The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1908-10-23
GOLD DEMOCRATS
HOLD Big MEETING In new YORK
and DECLARE FOR BRYAN
Three Members OF CIeVeland'S Cabi-
net Praise the NebfdSkdn

1
the speakers were gold Democrats VINO
| had formerly opposed Mr.. Bryan, but
who are now working for his election.
Mayor Mcclellan presided, and read
the following letter:
Dear Mr.. Mack: My age is Suffl-
cient excuse for declining your invita-
| ton to preside at the Democratic
meeting proposed to be held at Car
negie Hall during the last week in
| October. | cannot urge that however
as an excuse for declining your invita-
| ton to send a message in writing to
the assembly that will be gathered
| on that occasion. If there is any who
still cares for my opinion about i'm
pending political issues, here it is.
| In my opinion there are two issues
to be tried at the approaching fresi-
Dental election which in my mind
take precedence of all others.
The first is the paramount import
snce of organizing without further
delay an opposition party. The sec
ond is to secure the speediest possible
deliverance of our country from
demoralizing tariff upon imports.
No man has been born who ever be-
came fit to be trusted with absolute
power. Neither can any party or body
of men be trusted long, if at all, with
absolute power without abusing it..
The Republican party has now been
practically the controlling political
party in this country for fifty years
less one. 1 need not say how much
it has abused that power, because with
the absence of an opposition party it
was impossible not to abuse it, and
there are few if any Republicans not
benef1ciaries of it's patronage who will
pretend that they would not have been
much better satisfied with its achieve
ments had it always enjoyed the ad-
vantage of such adverse criticism as
could have been expected from well
organized opposition party.
The most disastrous fruit of the
prolonged power of the Republican
dynasty unquestionably is its deliber-
ate and persistent war upon our for
eign commerce; it's constant increase
of tariff restrictions upon imports.
Foreign commerce has dwindled un-
til our exports exceed our imports by
many millions, and they largely con-
sist of money or merchandise shipped
to pay the interest on our foreign
debt
WHY Is we nave CuG largest
continuous coast of any nation in the
world, with the most abundant supply
in the world of iron, coal, copper, zinc,
which constitute the
principal and most costly elements of
hipbuilding-and have thus been de-
by Providence as the natural
mistress of the seas, yet if any one
Of our ninety millions of people wish
IS to visit any of the other continents
Of the world or to ship a package of
he must hire a foreign
ship owner to be his common carrier. {!
We build no vessels for international
while we are spending mil
lions upon millions upon our navy
under the preteXt of protecting our
commerce, while we practically have
10 commerce of our own to protect. |
We seem to have copied our maritime |
policy from the frog that, according |
o the proverb, without shirt clam
,red for drawers" or as the Germans |
Jay, "Du whilst andern Katzen fangen
Ind kannst dir selbst keine maus fam
1en."
There was never time in our his
DRY when our prospect of a CONNER |
,ial marine adapted to our resources |
was so bad as it is today. Why is |
his? 1t was not always thus. So re-
GENTLY as 1861, and before we began |
Systematically to plumber the people |
If our country under the preteXt of |
them but actually to enrich |
1 privileged class, we ow.A1 about |
one-third of the entire tonnagS of the |
world. AS early as 1856 the total |
value of our imports and exports car
red in American vessels exceeded |
while the amount car
lied in foreign vessels was less than |
S1O0O00,00O.
The tariff alone can explain the
shameful fact that we have not at this |
very time a larger commercial marine |
han any other nation in the world.
Two candidates for the Presidency |
nave received the nominations of the |
Democratic and Republican parties re-
Spectively, one or the other of which
S likely to be chosen. | have never |
enjoyed the acquaintance of either. |
Mr.. Taft, the candidate whom Presi- |
lent Roosevelt has imposed upon the |
Republican party, is personally, l am |
old, very worthy and engaging per-
son. He is a graduate of Yale Col |
ege, whatever that may be worth; he
has been Judge of a high court of |
udicature in Ohio, whatever that may |
be WORTH he has been the nominal, |
though only the nominal chief of the |
War Department at Washington for
he last four years and as such charg-
ed with the direction of the work on
The Panama Canal, where he has spent |
some $50000,0 900 more than his own
engineers estimated for the total cost |
Of the canal, and has left the work in |
q condition which threatens to cost |
nearly or twice as much again to COM
plete.
l mean no disrespect to Mr.. Taft in
expressing the opinion that he would
probably never have been thought of
as candidate for the Presidency but
for his equipment with some qualities
which were never the outfit of any
statesman. He can
hardly be said to have been nominated
by the people of the United States, or
even by the Republican party. He is
besides one of class of benighted
public men who believe that our pros
perity as nation has been due to
nothing so much as Gf not entirely toy
our tariff on imports. He proposes
If elected to call an extra session of
Congress and ask for the appointment
of committee to revise it, assuming
as he says he does that some duties
are too high and others are not high
enough. He naturally thinks that the
revision should be conducted by the
friends of the tariff; and as each one
of the six or eight alterations of the
tariff that have been made by the Re-
publican party since it's birth has