The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-28
In His Speech al Rockford He Ably Discusses Issues in
 the Campaign
WOREMEN NOT FOOLED BY
 HULL DINNER PAIL" CRY
The Trusts Have Raised the Prices of Food and Clothing, While Wages
 Have Not Advanced
 ProportionateIy. {

Hon. Charles W. Thompson, the demo- cratic candidate for congress in the Fifth Alabama district Is attacking the repub- lican party on the vital issues, and shows in an able and comprehensive way the relative positions of the two parties in their relation to the people. He demon strates very clearly that the democratic party is worthy the confidence and sup port of the masses, and the republican party in it's tendency to centralized gov ernment in tariff and trust legislation is rapidly centralzing all power in the hands of the few.
 In his speech at Rockford, coosa coun- ty he said:
 TRUSTS AND TARIFF.
 Fellow Citizens: We are in the midst of another congressional campaign, and another presidential campaign is also near at hand. The people of the Unite States the sovereign voters of our great country stand confronted in the near future with issues pregnant with importance to their immediate and future welfare. Momen- tous, indeed portentious, are those is- sues now pressing for wise and happy
 
 behooves every patriotic citizen to wish and strive for in the interest of our com mon country.
 The end of all political discussion is or ought to be to afford such a comparison Of the policies and record of different parties as to enable the citizen and voter to choose wisely and well between the two and to cast his vote intelligently To thls end 1t becomes all-important to adopt proper standard Of comparison This done, and the task will be as easy as the result beneficial. The standard as set up and adhered to from the outset by the founder of the democratic party was "a just and frugal goyernment-a gov ernment administering equal and exact Justice to all men," " Certain it is that II the majority of our people prefer such a government as measures up to that defi- hilton and standard, they can secure ic only by aligning themselves with the democratic party; but equally certain it Is that they can never obtain this icon summation devoutly to be wished" by casting their fortunes with the republican party.
 In the effort to make clear to you to- day the correct standard or basis of com parlson between the two parties I will refer briefly to the more conspicuous principles and policies advocated by the adherents of each party which, to my mind, stand out as the pre-eminent issues pressing for settlement, and the record of the two parties as made up and on which they have joined issues'' for the present campaign.
 MoNoPoLIES AND PERPETUiTIEs.
 THE TARIFF THE MOTHER OF
 TRusTs."
 It cannot be gainsaid even by the oppo site party that from the foundation of our government the democratic party has ,. been uniformly opposed to monopoies and perpetuites. Its opposition has been founded upon the recognition of the fact that these monopolies and perpetuities are both unjust as well as destructive of that principle of equality" which affords the only safeguard of republic This being so, of necessity the democratic par ty is opposed, in the first instance to any protective tariff on imports, which creates and fosters monopolies; and sec ondly, to the granting of franchises to corporations to run for long periods with an eye to the perpetuation of such mon- opolies. On the other hand the republi- can party stands out as the sole progeni- tor of the protective tariff; the tariff Is we'll styled "the Mother of Trusts" con- sequently, the republican party is the direct sponsor for the trusts. This syl- logism is both clear and logical and cannot be denied. Indeed, not only is it not denied by the more conservative wing of the republican party itself, but it's leaders have gone so far and em- ployed such desperate tactics in their de- votion to the selfish interests of the trusts and in their utter disregard of the popular welfare, that they have pro- voked of late open rebellion on the part of a large number of their strongest and most conservative colleagues in the last congress and at the same time have oh nf ,a,t protests from the rank and file of their own party constituents throughout the country
 Among other instances, this breath has found expression notably in the division of forces in the ranks of the republicans when they came to a vote on the Cuban reciprocity measure so ardently insisted upon by the administration on the one hand and so bitterly resisted by the friends of the beet sugar industry on the other. In consequence, we find that even the republican contingent or party $ is split wide open and occupying seem- ingly irreconciliable attitudes the one to the other. All these differences among themselves are traceable directly to the admission and franz recognition on the part of the more conservative element of the republican party-whose views had been so eloquently outlined by the orig inal champion and father of the protec- tive tariff, the lamented Mckinley him. self when in one of his last speeches ever given out to his devoted country men he voiced the necessity of calling halt and taking stock over the stua- ton with the view to curbing the policy of "protection-run mad" E
 ''It was because the lamented McKin- lev had at heart the good of his country, which loved him well and trusted him so implicitly, and had the foresight to re- ~-alize the danger ahead of the republican A party to which he owned his secondary 4.n,legiance, that he sounded the note of warming In his speech at Buffalo and outlined in his message lhe wisdom of change of policy and abatement of inc higherto free license to the treacher- o,1s trusts. He, and those of his follow CTS in the republican party who had inc temerity to bolt their party lead ers on the Cuban reciprocity. bill and brave the administration itself all had come to realize the inevitable fact that in the terrifying growth and multiplica- ton of these monopolistic combinations and in their apparently irresistible pow er turks the chief danger .menacing the great American republic today. And that this danger is most grave and is now staring us in the face, ready to engulf our beloved country. no thinking man of patriotic fibre can fail to realize. As