The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-14
JUDGE ALTON B. PARKER ON
 FUTURE OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY

up and tralning d class or favoriteS and beneficiaries of the law. During all this time, we have been SO using the taxing power as to allow certain men to collect tribuee rom every cGn- sumner Of their goods. We have known
 that they used some portion of the money thus obtained to pollute every approach to the ballot box. Is 1t sur prising with such training that they
 mortgage upon legislature pr an
 official who can further their ends? Sometimes. the fact that these contri-
 buttons have been made has been ac- counted an act of patriotism ana vir- tue. What wonder, then, that other
 men should use the same method to command the same power?
 If these things are true they csn-
 not long be. hld They are uulawIu, and no new enactment is needed to
 punish, nor is 1t necessary 10 involve
 in ruin the ninety-nine honest men
 who own or manage property or to
 put their labors in peril in order to
 punish the one guilty Our ins.itu- lions are rot so tmpotent as that, nor can it be true that tbe moral senti.
 ment of our people is so lethargic that 1t cannot be aroused to danger like this. What we need is not new cru
 sades, but vigilant prosecuting off,
 cers and honest appeals Tor popular support.
 The Future Policy of the Party. When analysed, the Democratic Par ty, in all its past history, has been true to few general ideas and poli- cies. They may be enumerated as fol-
 First-A strict interpretation of the Constitution which implies resistance ernment because 1t is opposed to the fundamental idea of our. system Of popular government and for the fur ther reason that all human experience shows that that way danger lies.
 Second-The levy of import duties and other taxes with strict regard to the industrial interests of all our peo- pie whether producers or consumers, whether manufacturers, farmers or workmen, and always at rates which, while just to all. shall be essentially revenue producing. thus eliminating monopoly and favoritism.
 Third-Constant, unremitting atten- tion to honest. economical expenditure of the taxes collected from the people; and
 Fourth-Non- interference In the po- litical affairs of other nations, thus making entangling alliances as inpos- sible as they are undesirable and un- American.
 These ideas are as vital as they were in the earliest stages of our national history and include, in their logical ramifications. every policy that can come before our people for legitimate discussion and settlement If, as a na- tlonal corollary, they are supplemented by the rigid, unremitting enforcement of the criminal law in both nation and States, there is not much room for the intrusion of outgrown customs. or for new fangled forms of hysteria and humbug.
 If, then, we, as Democrats, prove our selves true to real and genuine re- form of tariff abuses, bringing Amert- can common sense to their suppression If we shall only apply ourselves to this great and commanding question, with the courage, devotion to prlnclple and regard for the interests of all the people which so distinguished Grover Cleveland we will not only deserve and command the support of the great body of consumers, but also invite that of progressive and intelligent manufac- turers, who, in all historical fiscal agi-
 tations, have finally given up their special privileges and attached them some of the manacles had been re- moved. By so doing, we shall elinli- nate evils and abuses from our indus trial system and promote real progress. The Talk of Reorganization.
 From time to time, much idle talk Is indulged in about the organization or the reorganization of the Democratic Party. This is to forget two things. The first is, that. when a party has an idea and a policy which makes appeal to half the people, they will not be long in getting together to promote the idea and this policy.
 mind about organization is that 1t be- gins down in the smallest political units that compose our political life national committee cannot create it. self; 1t cannot even perpetuate its own existence. Each member is de- pendent upon his own State for elec- tion or reelection. In order, there fore. to have an organization worthy the name We must arouse or re-arouse, down in every community, that attach ment to and interest, in our higner ferson, have been the vivifying force of the party. This is only pol-sible when the party stands for something, not some, new fad, but the fundamen- | tai principles that underlie its life. It has been the saving grace of the Democractic party that 1t has been | able in every district to promote the | ambitions of the citizen, to give him experience in our minor affairs and | to help him on as he has demonstrated l his willingness and ability to take new and advanced lessons in the school of politics. The mere machine does not. of necessity, constitute an effec- tive organization, because 1t may go creaking on only to go to pieces like ed and without moments warning. No Boom for SectIOnalism. So, too. there is altogether too much | talk about an Eastern, a Western. a Southern, or some other Democracy. when the essence of the party Is its national character and the entire ab- sence of sectional features. The con- l trol of the party machine in one city
 
 even in the country, is not matter either important or interesting to the great body of Democrats.
 The question whether the party. in all these geographical divisions in both willing and able to do effective work for the maintenance of the institutions which, founded by our fathers. have shown their adaptability to every crisis of our national life. Is of the highest importance to the success of its prin- ciples and to the promotion of it's re- turn to power An impotent party Is of little worth, and It's mere control ought not, for a moment, to give any sensible man either pride in success or panR in defeat. Somewhere in the world there may be people who be- lieve that they can divide and still conquer but Democrats have never been able to adopt this as one of their guiding ideas.
 In like manner, we shall not. if we are sensible, try to revive or perpetu- ate old ways of keeping the party small. or to devise new ones for driv- ing Democrats away from us. Wheth- CT the millionaire or the humblest workman just beginning his upward climb, whether native or foreign born, we want and need their support. Af- ter all, whoever they may be, or wher- ever they may come from, sthey are moved by about the same human i'm pulses and so we do not have to adopt a special set of principles for each. We shall not reject the man who has been a Populist, or Socialist, but he must come as Democrat. We can even welcome. in each recurring cam paiRn; the man who, in the preceding contest had set up his little Republi- can annex, but he. too, must come with fruIts meet for repentance. While we like the Prodigal Son. our herd of fatted calves is not inhnite m h9nper