River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-10-20

I DFUIIE,
| to restore the Union by the experiment of
| war during which, under the pretense of
military necessity-or war power hlgher
F! than the Constitution--the Constitution it.
! self has been disregarded in every part, and
} publc.liberty and private right alike trod-
/ den down, and the material prosperity or
! the country essentially impaired, Justice,
humanity, liberty and the public welfare
demand that immediate efforts be made for
a cessation of hoStilities, with view to an
ultimate convention Of all the States or
/ other peaceable means, to the end that, at
! Tho earliest practicable moment, peace may
| he restored On the basis of the Federal
/ Union of the States.
Demanded states Rights.
In another resolution the principles and
purposes Of the Belmonts and Seynours
Of 1864 were set forth in these tradi-
tional terms:
Resolved, That the aim and object Of the
| Democratic party is to preserve the Federal
/ Union and the rights of the States un1m-
| paired, and they hereby declare that they
| consider the administrative usufpation OF
! extraordinary and dangerous powers not
| granted by the Constitution, the subyer-
| sion of the civil by military law in states
not in insurrection. the arbitrary arrest,
| Imprisonment, trial and sentence or Amerl-
can citizens In States where civil laW-eXistS
| In full force, the suppression OF freedom
| of speech and of the press. the denial OF
the right of asylum, the open and avowed
| disregard of State rights. the employment
| of unusual test oaths, and the interference
1 with and denial of the right of the people
| to bear arms, as calculated to prevent re-
| storation Of the Union and the perpetuation
| of a government deriving its just powers
| from the consent Of the governed
With the omission of a few phrases
having reference to the then prevailing
condition of war, there is nothing to dis
tiDguish these utterances of the Demo
cratic party forty years ago from those
of the same Bourbon party to-day. The
similarity of phraseology used TO de-
nounce, to declare and to demand; the
invocation of the Constitution to pre-
serve rights and liberties from imaginary
perils of administra tive usurpation, mill
taiy sUbversion and individual invasion;
the fictitious concern over n0n-eXisting
financial and industrial burdens-all go
to show that the Democratic party of
1904 stands in the same old shoes OF
1864 snarling at the heels of the Re-
publican party which now, as then, is
doing things for the advancement, peace
and prosperity of the people of the Uni
ted States.
1t will be observed that in August,
1864 the Democratic party assumed to
express "the sense Of the American peo-
pie" in its arraignment of Lincoln and
the Republican party, an assumption
which the American people in Novem-
Der promptly repudiated by the follow
ing vote:
Popular Electoral
| Lincoln and Johnson. :. z, 216.067 212
Mcclellan and Pendleton 1,SOS,125 y
States not voting ......... 81
Delaware, Kentucky and New Jersey
were the only States in the slim Demo
cratic column that year.
Same Old Cry.
Every four years since 1864, the Demo
cratic party has gone through the same
formula Of arraigning the Republican
party as the party of unconstitutional
usurpation fanaticism, sectionalism, ex-
travagance, financial bankruptcy, CEN
tralization, corruption and abuse of pow
er--and with two exceptions the Amen-
can people have returned the same YER
dict they did in 1864. In 1884 and 1892
certain exceptional conditions, for which
the Republican party was III nowjse re-
sponsible, caused the American people
to lend a trusting ear to the reiterated
impeachment of the Republican admins
tration. Cleveland's two terms were the
result, both giving conclusive proof Of
the incompetence of the Democratic
party to administer the government ex
and practice they had denounced.
In Cleveland's second administration
the Democratic party attempted to re-
place the Republican tariff with mon
grel mixture of free trade, class pro-
lection and special bounties, and then
came to pass the very conditions of rev.
enue deficits, social disorder and wide
spread despair and misery of which the
American people had only dreamed under
the spell of Democratic demagogy.
The restoration of Safety and Sanity
in the administration of American af-
fairs came with the election of William
| MCKINLEY in 1896 Since tnen the nation
has experienced a period of prosperity
unexampled in the history of the world.
1t has waged successful war resulting
in establishing liberty and a popular
government in Cuba, in extending Ameri-
can freedom, justice and protection in
Forto Rico and the Philippines and in
advancing the United States to power
full, almost a commanding place, in the
polity Of nations
Nothing like the national development
of these eight years has been known in
the past of the republic, and with it
have come worldwide responsibilities
and duties, as we'll as problems of in
ternal government.
The Republican party within the Con-
stitution, without straining any of the
powers reposed in the Executive or Con-
gresS, has met the demands of the hour
with courage wisdom and success, to
which the chorus of Democratic declama-
ton, denunciation and demands pays the
highest tribute.
SO to-day in its history, its policies
and its candidates, the Republican party
appeals to the American people as the
party of achievement, of resources and
of the courage TO grapple with every
new phase of national life. 1t is the
party of sound principles safe finance and
sane execution of the laws. The proof
of its capacity to govern is written in the
healthy progress of the United States
during the past forty years. The guar
anty of its fitness to continue in the
execution of that great trust is in the
character and experience OF its leaders.