The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1904-09-16

9 make it impossible to ever dislOdge
D them from power
4 Upon that pltaforP my competitor
; stands, and in one breath he asks the
SURFACES Of the people OF TENNESSEE,
and In the next he lndorses and APP
! proves the purpose Of his party to
steal from them their constitutional
representation In the congress OF the
United States. For nearly forty years
the men Of the South have struggled
with patience and fortitude 70 settle
in peace and justice the race question,
to them the most gtupendous problem
in the domestic life Of the republic,
and now comes Mr. Roosevelt, the Re
publican candidate for president.
whom my competitor indorses and for
whom he asks the electoral vote OF
Tennessee, and by his action and thsEl
Of his party, he opens again that old
wound, to the infinite injury OF Ten
nessee and the South. It was made
for partisan and selfish purposes and
to make sure Of the negro vote In,
those States where it is the balance
of power. The issue Is made and
made by the Republican party Roose.
welt and Littleton stand upon the
same platform and advocate the same
policies. Shall the South control It's
own affairs? Shall this be white
mans government, or shall It not
leave 1t to the intelligence and man
hood of Tennessee to say.
My competitor criticises everything,
but proposes nothing What atfirma.
tive measure does he propose or pol.
icy advocate? Not one. His is a pol.
icy Of retrogression, a policy of re- :
treat. He wants to go backward, not
| forward. He would tear down, not
build up. He stands committed In his
opening speech against every forward
movement, which has had for It's pur-
pose the moral and intellectual up
Building Of the people and the material
advancement of the State He would
repeal the uniform text book law an1
cripple the schools and leave the chill.
dren to the unrestrained extortions II
the book concerns in every county in
the State He would abolish the agri-
1AANhi dt NNVehA ana ihbNO lu0
farmers to the unprotected groed Of
the fertilizer companies. He would
repeal the election laws and again
open the doors to fraud and corrup-
ton. He would abolish the railroad
commission, which, by its assess.
ments, brings 1851 900 in taxes TO help
run the governmentsSt State, county
and municipal-and would leave tho
railroads unrestricted to regulate their
own freight rates, and IL they willed,
to extort on the people. He would
cripple the penitentiary, which yields
a profit of nearly 5000 900 a year to the
State, by taking from 1t It's business
managers All these things and mora
he would tear down, and yet he offers
to take their places
No, my fellow citizens, Tennesseans
are progressive people. They never
90 backwards. Under Democratic gov
the old Volunteer" State is
ON high and solid ground
and looking to the future with Hope
and confidence. Under Democratic
government its institutions have pros
pered, its resources been developed
and its wealth been many times multi
Piled The assessed value OF is prop
erty has risen from $2A0, 100000 In
1882, the last year Of Republican rule,
10 $408,711,000 in 1902, or an increase
If 81 per cent. in twenty years Eel
ow Democrats, with such q record for
)ur party in the past, we cannot az
ord to waver in Tennessee this year.
rhe hope Of national victory was
lever brighter, the need Of Democratic
success was never greater. The plain
Ind simple republic OF the fathers,
inder Republican rule. by warping
md overriding the constitution, ls be.
ng transformed into government Of
unlimited II not tyrannlcal powers. We
re drifting from the paths OF peace
which we have travelled with honor
nd glory to the ways cR war with
he swagger Of the bully. We arc
pending more than 100000 year
Dr military purposes in times OF pro.
)und races. We have gone across the
'aters 1000 miles from our shores,
nd there conquered helpless people
nd are governing them by arbitrary
over. as monarch would govern his
nbjects, without even the protection
the constitution or the right OF trial
y jury. We are leyying taxes on
lem without their consent and gov
rning them as subjects, not az cili-
ems. This great republic, which was
nilded upon the cornerstone that
governments derive their just pow.
% from the consent of the governed"
nder the domination Of ambitious
EN- in the Republican party, has
landoned this principle, which IL the
X OF the peoples safety, and Is now
Stunning to govern people as colonies,
Inside OF the constitution. after tho
amer Of the Kingdoms and empires
the Old, World Let me adnI0nIsh
~, my conntrymen, Of all parties,
at the only safe and sure way to pre-
rye our own liberties unimpaired Is.
keep this republic along the lines
i'd within the constitutional llmita-
Against the reckless, erratlc strut
lg rough rider. the Democratic
arty presents a plain farmer,