The Monroe journal. [volume] (Monroe, N.C.) 189?-1965, 1910-03-29
Party Harmony" and Other Pleas.

islature Of 1907. lately contributes
an article to the News and Observer
in which be said that the Democrat,
party was facing a crisis, and CAV,
a warning lest the party be betray
ed upon a plea Of party harmony
Among other things Mr.. Justice said
The conflict between crimina
wealth and special privilege on tn,
one hand and legitimate bushes.
and fair opportunity on the other
was never more acute.
1T is sometimes disheartening L
observe the power Of the protected
and subsidized interests and of the
trusts.
Through Aldrich and Cannon
these interests are in practical con.
troll Of the Republican party and OF
the executive and legislative BRAN
ches OF the government; and they
exercise too great an influence in the
Democratic party.
A majority of the American peo-
pie believe in low tariff, are against
the trusts, opposed to subsidies, and
favor a fair distribution Of wealth;
but this majority is itself divided
and fights under opposing banners,
and it is often led by men who
preach its doctrine but betray its
principles. 4"
The laborer, and the man who
works for small salary are already
taxed by the tariff and the trusts 50
there is no margin between what
they make and what they must spend
10 live.
The water powers are being con-
solidated and formed into a trust.
the great banks of the country are
in the hands Of the Rockefeller and
the Morgan interests, and Congress
is about TO place the rest Of the mon
ey of the country under their control
by means Of the Postal Savings bank,
and a commission composed of the
Secretary Of the Treasury, the Post
master-General and the Attorney
General. g g
IF the Democratic party is to be
the organization through which de-
sired reforms are to be worked out,
it must be candid and sincere in its
declarations Of principles and scru-
pulously exact in its performances.
So long as predatory wealth controls,
it is just, logical and inevitable that
the Republican party and not the
Democratic party shall be its instru-
ment
The Democratic party must con-
sistently and aggressively, in the
State and the nation, whether it is in |
the majority or in the minority, op-
pose high tariff, trusts, subsidies,
graft and special interests, or it will
not succeed or deserve to succeed.
There is no middle ground for
the Democratic party to occupy. In
the adoption of its platforms and the
nomination of its candidates it must
appeal to that part Of the American
people who oppose what Mr.. Taft,
Mr.. Cannon and Mr.. Aldrich repre-
sent.
MY only reason for writing this
communication is to call attention of
that class Of Democrats who believe
as do on these questions to the fact
that the Democratic party is facing
a crisis in its history and to warn
them against a betrayal Of principles
upon the plea of party harmony
No man or set Of men who wanted
what they didn't deserve, ever failed
to invoke party harmony to get it.
Every man in this country who is
enough opposed to the protected and
subsidized interests to speak above a
whisper is an lnsurgent, whether he
is a Democrat or a Republican, and
in the Democratic party there are
'standpatters" and regulars friends
Of the interests "-the same as there
are in the Republican. Now, if the
interests see any Likelihood Of the
Democratic party coming into power,
straightway they will seek to control
t, and call upon all to come togeth-
,r for party harmony" Speaking
II the progressive, or lnsurgent move
nent in New Hampshire-it's every
where Ray Stannard Baker shows
n a paragraph the way the thing is
Ilways worked whenever reform
measures begin to get troublesome.
lie says:
The steps in the revolution since
906 have been characteristic Of the
frn c,vla IN n,ar,, Ca ,rho., ,LoIx