Gainesville daily sun. (Gainesville, Fla.) 190?-1938, 1907-06-03
MESSAGE TO DEMOCRACY.


the most careful consideration Of the
members OF the party The message
Is from Senator Rayner, who repre-
sents Maryland in the United States
Senate, AS Maryland is one Of the
States that is necessary for the Demo
Gratis to carry to win the next cleo
ton, this message Of advice from her
most distinguished son on the course
the party should pursue is the more
worthy of attention
cot course" said Senator Rayner,
1--WE all appreciate the fact that when
new issue arises the Democratic
party must take its stand upon one
side or the other, and as new issues
develop parties must enlarge and ex-
pand. No one desires to restrict the
Democratic party either to a dead is
sue or simply to those that existed
at the time Of its formation. Now,
have we any principles? ] think we
have. Has the Republican party
stolen them? acquit them on the
charge. think that they are en-
tirely innocent, and / do not believe
that they have any felonious intent
or design whatever to appropriate
them. Is the President a Democrat?
must respectfully deny it,"
Senator Rayner, after showing the
lines that divide the two parties, said:
"We must not yield the slightest frac-
tion of the supremacy of the States
over then own local and domestic
concerns. This is our party, and we
must not ~barter it for wealth, for
progress or prosperity. Prosperity
may be only temporary, but the
foundation of the republic are per-
petual In the next place we are OPP
posed to governmental paternalism. 1t
is reproach to Jefferson to claim
that If he were living he would be in
favor of It. I predict, with great re-
spect to others who may differ with
me. that the day will never come
when the Government of the United
States will own and operate the rail-
roads of the country Let us give
the present railroad law a fair test
and trial, and If it does not answer
the purposes of its enactment let us
extend its provisions and supplement
its remedies so that il will meet any
emergency that may arise, There is
one proposition, however, that the
Democratic party must contend for in
this connection, and that is 1t must
demand a complete obedience to the |
existing statute The railroad presl- !
dents and officers Of our trunk lines
must be made, once and forever, to
realize that they are the servants, and |
not the masters, Of the people"
After suggesting a platform upon |
which all Democrats could unite Sen
ator Rayner closed by saying III we
advocate principles that are nor Dem.
ocratic and be again defeated at the /
polls, then it looks to me as if the
hour of disinteWation was at hand,
because the only thing that has kept
us alive through all the strange vieis-
situdes Of our fortune is in the fact
that we have never yet wholly aban-
doned the historic traditions Of our
faith and have never yet, upon all
the pages Of our history, sounded a
final retreat. II the Democratic party
will only follow Jeifersonian precepts
and snxioms without attempting a
revised edition that he would repudi-
ate If he were living; II It will only
unite upon essentials and not divide
upon non-essentials; II II will only
stand by the old ritual and not at
tempt TO alter II to suit every eco
nomic clique or mongrel denomina.
ton that IS willing TO array itself
under It's banners; II II will only
abandon the worship Of temporary
idols that are broken into fragments
with the close Of every campaign, and
return TO the worship Of those cardi-
nal principles that win remain I'm
mutable so long as the republic lasts,
regardless OF the fact whether par
ties discard them or not-then be-
lieve that our mission Is by no means
ended. but that emerging from the
apathy and lethsrgy that now envel-
ope us, we shall be recalled to life
N resume the activities Of our nor.