The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1908-09-03
TRIAL BY JURY BEST
to Restore to the
People Their
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
Why Should Not Every
Democrat Vote for
w. ]. Bryan?

| IL 1oJo Iue uemOCTbJlC party WAS Ill
vided on the financial question. Mr..
Cleveland had succeeded in preserving
the gold standard, and there had been
hard times during his administration.
Those who believed in the free coinage
of silver at sixteen to one were of the
opinion that the decentralization of sill
yer had caused the panic, and they
made very potent appeal to the wage
earners Of the country. When the ma.
tional democratic convention was held
at Chicago the free silver men dominat-
ed it, but they we're not able to nomi-
nate the Hon. Richard P. Bland, whose
name had been identified with the cause
from time immemoral.
Mr.. Bland was so conspicuously not
presidential size that, though he led in
the balloting, it was apparent he could
not be nominated. The free silver
forces had the strength, but they didn't
have the candidate.
Senator Hill, Gov. Russell and others
made strong fight in the convention
for the gold standard, but they were
defeated.
Then Mr.. Bryan made his magnetic
speech that captured the convention
and made him the nominee of his
party.
In the campaign that ensued the old
time leaders like Cleveland and Hill
were silent. Many like Mr.. Watterson
seeded from the party and joined the
Palmer and Buckner movement. A
great many democrats went, lock, stock
and barrel over to the republican par
ty.
The secessionists were opposed to
Mr.. Bryan solely on account of the
silver question. They looked upon him
as the champion of unsound money,
and they honestly believed that if the
country adopted sixteen to one itwould
bring about disarrangement of our
financial system that would result in
another panic.
These democrats voted against Bryan
in 1896 on principle. The independent
vote went the same way. In 1900, while
the free silver question was somewhat
obscured, the national democratic con-
vention reaffirmed the Chicago platform
and nominated Mr.. Bryan by acclama-
tion. The "sound money" democrats,
as they called themselves, again voted
against Bryan, under the conviction
that he was unsafe on the financial
question.
In 1904 Judge Parker insisted that
the St. Louis convention should de-
clare in favor of the gold standard, and
this had the effect of driving away O
great many silver democrats from the
party.
This year the democratic convention
recognized the fact that the financial
question was an obsolete issue. The
only phase thereof surviving was the
consideration of some kind of law
that would prevent the depletion of the
banks in times of panic.
We have thought the situation over
carefully, and we can discover no reas-
on why any business man, who claims
to be democrat, should not vote for
Bryan and Kern. There is no danger
of a renaissance Of the silver question.
The democratic platform contains no
wild-eyed radicalism.
Because in 1896 Mr.. Bryan was op-
posed to government by injunction, -
the republican press declared that he
was an anarchist and had designs upon
the integrity of the Judiciary. Since
then Mr.. Roosevelt has practically
! come out for restriction of the iniunc-
tion process and has freely denounced
the courts that did not decide accord
ing to his way of thinking.
The democratic party holds that the
injunction is chancery process, and
should be restricted to its proper func-
tion. AS employed by some of the fed
eral courts, it deprives men charged
with crime of the constitutional right
of trial by jury, Wherever men on a
strike violate the law, they can be pun
ished. Every law on the statute books
is an injunction. The law itself is the
only injunction needed against the
commission of crime. Certainly there
is nothing aDarchical in the contention
that the injunction should be confined
to it's proper function as a chancery
process.
No democrat has any excuse for vot-
ing against Mr.. Bryan because of the
silver question, for that issue has been
eliminated from the debate.
The declaration with regard to tariff
reform follows the traditional lines of
damocrstie n0licv IL is praeticRlIv =