The copper era., 1909-11-25

the homes of forgotten men who's,
rights are violated and whose inter
ests are ignored.
Every man has an equal Interest
in the nation according to the Jeffer
sonian principle of Equal rights tt
all and special privileges to none, ,
and if you consider the whole coun
try you will find that the great ma
jority are on the same side; 1 would
say that $40 of the people have the
same interest, and that less than liz
are interested in the maintaining OF
any special privileges.
Then, why is it that we cannot get
the majority There are several
reasons: one of these is, that party
ties seem to be hereditary. A man
is born into a party, and he often
never has the courage to get out of
it. He takes it for granted that that
party is right and stays there. Some
never consider that a party changes
and that a party may be perfectly
right today and absolutely wrong to-
morrow. The man who thinks that
be must vote as his father before
him ignores the fact that change
comes in party. 1t makes a party
radical to be out of power and con-
sentative to be in power, and when
the radical party goes into Office it
becomes conservative and the retir-
ing party becomes radical. The
party in power doesn't want to do
anything to change the order of
things. They have the offices, and
hence the suppression of new things.
While the party out of power must
advocate something radical and very
often goes in on the strength of some
radical measure it proposes, and the
other goes out because it maintained
conservative stand. So the parties
change and we must examine and
find out which party is the radical.
Now radicalism and conservatism
are both necessary. We need both.
IF we didn't have the radical the
conservative would not move and if
we didn't have the conservative the
radical would become too radical.
So this discussion restricts the radi-
cal and pulls the conservative along.
l believe that the democratic party
is the party who is really seeking re-
form. 1 have no faith in the repub-
lican party giving us reform, for it
holds the offices; it has filed all the
vacancies and it has its retinue of
camp followers. Every man has
been bought by the republican party
that can be bought, and only the
men who would rather be right than
be in the majority for any reason,
are the democrats that have no
price. Everyone that can be coerced
has been coerced by the republican
party and only those who refuse to
be coerced are democrats.
The democratic party has proven
its right to be the representative of
the common people, it has demon
strated its way to be the champion of
and a courage that few parties have
ever shown. What other party ever
refused to endorse an administration
Of it's own? 1t was the democratic
party that refused to endorse that
president in national convention
and show patronage to his position. |
What other party has shown such |
In 1876 we lost those in |
our party who were not willing that |
the Organization should not be in the |
hands of the people, rather than the |
great corporate interests directing |
how it should be run. Those upon |
whom the corporate interests has |
stronger claims than the people left |
our party at that time. The repub-
ican party was bad enough before |
that but it has been worse ever since. |
It was, of course, sad thing to have
TO part with democrats, especially |
when we had to part with influential |
when we lost these, the democratic |
party went out and polled a million |
more votes than we would had they |
stayed in, and we came so very near |
20 victory that 10000 votes on either |
side would have changed the whole
result of the election, and in that
of 1916 there was heroism
shown that 1 think should not be
orgotten. 1 have never forgotten it.
recall the case of q business man
who was a director in a bank, of !
which he had borrowed a sum of
and he was told by the other
directors that his support of the
democratic ticket was hurting the
business of the bank and that unless
le refrained from taking a part in
he campaign they would have to
their loan. He told them
hat if they withdrew their money
hat he could not perhaps borrow it
my place else in the vicinity and
hat they might be able to close him
,ut, but that they could not dictate
o him whom he would support for
he presidency. mere was moral
ouraoe.
1 lost more votes in '96 because 1
hampioned the cause of labor, than
or any other reason. The democratic
,arty has been willing to suffer de-
eat rather than to surrender what
hey believed to be right, and the
,arty that is willing to die for the
light deserves to live for it.
| have not time, my friends, to
peak of all the questions that are
,efore the country today, but ] will
ay this to you, take up any ques-
ion, economical or political, and you
will find the majority of the demo-
ratio party is on the side of the peo-
lie and that the leaders of the re-
u blican party are against them.
Sometimes the president shows
igns of helping us out on some of
he things for which we are contend
ng, and sometimes one is tempted to
ali him a democrat, but the presi-
ent doesn't like to have himself
allied that, and it isn't fair to our
,arty either that he should be called
democrat. lam sometimes, though,
of the story of the Irish
ardner, who when asked if he was
anctified, replied: eyes, in spots"
There were times when 1 thought
hat 1 saw an indication that he
night have gone further into question
Iad he not been restrained bV party