Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-07-23

Il
plete possession of the United States
reached, out for new fields to conquer,
and they are now using the American
army and a carpet-bag government to
exploit the inhabitants of the Philip
| pine islands, whose reverence for our
| institutions has thus been converted
| into hatred for our flag.
Great Opportunity for Democracy.
Surely if there ever was a time
when the preaching of the democratic
gospel ought to be opportune, now is
| the time. And yet the time of great
est opportunity is also the time of
greatest danger for an opportunity un.
| improved is worse than lost. The
character of our party is to be deter.
mined by the manner in which it
meets an opportunity and the manner
in which it meets an opportunity will
| be determined by the ideal that dom.
/ mates it.
will our party hesitate or take
counsel of it's fears? Will it abandon
| its championship of the peoples inter
est in the hope of conciliating relent.
less foes or of purchasing a few of.
| fees with campaign contributions that
| carry with them an obligation to be
| made good out of the pockets of the
people?
ssThis gathering of the democracy
of the second city of the union ought
| to have its influence in determining
the party's position and in molding
| opinion, in regard to the party. 1T has
been said that no principle rs worth
living for that is not worth dying for;
and, so it may be said that no politica!
principle is worth, fighting for that is
not worth suffering. defeat for, and, as
a matter. ofstfact ones devotion to a
principle must be measured by what
he is willing to suffer in its behalf, not
by the reward that he is willing to
accept for supporting it.
"The democratic party must appeal
to the democratic sentiment of the
country, and this sentiment is far wild
er than any party. Wherever the
question has been submitted in such
way that it could be acted upon in
ldependently there has always been an
Overwhelming majority of that which
was democratic, and our party can ap-
peal successfully to this democratic
spirit if we but convince the people of
our earnestness and of our fidelity to
those principles.
| Cleveland Milestone.
eve are Handicapped Just now by
the fact that the last democratic adj
ministration we had was more subser.
Went to corporate dictation than any
republican administration that had pre-
coded it, and the record of that admin
istration has been a milestone about
the. Darty's, neck ever since. ( The in
fiuenee leXerted by Wall street over, the
administrations policy, ethe use of pat
ronage to reward those who betrayed
their constituents and the employment
OF the most reprehensiblel of. republic
can methods, made the administration
stencil in the nostrils of the people,
and Kept in the republican party many
who were disguised at that party's
course. fs.-
The odium which Mr.. Cleveland's
second administration brought upon
the party which elected him did more
to defeat the party, than any one plank
of the Chicago platform, or even all
the planks that were most severely
criticised But for the reputation of
the administration it would have been
impossible to make any campaign at
all, and even the reputation, thor
ough and complete as it was, could not
completely disinfect the party.
Warns Against Change of Platform.
'"The greatest menace that the par
ty has to meet today is. not the prob.
ability, but the possibility, of the par
tvs return to the position that it oc-
cupied from 1892 to 1896. This dan.
ger is not SO imminent as the corpora
tion-controlled papers make it appear,
but in so far as it at all threatens, it
paralyzes the energies of the party and
nullifies its promises.
Such return would indicate a de-
gredation of the party's ideals and a
perversion of its purposes. 1t ought
not TO be necessary to remind you that
our last experiment with CONNER
cialized democracy changed a demo-
cratic majority of $4,000 in 1892 into
a republican majority of more than a
million in 1894. 1t ought not to be ne
cessary to appeal to history-a know
ledge of human nature and a faith in
the integrity of the people ought to
convince us that both principle and
expediency lead to an honest fight
/ NoSCu NY IucluOuS lOT lQ6 sup
port of those honestly desiring the res
toration of justice and equity in gov
eminent.
IF the democratic party will stand
erect, face the future with confidence,
defend the rights of the people and
protect their interests wherever at.
tackled - whether the attack comes
| from the financiers, the monopolists,
or from the imperialists-it can look
with confidence for a revolution of SEN
timent that will give us a victory
worth having, and this victory, when
| it comes, will not end, as the victory
of 1892 did, in the decentralization of
the party, but in the building up of a
democratic organization which will
deal aggressively with all of the evils
of government, and find it's bulwark in
the affection and confidence of the
masses
Plans to Boost Harrison.
Flushed with the success at the pic
mic held Saturday the Chicago Demo
cratic club is arranging plans to boost
Harrison's boom for the presidency. /,
| is stated that plans are already on
foot to make a tour of Egypt with q
view Of getting the Egyptian demo