Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1903-06-19
TRUE DEMOCRACY.
A SOUTHERN VIEW FROM THE
PRESENT CONDITIONS.

FH6S6Nl CONpIItOMS.
As Usual Southern People Favor the Adher-
herance to Party Usage - Principles. Not
Men-The tiamiltonian Principle Of Central
lied Power and Class Domination Is as
Clearly Defined in the One Party, as Was the
Jeffersonian Idea of Vestins All Power in
the People. in the EARLY Days Of the Re-
public.
New Orleans Times Democrat
The question of Democratic leader
ship for 1904 seems to vex the souls Of
many men who have not the slightest
idea of supporting the party's candi-
date, whoever he may be. These Med
dlers and marplots are of two kinds
Republicans who begin to fear that
Roosevelt is a reincarnation OF Bryan,
and pseudo Democrats who believe, or
affect to believe that wisdom will die
with their idol.
We need hardly say that the choice
will not lie with these officious patriots
who, by their own account, enacted
the role of Brutus in the elections of
1896 and 1900. It is the merest dream
TO imagine that sackcloth and ashes
will be the garb of the six millions who
voted for the Nebraskan in both those
memorable contests. Rather is it to
be supposed that this great electorate
will think and act for itself. If his
tory has any lesson on such points, we
must infer that the Republican party
will become more Republican, and
that the Democratic party will become
more Democratic, as the years roll on.
As a matter of fact, the differences
between the rival organizations are
congenital, and pierce to the very mar
row of their being. A fanatical lover
of the Hub once declared that Boston
is not place, but state OF mind. 1t
may likewise be affirmed that Repub-
licanism and Democracy are not mere
badges to be worn or discarded at
pleasure, but are habits of thought
which draw thinkers in opposite direc-
tions, just as the centripetal and cen.
trifugal forces draw material things
toward or away from the earth's CEN
ter. This view OF the case is exceed
ingly we'll put by Mr.. Bryan in letter
which he has recently addressed to the
New York Independent: "The differ.
ence upon the money question, among
those who understood it, was not so
much difference of opinion as diff
ference OF sympathies, and that differ
ence exists to-day as it did then"
This is but another way OF saying that
leopard is to be recognized by his
unchangeable spots.
1t is indeed perfectly true that the
silver question, terribly important in
itself, was but one item OF long pro-
gramme; for the characterization of
the white metal, stripped of all techni.
cali.ies, simply stood for the capital
lists eternal hunger after the unearned
increment. So, too, advocates of q
prohibitive tariff seek an unfair ad-
vantage, and lovers of government by
injunction would prostitute public
powers to private ends. Between these
believers in utterly opposite creeds
there can be neither compromise nor
reconciliation. The great gulf is fixed
in human nature and will endure to
the last syllable of recorded time.
The struggle of 1904 will turn
upon the old issues, though they be
modified as to outward form.
For our part. we care little about the
personality Of the Democratic nomi-
nee, provided only that he represents
the principles for which the party
must fight, if it is to have the slightest
claim to the suffrages Of the American
people. At the council-board of the
first President there sat two masterful
men who embodied ideas which are
coeval with the race itself. Hamil-
tons name is synonymous with privi-
legged and centralized administration,
while Jefferson's renown rests upon
his defense Of the many against the
few. If those pre.eminent statesmen
should return to the land of the living,
they would find no difficulty in align
ing themselves on the controversies of
this generation.
The trimmer may perform q useful
function in periods of dead calm
when the ship OF state is in the dol
drums and therefore needs no resolute
helmsman. 1t is not 50 when the
huge craft is in the straits, menaced
by breakers and storm-clouds. In that
event, there is supreme need for q nav
igator whose vision is keen, whose
nerves are of steel and whose knowl.
edge OF the chart is without a flaw.
No fresh water sailor is to be accepted
az pilot now, nor will we have cap
tain who would take us to sea under
sealed orders. The Democratic party
has made one voyage of that kind, and
has no stomach for another. If the
country prefers Republican policies,
the reigns of power should be entrust-
ed to Republican hands; if Democrat
ic remedies are desired, truly Demo-
cratic doctor should be called in. Let
us have no more of the quacks who
y;yo hroad Mills and DOisOn bv turns