The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-14
SHEPARD FOR PRESIDENT.
His Advantages as Candidate For
 cihlY Put.

His Advantages as a Candidate For cibly Put.
 communicated to Chicago Chronicle. A little less than year hence the presidential campaign will be in full swing and already various candidates for tne Democratic nomination have peen suggested. It is evident to all thinking temperate that the silver issue IS prac- ncaiiy dead and that the Democratic fnrfy Is, now in position to revert to the oig,time Democratic principles and ideals Ine wanderings of the past few years rom the time-honored principles Of De- mocracy have caused certain amount or generalization in the Democratic camp, put when we consider that even with 4,WNWV. gold Democrats voting with the 1tepuDlicans. as occurred in the last two campaigns. MT. Bryan came within haif 2 million votes of being elected, It VIII DO readily conceded that very little dam age has been done to the party as a whole by reason of its alterations dur ing the last two terms. However. as ex-President Cleveland ! puts It, recrimination now is worse than useless. and the political desideratum IS | Tor all Democrats to get together ana present solid front to the common en- gny. 1T once more the great Democrat1c
 tarty Is led by the old leaders under the oiu banners, the members of this party VIII return with renewed enthusiasm to Dattle Tor the old principles which bore
 them to victory under the leadership of
 Grover Cleveland.
 The fact that the Democrats must carry the, State of New York In order to elect their candidate for President In 1904 serves to give that State greater promi- l hence In the councils of the party than any section of the Union with an equal electoral vote. And 1t is generally con- ceded that if the Democratic candidate | does not come from New York he must | at least be acceptable to the Democrats ot that State.
 If fitness for the high position to be nlied were the only consideration there would be no hesitation as to the reply.
 For in the person of the recent Demo- cratic candidate for Mayor of New York
 City New York State has a representa-
 tive of Presidential caliber, and one who
 ls worthy of the united support of his State.
 Briefly, Edward M. Shepard believes in the essentials of the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson and Samuel J. Iil- den that true Government rests on the consent of the governed; that that Gov
 ernment Is best that governs least; that the law should aim to establish equal
 and exact justice for all: that there should be no special privileges or fa- yored classes; that it is not the function
 of the Government to protect fools against
 the consequences of their own folly, or to recompense one set of persons for en- gazing in an unpro6tabe occupation. idCllCdlly dppueu, ms pnllOsOpny leduS to free trade, as against the protection
 nostrum and subsidy systems. It con demns the idea, new to this country but as old as mankind, that one set of men
 nave right to govern another set of | men without the latters consent; it de-
 mafds the repeal of all laws granting to certain favored individuals the right to exploit their fellow citizens; 1t opposes anything in the nature of a law-creative monopoly for private ends, and 1t Is for hostile h ha arNtN1 ne
 centralization, paternalism and imperial | ism
 In regard to the money question-that | Is, first, as to the standard of values: l and, second, as to the method of supply | ing sufficient amount of legal tender
 money and money of account" or cur | rency, MT. Shepard by no means repre- sents what Is usually called the Wall I Street. position While he believes that | gold is the best standard for measuring
 values, he does not hold that our present | banking and currency system Is an ideal | one. but, on the contrary, believes that
 it should be radically amended, so as to | furnish the business interests of the | country, of which interests he considers
 the agricultural industry of greatest inn l portance, with an abundant supply of l safe, sound and elastic currency.
 1 He realizes that the farmers of the | country have an undoubted grievance in
 the present financial conditions, which
 make practically no provision for addi-
 tional supplies of currency at the seasons of the year whein the crops are to De
 marketed, and favors such national leg l islation as may be necessary to remedy | this state of affairs.
 | The chief issue in the next National | contest will undoubtedly be that of rem | edies for the evils of what are known I as trusts" the great combinations of capital which control the industrial and | transportation interests of the country.
 AS an enemy of every form of monopoly, | MT. Shepard favors the Temoval\of the protection given by law to the trusts. l whereby they are enabled to oppress the | people through higher prices or by un-
 fair discrimination. He knows that 1t is | not the large amount of capital repre- | sented in a trust that gives it power to l cial conditions which prevent full and
 fair competition. It Is not known how far Mr. Shepard is prepared to go with | the repeal of the class legislation to
 which practically all the injurious trusts | are indebted for their ability to pay div
 idends on a capitalization vastly greater
 than their real value, but if he is con sistent with lis own professions he will
 favor broad, general policy, of abolish.
 ing all laws interfering with the fullest
 In a word, Mir. Shepard stands reso. | lutely for the true Democratic idea ol | curing the evils of foolish and unjust
 laws, not by some half ?baked .socialistiC | LII TtucIdl CUHlTOI UT EeBuldtlOT
 of great industries, but by the simple and
 sovereign method of repeating the inc quitable laws.
 Able. honest and courageous, Mir Shep.
 ard will, in the near future, exercise a | deserved influence in the councils of his party. Whether he will attract that pop
 uar following which will make him Pres ident of the United States will depend on
 whether he will during the next two
 years follow his own logic to Its legiti-
 mate conclusions and associate himself
 with the growing popular Democratic
 movement against privilege in any and
 every form If he will see that this prin- ciple of equality of all men under the
 laws involves the equal right of all men
 to an opportunity to work and enjoy the fruits of their labor; that the principle of | free trade involves the corrollary of free production, and that the Jeffersonian doc Urine of equal rights to all and special privileges to none demands the repeal of all the class legislation now on ouI statute books he will be one of the lead
 CTS. if not the leader, of the great Dem.
 ocratic revival, which will sweep away
 the wrongs and abuses which have beer
 the result of Republican misrule