The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-10-13
ADDRESS TO VETERANS.

10 bne surviving SOlu1etS ana Sailors
who served in the Union army and
navy during the war of the Rebellion,
and in the war with Spain, and in the
Philippine Islands.
Comrades: Four years ago this or
ganization appealed to you to again
save the country from an imminent
peril and from the dangerous combn-
alton which again threatened to dis i.
honor the good name of the govern
ment. Reputation, disgrace, mob
rule and financial ruin were then our
foes, and, by your aid, they we're tri-
umphantly overthrow, and your noble
and deeply lamented oomrade, NICK in
ley, was continued in the presidential
office.
Four years have passed, and the is
sues are practically unchanged. Mr..
Bryan, who twice carried the standard
of the Democratic party TO defeat,
was the domin ant factor at the last
national Democratic convention as he
had been in 1896 and 1900, and com
PEELED that Important body, represent
ing every section of the land, to bend
to his Will. The failure to make a
positive, honest and unmistakable
declaration in favor of the gold stan
dard was due to his influence.
The Democratic convention of 1904
left the platform of 1896 and 1900
practically unchanged. A telegram
from candidate is not platform or
any part of platform. 1t may con-
troll the individual who sends it but
not the representatives of party to
which it is sent. 1t would not pre-
vent Democratic Congress from
adopting the silver standard and repu-
dating half the obligation of the gov
eminent.
What does this mean to the veteran
soldiers and sailors Of this country ?
You are not bankers or capitalists. A
dollar means much to you. When the
| government owes you pension, you
are entitled to receive it in gold or its
equivalent without discount In the
debased currency for which the Dem
ocratic platform stands, you will be
paid in silver worth 80 cents or less
on the dollar You are the largest
creditors of the government. 1t stands
pledged to you today to pay you and
the widows and children of your fallen
comrades $l5O. OOO,O a year. The
pensioned widows and children cannot
protect themselves by votes. They
look to you to protect them, as we'll as
yourselves. The payment of pensions
in dcbased currency would mean a
loss to the pensioners of $50, 600, 600 a
year. This is what you must think
about before you vote. Shall we trust
our money to party willing to de-
base it? Judge Parker voted twice to
do this, in 1896 and in 1900. He was
unsafe then. Is he any safer now?
The hostility of the Democratic
party towards our acquisitions in the
Far East remains unchanged, and it's
efforts to embarrass the proper execu-
tion of the laws in the Philippines are
unabated
At the close of the last Democratic
administration, business depression
was universal; employment was diff
cult to obtain; confidence was des-
troyed; idleness was the rule and not
the exception. With the return of
the Repu party TO power all this
WAS changed Confidence was re-
stored, industries were resumed and
employment became the rule and not
the exception. This prosperity re-
mains 10 the present day. Wages
have never been so high Is it worth
while to put all this in peril and risk
a return of the dark days of Democrat
ic rule?
BY the hand of an assassin our be-
loved President, william Mckinley,
was cut off, in the providence of God,
at the very zenith of his fame and
usefulness Your votes greatly as
sisted in electing to the second posi-
ton comrade of later war, fitted
by high mental attributes and mach
experience to take up the reins of
government, and to carry out tie pol
10y of his predecessor, which had al
ready received the warm approval of
the great mass of the American peo-
pie. The task was not easy. No
President ever stood closer to the
heart of the Nation than our comrade,
Major Mckinley But now after more
than three Years Of most arduous SER
vice, Theodore Roosevelt, as Presi-
dent, he has won the admiration and
| respect of the civilized world. In
this time there have been presented
more difficult problems than at any
period OF the nations history since
the Civil War, and he has solved
them all with masterly craftsmanship
and in manner to receive the COM
mendation and approval OF all
thoughtful citizens not swayed by
| partieau praindipa or DriUafa iufe r.