The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-11
THE TIME AND THE WAY.

termired effort to overthrow the present administration and its party. In the Book of Judges we are told that "the stars fin their courses fought against Sisera," and now all the powers of good are nsht- ing against Republican misrule and op- pression.
 That the present. administration Is strong Is freely admitted. It has behind 1t the immense patronage of the Govern ment. always a powerful influence in poli- tics. It has strong, determined and un- scrupulous adherents, largely composed of benefciaries, who would use without hesitation or scruple every branch of the Government for the Republican machine to secure for the party and themselves another term of control.
 All this is conceded and must be reck- oned with, but there is also a reverse side to the shield. Roosevelt himself is not popular with his party. But for the fear of official punishment and hope of official reward there would be such political revolt as has not been witnessed in many a year. There are honest Re- publicans who are not merely dissatisfied | but disgusted with his policies as well | as his actions on various important pub | lie questions. There is dissatisfaction on | the question of trusts, on his course with | reference to the race issue, and on his appointments. Nothing but the fear of l turning the Government over to the Dem 1 ocrats can hold the Republican party to- 1 gether, and nothing but that same fear can prevent the setting aside of Roose- welt and the nomination of another.
 It is a time when Democrats should, in the language of Wordsworth. turn the common dust of servile opportunity to gold" In war a good general will al- ways take advantage of the mistakes of the enemy, and the plan applies as well to politics as to war. The Republican party and the administration have made many and grievous mistakes. and it is a and to the country to take advantage of the enemy's errors.
 But there are some mistakes of their own which the Democrats must correct if it even hopes for success. These blum ders began a decade ago, culminated in 1896 and were repeated in 1900. They were of that class of which we may say Tn the words attributed to Talleyrand: Tt is worse than a crime-it is a blunder," foS it was political crime as well as a blunder to turn the Government over to the enemies of the people, and the Demo- afo tDAn view MT. NJ. E. Ingalls,, prominent Democrat of Cincinnati. said:
 We need in this country to get back to the ancient landmarks, to the real theory of our Government, which is the rights of the States. do not refer to any of the questions settled by our Civil War but deplore the idea of calling upon Washington for everything. including the operation of the coal mines. Let the peo- their separate and sovereign States, as was contemplated by the fathers
 There is sound sense and good Democ- racy. It is not a plea for the extreme States Rights theories of Calhoun and Yancey, but a demand for the inherent and constitutional rights of the States. And in line with these sentiments we | American Review a thoughtful article from the pen of Thomas F. Ryan, Vir- ginlan, now resident in New York, from which we make this extract:
 There has of late been an evasion of the constitution which was but the first step to an invasion of it. Nothing has more concern to all thoughtful men than the usurpation by the executive of the power to interfere between the employer and the employed. Furthermore, 1t Is | impossible to disconnect it from the eX- pressed intention to force an amendment to the constitution for ends wholly at variance with its spirit and with the in- tent Of it's framers' ends than which noth- ing could ultimately prove more subver- sive of the rights of the States or more destructive of the very founda tions of the Government itself. It will be for the Democracy to offer determined, perse- vering and overwhelming resistance to all such trespass. Fealty to the constitution and proper respect to the principles therein inculcated by our fathers are a sufficient guide and inspiration to party | conduct.
 Against these new follies of budding State socialism, the Democratic party of the Union can afford to array itself with unfiinching faith, and in such a move ment the Democrats of the South should be the leaders. Such an attitude would be in harmony with the Democratic faith of the past, it would be in harmony with the best aspirations of the Democracy for l the future.
 But MT. Ryan does not content him. self with generalities, He suggests the following outlines of a platform which embody the same ideas as follows:
 1. A moderate tariff for revenue, with, out prejudice to domestic industries.
 2. A sound currency.
 Moderation In public expenditures
 4. The restrtctioh of the Federal Gov ernment to its legitimate functions, anc opposition to the further extension of its powers over the acts and industries O. the people of the States.
 What good Democrat can object tc these four cardinal principles? The frs Is the Democracy of the fathers, the De
 mocracy under which we won victorie. and which was for the good of all tn, r people The second is but putting into
 words what the country has already set tied, for the dogma of free coinage 1. dead and must remain so. The thirt , plank appeals to all honest men who , have the good of the country and the wei
 fare of the people at heart, and the las
 is merely a relteratiOn of the demand l that the States shall enjoy all their con Q stitutional rights, and ttat the genera e Government shall he restricted to those @ poowers and functions which admittedly l l.1lr, t%