The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-05

| cltizen IS limited Dy us exact necesst- | ties; and every cent taken from the | people beyond that required for their protection by the government Is no bet | ter than robbery" ft As l repeat those words, the ques- ton is in my mind whether the start ling charges we contemplate will add force. and emphasis to this sentiment l which in 1884 was endorsed by our countrymen, or whether with these l charges another of deeper and sadder significance has taken place in our peo- ple's modes of thought and their con- captions of American sturdiness of citizenship.
 Has the steady growth of public ex- travagance been so artfully concealed by glorifcation of their counsry's pro- gress that they no longer consider public frugality as fundamental le- ment in governmental duty which they | cannot remit either with safety to our institutions or justice to their own best interests? -f
 Have our people been so misled by | the glamour of unsound prosperity and so deceived by the pretense that an | exorbitant protective tarif in some mysterious way assures their happf- ness and easy existence, that they are | willing to accept in blind faith a prosperity which the masses of our | countrymen neither see nor feel. as against the tangible evidence supplied | by increased cost of every necessary of life. enforced self-denial in every home and everywhere curtailed opportunity for remuneratiye employment? Are All Now supine.
 l Has the pressure of trusts and mo- | nopolies become so familiar and have l their pretense of benevolent purposes so deluded our people that they are willing to abjectly surrender their | claim to equality before the law and to support a policy which to their un- doing makes these aggregations of riches and power more rich and more powerful? Have the plain people of our land-independent, proud Ameri- | cans-so degenerated that they do not | resent the humiliating suggestion that those made rich through unjust favoFs | itism will care for them; and are they content to rely on the tender mercies | of such intermediates as these, instead l of the direct consideration due them from their Government
 Have our people reached such a state of listless Indifference that they see nothing wrong in a scheme of tariff protection which supplies to foreign | consumers articles of necessary use 1 which are the work of American hands and American ingenuity at a cheaper rate than they can be purchased by American citizens? Are they willing for the sake of continuing this dis crimination against themselves to per petuate the policy which burdens them | with protective tariff taxation?
 I will no. believe that my country men are either wilfully reckless of their nations safety or needless of their duty of citizenship or insensible | to their rights and interests; but whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, cannot refrain from urging upon them the especial neces- sity at this time of sober, conscientious | reflection, and exhorting them to a dutiful review of the intent of our na- tions establishment. the character of its mission and its present plight. If this is honestly undertaken and if the exigencies of the hour are clearly seen and periodically met, I shall not fear for the result.
 Democrncy's Trustworthiness.
 will not conclude without speaking despicable partlsanship that the Dem ocratic party Is not entitled to the con- fidence of the people in the emergency which has come upon us. Democracy government was never more needed than now. Democracy insists that the Constitution should be the chart and constant guide of national conduct; and never was Q renewal of obedience to constitutional commands more neces- sary. The Democratic party regards tarin charges as tax upon the peo- pie justified only by the necessity of providing for the expenses of their government: and 1t holds that, like all other taxes. these charges should he as qeuitably distributed as possible.
 It condemns tariff legislation for the sole purpose of protection. as an un- avoidable source of inequality and fla voritism and as promotive of oppres- sive industrial combinations; and so far as tariff duties imposed for reve- nue may incidentally result in some degree of protection 1t insists that. this should be SO arranged as to best sub serve the general welfare.
 Our party makes no warfare upon the rich nor upon any legitimate en- terprise. It's definition of American citizenship is broad enough and just | fN al ha h and poor alike-and all corporations and associations of capital. legitimate- ly engaged in legitimate business; but 1t insists that the government should in no way and by no device or abuse of its functions be accessory to the creation of vast combinations of indus trial and business enterprises whose inevitable tendencies are to control wrongfully the cost of our peoples liv- ing and strangle independent and Tn- dividual business effort.
 opportunity for all. define cardinal Democratic doctrine. Under this flag we fight the battle of the people. We seek to invest them again with, the of American citizenship and to restore to them the equal opportunity which As the right of American manhood.
 Following MT. Cleveland. former Eckels of Chicago. addressed the meeting.
 Mir. Eckels said:
 Speech of Eckels.
 Tt Is charged that on more than one public question the Democrats have changed their position from time to time. If this be true, what shall we say of the Republican changes on the tariff question. At first they main tained the protective theory to diver sify and build up infant industries at home; then to make a home market: then in the laborer's interest as against the pauper labor of Europe; then be- cause the foreigner paid the tax and again in the laborer's interest.
 At last, however. driven from one position to another. today feeling the strength of an alliance with great m 1 dustrial combinations of the country. they dehantly assert that the protec . tive system is the established system of the country and the query Is made | by them to the people, What are you going to do about it%
 | The President, once a member of the Golden Club of London, a member an ardent tarin reformer. verging up on free trade. now leads them all and out-Herods Herod in his devotion to this latest announced position He sneers at the student in the closet and the economist, and pins his faith to the doctrines and wishes of the favored benefciaries and declares that they. great body of consumers as well. shall be the revisers for the present unrea- sonable and unjust scale of taxes Republican LegisIatIOn.
 | Il call attention to the fact that it was Republican and not Democratic legislation which created conditions that found fruition in the business de- l ranRement of 10 Ia