The copper era., 1910-04-15


 say, away, away with you, faithless ones. You are recreant to your trust and are recreant to the memory of the democratic leaders of the past, and from the very heavens their voices condemn you.
 Slavery. was the curse of the south before the war, but our modern ma terialism. our tariff-made monopolies and the rule of corrupt special inter- ests is laying much heavier burdens upon your people than did slavery in those days, and you southern men have bowed your heads to this sin and seem to be returning to your old doc trines; that society exists for the benefit of the few instead of the many; that the millions may be en- slaved to increase the riches of few thousand planters and manufaCtur- CTS. God save you and bring you back to true democratic principles, or send you over to the republican party, where you belong if you do not reform.
 Again, you tell us that if the scheme to cause a breach between President Taft and Roosevelt comes to head, we democrats may get in- to power. Is not this the cry of weakness? We can get into power because of breach between our ad- versaries? Why not get in.o power on your willingness to do the right thing to the whole body of the peo- pie? I have no great admiration for ex-President Roosevelt. have spent not little time examining his usurpations, of power, but Theodore Roosevelt at his worst is the superior of President Taft. No president in our country has ever started in the very beginning of his term by mak- ing such a humiliating exhibition of himself as has President Taft. The progressive element in his party ought to desert him, and I trust that they will desert him. Government with President Taft seems to be something of a joke. He seems to be bent upon having a good time at the peoples expense. He is hardly serious upon any public question, and is on altogether too good terms with the corrupt elements of this country to please the vigilant and patriotic citizen. His attitude on the tariff and his attack upon the progressive republicans of the west, his swinging around the circle at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dol lars of the peoples money, his easy neglect of public duties, his good natured lack of indignation at wrong, these all may mark him as a good fellow, but not as a faithful and a great president.
 The hope of the democratic party is in getting back to the first princi- ples of justice and government, throwing Easide the superficial men who have been directing it's councils and resolving at once to do justice to the consumers of tariff burdened goods and to those who are bearing the terrible burden of our extrava- gant national government. If the democratic party twenty years ago had cleared it's decks and fought valiantly for democratic principles, instead of talking about keeping still and profting by the enemies mistakes; if it had sought not only to please the people by honeyed words and demagogic cries, but had actual ly created and championed real re- forms affecting all the peoples well fare, it would not be signing for power today. It is out of power be- cause it is unworthy of power; it is out of power because it lacks leaders who believe in the people and who believe in justice toward all the peo- pie. It is out of power because hun dreds of it's leaders are actually iu league with the tariff-made trusts and are voting the republican ticket three-fourths of the time and are real republicans and ought to be in the republican party and stay there. These leaders have simply betrayed the people, and among them are your United States senators from the south, who have been steadily taking care of your large land owners and manufacturers, instead of taking care of the great body of your poor people. Our milionaires are expending hun dreds of millions of dollars yearly for charities of all kinds. Let us demo- | crats advocate justice, which will | make charity almost unnecessary. Let us urge the people to fight for little things when those little things | involve a principle of liberty and | justice. Our forefathers fought a seven years war from Lexington to Yorktown for relief from taxation not a millionth part as burdensome IS congress has just imposed upon ninety millions of consumers.
 In short, my dear MT. Watterson, ct us believe in liberty and justice md in their final triumph, and hate rom our boots up, oppression, and sird ourselves anew to fight for the )ld democratic ideals, and then there |