The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-19

to the party. It has been said that no principle Is worth living for that is not worth dying for; and so it may be said that no political principle Is worth fight ing for that Is not worth suffering defeat for. and as matter of fact, one's de- votion to principle must be measured by what he is willing to suffer tn i.s behalf. not by the reward he is willing to accept for supporting 1t.
 "The Democratic party must appeal to the Democratic sentiment of the country. and this sentiment Is far wider than any party. Wherever the question has been submitted in such way that 1t could be acted upon independently, there has always been an overwhelming majority in favor of that which was Democratic. and our party can appeal successfully to it's Democratic spirit if we but convince the people of our earnestness and of our fidelity to those principles.
 We are handicapped just now by the fact that the last Democratic adminis- tration that we had was more subser- vient to corporate dictation that any Re- publican administration that had pre- ceded it. and the record of that adminis- tration has been a millstone about the party's neck ever since.
 Wall Street and Cleveland.
 '"The influence exerted by Wall Street over the administrations policy, the use of patronage to reward those who be- trayed their constituents and the em- ployment of the most reprehensible of Re- publican methods made in the adminis- tration a stench in the nostrils of the people and kept in the Republican party many who were disgusted at the party's course,
 .'The odium which MT Cleveland's sec- n-A oAv gv,tc ha party which elected him did more to de- feat the party than ahy one plank of the Chicago platform, or than all the blanks that were most severely criticised. But for the repudiation of the administration 1t would have been Impossible to make any campaign at all. and even the repu- diation, thorough and complete as it was, could not completely disinfect the party.
 ''The greatest menace that the party has to meet today is not the probability of the party's return to the position that 1t occupied from 1892 to 1896. This danger Is not so imminent as the corporation controlled papers make 1t appear, but in- solar as 1t at all threatens, 1t paralyzes the energies of the party and nullifies its promises. Such articles would indicate degradation of the party's ideals and a perversion of its purpose. It ought not to be necessary to remind you that our last experiment with a commercialixed Democracy changes Democracy major ity of 3s0,00O m 1892 into a Republican majority of more than million in 1896. 1t ought not to be necessary to appeal to history-a knowledge of human nature and faith in the integrity of the peo- pie ought to convince us that both prin- cipie and expediency lead to an honest fight waged by honest methods for the support of those honestly desiring the res- toration of justice and equity In govern ment.
 If the Democratic party will stand erect. face the future with confidence. de- fend the rights of the people and protect their interests wherever attacked-wheth- CT the attack comes from the financiers, the monopolists, the tariff barons or from the imperialists-it can look with confidence for a revolution of sentiment that will give us victory worth having and this victory when it comes, will not end as the victory of 1892 in the demoralization of the party, but in the building up oi a Democratic organization which will deal aggressively with all of the evils of gov. ernment and finds its bulwark in the af- fections and confidence of the masses. "