The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1904-11-18
WATSON'S STATEMENT.
Saws Democratic Party Has Changed
Color too Often.

E. Watson yesterday caves out the
following statement:
It should be borne in mind that
at the time the Springfield convention
rendered me the presidential nomina-
ton, the peoples party had no rea;
existence as factor in national poll
tics for eight years. In the presiden'
tia1 election OF 1900 it gave to its
nominee only 5000 votes. 10 that
extent the fusion of 1896 swallowed
I'D a movement which in 1894 count
ed nearly 100000 of votes and about
1,5oo active newspapers, and there
fore, we had to build from the ground
up in 1904 We had almost nothing
to- strt with in the way of party Or
ganization campaign funds and news
paper support; we had only three
months in which to work. These be-
ing first considered, some fair idea
of what was accomplished can be had
only when the officials returns ar.
known.
Mr.. Roosevelt's Overwhelming
majority was not SO much due to
the fact that our people believe in
class legislation and the reign OF
special privileges. 1t was not by any
means an endorsement. Of corpora
tion tyranny, the greed OF the trusts
or the methods of combined capital.
Mr.. Roosevelt's majority ever Mr..
Parker was due mainly to two things;
one was the immense personal popu-
larity of Mr.. Roosevelt himself, and
the other was the immense unpopu-
iarity Of Mr.. Cleveland's second ad-
.ministration. Unfortunately for Mr..
Parker, he became SO completely
identified with the marauders who
plundercd the government during Mr..
Cleveland's second administrators
that he had to bear all the odiun
which they had incurred. The peo~
pie have never had a chance to show
just what they thought of that second
administration. Mr. Bryan's two
campaigns did not give them the op-
portunity; it was only when the old
Cleveland combination secured the
defeat Of Bryan and Hearst and die
tated the nomination of Mr.. Parker
that the masses got the opportunity
to vent upon national candidate the
intense hatred which they had been
nursing for years against such men
as Olney and Belmont and Carlisle
and Cleveland himself. They knew
that could not be elected and they
made the best of the opportunity to
safeguard the country against re.
petition of that saturnalia Of class
legislation which marked Cleveland's
second administration and they rush
ed to Roosevelt and gave him ma
jority which does not under ordinary
circumstances belong to the republl-
can party. Tn other words the per-
sonality Of Mr.. Roosevelt and the I'M
popularity of Parker's environment
carried into the republican column
vast multitudes of men who under Or
dinary circumstances would not be
found there.
My own plans for the future en-
brace a complete organization of the
people along the lines OF Jefersonian
democracy, the reestablishment OF
reform papers and systematic pro
paganda of Jefersonia: principles In
order that in 1908 there shall be a
party of genuine opposition to the re-
. publican party and its present poll
cies. If political history teaches any
thing it is that old parties never ac-
complish any reform unless they are
irresistably driven to it by pressure
from without I hope at least to be
of some use to my country in aiding
those who will apply that pressure.
1t is immaterial to me who does the
work which the refoTmer wants done
so that the work itself is DONE
Discredits Democratic Party.
I have no faith whatever that re-
forms will be accomplished by the