The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-04-14
Jefferson Banquet Attended by
 Seven Hundred Democrats
WILLETT AMONG SPEAKERS
Mayor Mcclellan of New York Wat Disconnected By the Cordial Re- ception He Received-Ssna-
 tor carmack Absent

New York. April 1S-seven hundred democrats attended the Jefferson Day banquet of the Democratic club of New York at the WaldorfAsto tonight. There were present many men of national reputation, and chief among these was former Judge Alton B. Parker, democratic nominee for President last November
 In the banquet room portraits of Jeff ferson were conspicuous.
 In addition to MT. Parker the speak, CTS were United States Senator Newlands of Nevada, Mayor Mcclellan of New York; John w. Kern of Indiana; Con- gressman Henry T. Rainey of Illinois. and J. J. Willett of Alabama and Augustus Van Wyck. Senator Carmack of fen- nessee was the only one of those expect- ed to speak. who could not attend
 Mr Parker was the first speaker and he was enthusiastically received. Fre- quently he was interrupted by applause. The speech was on the future of the dem- oeratc party and was repete with sug- gestlons for harmony and urgent appeals against sectionalism.
 MT Parker said in part:
 MT. Parker Speaks.
 "I do not come here to make excuse or ! explanation about the past to promote any personal purpose or ambition for tho | future, or to further the ends of any sec ton, faction or Interest. am moved sole- 1 ly by a desire to commune freely with my countrymen who believe that the time honored doctrines of the democratic party. as deduced from the great policies de- fined by the man whose birth We here commemorate, and established by the founders are still true, still alive, still worthy of acceptance and devotion, and still necessary, if our institutions are to
 be maintained in their early vigor and purity.
 "lt may he conceded that they are not new-fangled or hysterieal. We can also justify the claim that they are not de- structlve of any legitimate political or | industrial interest. or subversive of those conceptions of liberty and free institutions for which our fathers suffered. They have approved themselves in peace and war. l Under their sway, our people increased in number, wealth and power. the poor and oppressed from other lands found refuge and welcome population spread gradually over territories peacefully &C., | qulred. and industry was free while taxes were low and so distributed as to dis courage monopoly When these principles dominated our policies there was | thought of conquest. or of protectorateS over distant, alien. and turbulent peoples: l there was no talk of alliance with tho great; no question of making ourselves collectors of debts, good or bad. just or l fraudulent; and no suspicion that any where in the lexicon of free government there was to be found the word subject"
 Some Elements In Recent Politics.
 "We meet after defeat which was easy to foresee and predict. It was pre- ceded by division and faction in our ranKs oyer a period of eight years and they have done their worst It was emphasized l by the use of governmental power for l partisan purposes, by the reckless and un- precedented expenditure of money. and by demagogic appeals to interests as wide apart as the poles We have left to us | only the smallest measure of power in either house of Congress, we have lost states whose confidence we had long com manded, and the number of governors and legislatures under our control Is surpris- ingly small.
 We may. however. recall that this i is not the first time that the party has 1 been In what seemed a hopeless minori- l ty. If from 1860 to 1876 when a. great wrong, whs has been far-reaching l In it's effect upon morals and justice. left it in minority for another eight years l But, when it's condiion was least encouraging, 1t was still the same consis- tent advocate of patriotic and manly pol icies as when it was in the full plentitude 1 of power the first sixty years of the last | century Rallying about it's natural lead- | ers-as courageous and patriotic as any l known to our political history-it was l then, as always, it's virtue to be nation l al party. These leaders kept themselves in touch with every question of cur rent interest In every hamlet in the Un- ion. Nothing American was alien to them.
 Power of Party as Minority. During the civil war more than 5O0.- l GOO democrats stood on each side of the I firing lines of the two great armies which l faced each other, all believing thmselVeS right. On the morrow of Appomattox. 1 they, the vlctoTs and the vanquished, | had scattered to their respective homes. | all bent upon promoting peace, all under 1 standing each other, all supporting each l other in their trials all facing the same great problems. In the foulest of all days | in our national life-those of so1called re-
 construction-these soldiers largely re- cruited from other peaceful patriotic men 1 in the north, were found voting to- | gether.
 l front in our national councils, the great | historic figures of Thurman, Hendricks. i Bayard Seymour. Hancock. Mcclellan and Tilden. In the face of preiudices and l oposition which might well have daunted 1 the bravest, these men were able to com | bat and overcome that sectional policy | which at one time almost dominated the ] country. When. in spite of aggressions, l fairly dvdede between the misuse of mil l itary power and deliberate, studied cor | ruption of the suffrage, these men had 1 been successful they were reinforced by | Lamar George, Hampton. Hill, Vance 1 Morgan. Vest, and many other stron8 | and patriotic men from the south. | Added to these leaders. who, in the | field of national politics. so nobly united | to combat human passion at it's worst | estate, were hundreds of thousands Of | sturdy men in the north who as gover- nors members of state legislators. com | mltteemen of every grade, and private | citizens, carried the struggle of free gov ernment down into the smallest political | divisions of the country Everything was | won except the presidency, in spite Of l which democracy was able from 1898 to