The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-11

eastern portfont Thursday rain, fresh to brisk east to south winds.
 
 with the party's purpose. The govern ment cannot be made or administered in the interests of a class. It must protect each citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty and the pursuit of hap piness and guarantee to each citizen n just share of the product which he helps to bring into existence.
 And what of finance? The gold Democrats blame the silver plank for the defeats of 1896 and 1900. I hope that no one will aim to make silver the scapegoat again. The platform adopted last July was wholly silent upon the money question. Judge Par ker declared himself unqualifedly for gold and nearly every silver Democrat prominently identified with recent af- fairs supported the ticket in order to fairs supported the ticket in order to se- cure the other reforms for which Judge Parker stood and yet the party polled q million and quarter less votes than 1t did in either of the preceding cam paigns.
 Question Always Alive. While the increased production of gold has increased the volume of money and brought in part the relief that bimetallism would have brought to large degree. yet some phase of the money question is always before the country and the irrepressible con- fict between the money power and the masses can never be safely ignored Every now and then there Is a measure before Congress, the object of which is to convert about six hundred million nnIlarC nr tn rao Av.A this Is but a step in the plan to retire the silver dollars and leave gold the only standard money. When the plan is complete. legislation will have de- stroyed all the benefits which we have derived from the increased production of gold.
 Not only must the city own the nat ural monopolies of the city but the nation and the State must. for the same reasons follow the same course in res gard to the monopolies that come within their sphere of operation.
 The party's position on imperialism has been stated in two national plat forms and I do not see how the party can recede from that position. Colon ialism Is antagonistic to the principles of republic.
 '@The party's position upon trust question is the only correct one. That d pTlNdtc HouOpoly IS iu0cItnslDle anu intolerable ought to be accepted as an automatic truth and a sincere belief in that truth will lead our party to favor legislation, both civil and crim- inal which will effectually protect the public from the evils of the private monopolies. The party's position in favor of the tarin reform cannot be abandoned without conceding the right of the government to tax those who consume the products of the protected industries in order to enrich the own- Iers of those industries.
 " Tt Is suggested that we are to have tariff commission to investigate and report on tariff revision, but as that commission will report in favor of a protective tariff or 0 revenue tariff, the question must at last be fought out in bGongless and the commission will slmp- ly delay action without materially af- fecting the result. The tariff cannot we'll be considered without materially considering the income tax, for no gen eral reduction of tariff can be made without either a large decEease in the expenses of the Government or the es- tablishment of an income tax,
 The consolidation of railroads, the giving of rebates, the making of dis crlminatIons. the watering of stock. the charging of excess rates and a cor ruption of public oficials--all these are combining to force upon the public the consideration of the railroad ques- tion. President Roosevelt Is just now entering upon a contest for the regu- lation of railroad rates and the Demo- crats ought to heartily support him in the position he Is taking.
 While I am anxious that the virtue of government supervision and regu- lation be fully tried, l find myself in- clining to the belief that public own ership is the only permanent cure for the evils which have grown out of the management of the great arteries of trade by few individuals who, have only their own pecuniary interests in view and who exploit the public to the extent that their traffic will bear 1t. believe that Federal ownership of the trunk lines and the State ownership of the network of local railroads will fur nish a solution of the problem.
 Tt is for the members of the Dem ocratic Party to deal with these and similar questions with the courage that Jackson displayed in dealing with the questions which confronted that gen. eration. That Democratic principles are sound does not, among Democrats at least, admit of dispute, for they re- l suit on the belief in the brotherhood nf man :"