Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1904-10-20

arISG0crdClc f1aul1ltOus DHS H1uuiS GU
years ago. down to the present Repub-
lican party, led by the Fifth avenue
aristocrat who is now seeking TO be
retained in the seat Of really great
men. there has been that same feeling
for a strong government, for an aris-
tocracy. which means government by
thgs few. There has been two excep-
tions. those were the administrations
OF the beloved Lincoln and the admin
istration of that unique man of Amer
lean history. who was abused beyond
his deserts. Andrew Johnson. Since
then the policy of the Republican party
has been shaped by the friends 81
great centralized wealth.
On The other hand, the Democratic
party. founded by the illustrious Jeffer-
son, has weathered the political storms
of a century, and to-day looms up as
bold and as strong as at any time dur
ing It's history It's great men have
come and have gone Jefferson, Jack
son. Douglass, Benton, Seymour, Nc
Clellan, Tilden, Randall and many
more great characters have appeared
upon the political arena. They fought
their fights, finished their cause, and
disappeared But the great party for
which they labored has outlived them
For like Tennyson's Brook, great men
have come, great men have gone, but
Democracy. goes on forever. Because
it is older than our country It was
conceived in the brain and felt in the
hearts of men centuries ago. The
Prince of Grecian orators. De-
mosthenes, Junius Brutus, Cicero,
Marcus Brustus, Cato, Cincinnatus and
many other famous Romans, as we'll
as scores of other great chaactors in
history. whose names have been thun-
dering down the ages of time, were
Democrats, because they believed as
Jefferson believed that the people, the
best governed were those who were
governed the least.
have endeavored to make clear the
meaning and objects of the two great
parties and / wish to make clear how
and why the great parties which have
fiourished and have been dominant IN
the affairs of this country have come
into existence and have lived while
others like mushrooms. have sprung
up and died an early death.
The Republican party, through the
influence of great corporate wealth, has
dominated the affairs Of this country
during the greater part Of the past half
century. while the Democratic party
though many times severely beaten,
has stood the political storms of a
century. And like Hamlet's ghost will
not down, but comes back to haunt its
would-be destroyers.
After all. who can truthfully say
that a defeated party is wrong, for in
a great many instances the party or
the people, that have been in the mi
nority have proved to be right There
is an old trueism which runs like this:
Truth crushed to earth will rise
again Some of the greatest men in
history were called fanatics and
haretics, were prosecuted, driven from
pillar to post, and were crushed by the
iron heel of fate and to-day an en-
lightened and grateful people declare
they were right, and their names live
in immortality.
Some of our Republican friends tell
us that Democracy as advocated by
the Democratic party is not patriotism.
Now if we must believe that in this
enlightened age with all of our inn
proved machinery and skilled me-
chanics, and when we are able to un-
dersell foreign nations right at their
doors, that we must continue a higher
tariff than We did quarter of a CEN
fury ago and if we must believe that
it is right to keep a large standing
army in time of peace to intimidata
a weak ana oppressed people on the
opposite side of the globe. And if we
must believe that it is right to snub
and insult such patriots as Winfield
Scott Schley and Nelson A. Miles, and
then uneonstituti0nally order millions
Of dollars paid out of the treasury for
the purpose of catching the cid sol
dier vote I say If it is necessary for
us to accept all of these arbitrary and
un-American doctrines in order to be
classed in the list of patriots then we
wish to be counted out.
A true Democrat has always been
and always will be patriotic The
greatest leaders OF the Spanish-Ameri-
can war were Democrats. Patriotism
means love of country then why should
one party be more loyal to its country
than another.
It is true we do not believe in a high
1ieys in holding the poor down-trodden
Philippines, simply because we bought
them when they were struggling for
their independence. Colonel Richard
Rumbold, the great Englishman, who
inspired our revolutionary fathers,
said. That none comes into the world
with saddle on his back, neither any
booted and spurred to ride him. Such
oppressed people in the Orient are as
much entitled to their freedom as the
Cubans. We can protect them without
keeping a standing army there, or
without owning them Once let it be
known that it is our intention to see
to it that they are to forever be a free
and independent nation, no foreign
power will interfere or attempt to
take possession Of them If any should
then it will be time for us to act.
In conclusion let me say that the
country is drifting towards militarism,
which means imperialism. Our lust