Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-02-26
Democratic Opportunitv.

lOf democracy. Samuel j. Tilden
Moreover. it was Il gathering that
may become historic because of the
words of party wisdom that fell from
the lips of speakers. or came in let
tiers from absent friends. 1t will he
come historic if there * i'm democrat
ic leadership the coordinate wisdom
tn take the dominant note of that as
semblage as the keynote for future
platform utterances. Naturally the
minds of the speakers and writers
for this occasion went back to the
days of the second Grant adminisjra-
ton. when Tilden was the successful
leader of the democratic party and
failed of the presidency i'm 20 only
because frauds i'm the elections i'm
southern states furnished the pre-
text for still greater frauds ON the
part of republican congressman. Til
den was an ideal leader. II thorough
democrat. conservative. safe. and
alert To take advantage Of the weak
ness of his foes. He turned the over
whclming democratic defeat Of 1872
into an actual democratic victory in
| 1876. And he was able to do il be-
cause he had the ability To grasp the
situation. and the courage to stake
/ his success on common sense. rather
than some supposed vote-catching
theory. In 1872 the republican party
thought that democracy had fallen
50 low that IL could never recover
the confidence of the nation. Imme-
diately the leaders of the party in
congress began a course of action
they never would have dared enter
upon If they had not despised the OPP
position. They scattered public rev
enue with reckless extravaganza.
| Corruption. which had been growing
since the civil war. reached the eli
max of wild orgy of misgovern-
ment and greed. The bosses. think
ing themselves secure and unaSSail-
able. grew insolent and bold in their
rapacity. while the plainest dictates
of reason and common sense. i'm face
of impending disaster. were ruthless
| " cast aside by those charged with
| Legislative duties. The result was
the election of n democratic house
of Representatives i'm 1874. and under
/ the common sense leadership of Til
den. the election Of democratic
president i'm 1876: result that was
nulIified only because in all sections
the honest common sense of Tilden
did not prevail.
| lin 1902 the two political parties
stand practically where they did in
1873. \ generation that learned wis
dom from experience has passed
away. and another that refuses to
learn. save by experience. has taken
its place. Because of a wild chasing
after strange gods on the part of the
democracy. the republican party
holds undisputed sway i'm all depart
ments of the government. and. a. in
1873 so now. the party in power is dis
dainful of the opposition. Matters
of the' weightiest Importance await
the action of congress. and congress
fritters away it's time in dickers for
the sake of personal or political adj
vantage. The republican party is
pledged to an isthmian canal. To wise
and unselfish dealings with Cuba. to
reciprocity as n means of extending
national commerce. TO such meas
ures as will prevent the evils grow
ing out of monopOlies. and to pro-
vide an honest and beneficial govern
ment for the Philippines and Porto
Rico. But instead of striving to full
| fill these pledges. there is a bill to re-
move the tax on beer. there are bills
galore to spend government money
on useless rivers and harbors. there
is a record of 12j private pension bills
passed in b minutes. and no end of
effort to secure the passage of "A bill
to pay an altogether unnecessary
4 Il
Herein lies the opportunity of
democracy. All that is lacking is the
organization and leadership to take
advantage of these worse than blum
ders on the part of the republicans.
If the democrats in congress and
through their press will only cease
their wild and senselesS talk about
the Philippines. frankly confess that
if Bryan had been president instead
of Mckinley and Roosevelt. the Phil
ippines would still have been ours.
outline an honest policy with regard
tn those islands and stick 10 it. one
plank for a solid platform would be
laid. And if leader like Tilden
could be found TO outline a common
sense method of dealing with the
trusts instead of the vapid utter
ances of sapheads that we have been
asked to accept for economic states
manship, another plank that would
stand the test of time would be add
ed. With these two issues. together
with a definite promise to begin work
on an isthmian canal at once, and to
deal justly with the Cubans. the
democracy could go into the congress
sional elections of this year with a
fair promise of success. and under the |
leadership of man like Tilden, the
reversal of the verdict of 1000 in 1904 !