; being honest in purpose they
Rave confidence in the triumph of their
cause and are content to employ honest
metho1s. They will neither conspire
against others or against each other. II
they make mistakes in judgment, as all
are liable to do, they are not only
mistakes In politics, in religion.
there is an essential difference between
a doubt Of the head and a doubt of the
heart.
1T is impossible to secure harmony
between people of opposite sympathies
and 1T is a difficult thing to change a
mans sympathies; it requires a political
regeneration to make a Democrat out
of an aristocrat. 1t is a much easier
task to show man that the principles
he has been advocating and the policies
which he has been supporting are ar
istocratic in their present effect or in
their tendencies. The Republican party
of today is aristocratic in it's policies and
tendencies for it is controlled by a few
in the interest of few, but there are
| many Republicans who remain with
their party only because they do not
understand the change which has taken
| place in that party within the last few
years When the policy of party is
controlled by it's voters, then the party
stands for the will of the majority but
when the party is dominated by a small
minority then the organization stands
not for the will of the ma ajority, but for
! the will of those who dominate it. There
can be no doubt of the Democratic in
stincts of large majority of the MEM
berS of the Republican party, but that
| party today is so controlled by organiz-
| ed wealth that the rank and file of the
party are not consulted about the poll
| cies nor are the interests of the rank
! and file considered by the leaders. With
| the exception of the tariff question the
| Republican party has not in recent
! years honestly submitted a single i'm
portant issue to the arbitrament of the
| ballot, or even to the Judgment of the
| members of its own party. 1t has writ
|
! policies through congress after election.
! In 1896 it used promise of internation-
| al bimetallism to conceal its real pur-
I pose to fasten the gold standard on the
| country. In 1900 it practiced the same
deception on imperialism and on the
! trust question. Even within a month 1t
has refused to announce it's purpose in
regard to the Philippines, and has put
| off until after November the passage of
| the subsidy bill and the consideration OF
| the trust question
| 1.-The leaders of the party show their
| lack of vital faith in the doctrine of
! self government by their unwillingness
| to take the people of the country, or
| even the voters of their own party, into
/ their confidence. The hope of the Dem
ocratic party lies in bringing this fact
| to the knowledge of those who have
! been in the habit of voting the Republi-
| can ticket. One aristocratic party in
| the country is enough. Democratic sue
! cess must be won, not by initiating the
Republican party, but by exposing it
| not by making the Democratic party
aristocratic, but by convincing the peo-
pie that it is really Democratic and car
| be trusted to defend Democratic ideas
| and to cultivate Democratic ideals. AS
| there are many in the Republican party
| who have adhered to the party notwith-
| standing the change that the Organiza-
tion has undergone, SO, there are some
| who call themselves Democrats who
| have themselves undergone change
which has alienated them from the
! Democratic party, or from any party
worthy of the name.
A WASTE OF TIME.
'To attempt to patch up an apparen
| harmony between those who are not IL
sympathy with Democratic purposes il
not only waste of time, but woult
prove disastrous. The men who de
serted the party in 1898 may be divided
into two classes. Those who left be
cause they understood the issue pre-
sented and htose who left because the.
did not understand the real nature o
the contest. Until the former are com
pletely changed in their sympathies the,
cannot return to the party without in
juring it. The latter will be reconcilet
to the party when they themselves be
come aware of the real character of tn
life and death struggle now bein.
waged between plutocraey and Democ
racy. 1 say plutocracy, because the ar
istocracy of today is one of wealth rath
er than of birth, and it includes no
only those who have been aliena te
from the common people by the posses
sion of great wealth, but those who, al
! though without wealth, pander to it an
measure all things by a money stand
ard. Organized wealth has become s
i. ! potent in governmental affairs tha
some even now despair of applying an
. | effective remedy. But such underesti
mate the patriotism of the people an
the strength of the public conscience
, | lie people nave remedy WlIn1n Cno1
power, namely the ballot, and with i
they can and will right every wron
and remedy every grievance.
'The Democratic party must have
controlling purpose, unchanged by vic
| tory or defeat; it must stand for tina
purpose at all times and everywhere
unmOved by threats of disaster and un
influenced by promise of temporar
| gain. 1t must have a character, 70
character is as essential in a party as
! is in individual No will frl1S
an unstable man or one so withou
principle that his position upon an
moral question cannot be guessed i
advance Neither will the people trus
a party that is willing to write into it
, platform today anything that promise
to catch a few votes or strike out of it
platform tomorrow anything that wi
ALLEVIATE a few votes. Even if it desire
to do so our party could not compel
with the Republican party in the use G
| Ilaonax in ieznS in tho daceItia