The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-10-27

paign is growing to a close, to leave with you some thoughts I believe worthy of your consideration before you vote. You charge that the re- publican leaders no longer lead the re- publican voters; that the republican leaders no longer represent the rank and file of the republican party. I charge that these leaders no longer give expression to the conscience and the judgment of those who call them selves republicans. l believe that our platform better expresses the real de- sire of majority of the republicans of the United States than heir desire Is expressed in the republican plat form, and that if we could poll the re publicans and get a frank, candid an- swer to the questions put to them, we would find that a majority of the re- publicans would rejoice in the triumph of the policies set forth in the demo- cratic platform"
 Departure From Ideals.
 He called attention to what he said was the departure of the republican leaders from the ideals of the early republicans. "The republican party has claimed to be the party of morality, he said. Tt has claimed to express the conscience of the nation. I charge that loddy II IllsTtpISS6HlS lHc HlOIdi Sen- timent of the country and betrays the conscience of the American people. There is a great question of conscience before the people. Ii is honest in politics. You cannot have honest gov ernment without honest politics, and the democratic party Is inaugurating a new era in American politics. The investigations, the disclosures, the rev citations, have shown what enormous
 
 collected and corruptly used, and an awakened people demanded that this should stop, but the republican Senate and House refused to listen to the de- mand and a national convention re- jected the plank that was aimed at dis honesty in politics Our committee applied the doctrine of the platform to the present campaign, and has done what no national committee ever did before--it has taken the people into it's confidence and laid bare the source of it's campaign contributions. The re- publican national committee refused to do this. The republican national com mittee has promised to let you know after election what contributions have been made but the republican commit tee has not yet announced whether that you will ever know what contribu- tions have. been made to it.
 Awakened Conscience.
 q submit to you that our plan ap- peals to the moral sentiment of the coun- try; to the awakened conscience of the nation.
 And, my friends, l want to make this prediction, that whether we win or lose. this reform that we are inauguratng will become the law of this land and the republican party will be compelled to at least yield to the moral appeal. If, /" he said, amid tumultuous applause, there be republicans here, let me say to them that they may defeat me if they will but they cannot deny to me the credit that history will give me for helping to give an impulse to honest politics"
 The republican party, he said. used to claim that it represented the con stitutional thought of the country, but he declared that it was not the de- fender of the constitution. 'The repub- lican leaders do not regard constitutional limitations and in this respect the pres ent President and the republican candi- date for President are not exceptions to the rule. President Roosevelt has disre- garded constitutional limitations. This government is not a government of one man. This government is framed upon the theory that absolute power is nor lodged anywhere except with the people themselves"
 Taking up the Presidents letter re- garding labor MT. Bryan said the Pres