West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1916-10-05

troll OF the people, their right to con
troll. their capacity TO control their
own affairs and shape them in the
common interest.
The Democratic party has commit
ted many errors. the Democratic par
~ has made some fatal mistakes OF
action, but the reason il has lived. the
reason IL is the only party that has
apparent immortality i'm our politics
is that IL is the only party that has
consistently based it's beliefs upon
the things and the convictions that
underlie all American history be-
lief i'm the government OF the people
by themselves and their own represen-
tatives
1T has witnessed the life and death
of two great parties, end unless am
very much mistaken il will witness
the early disappearance OF another.
1t witnessed the life. decadence and
| disappearance OF the Fedralist party.
1t witnessed the life. the increase, the
Generalization, the decline and the
disappearance of the Whig party.
"And then there appeared upon the
scene the Republican party, first OF
all organized for a great and definite
purpose, TO prevent the spread OF the
institution of slavery into the free
portions OF the United States. That
object they greatly accomplished.
And then there seemed to descend up
on them the spirit of the Federalist
and the Whig parties. and ever since
then the increasing decentralization of
that party has been evident
What was the spirit OF those par
ties? The spirit of those parties was
one of limited control OF the affairs
of the nation by those who had the
biggest material stake in the prosper
ity of the country. Some OF them pro-
fessed this very openly and some of
them practised 1t without protesting
IL.
"The theory OF Alexander Hamilton,
who founded the Federalist party.
was that the best kind of government
is government by guardians and trus-
tees, and that only those who repre-
sent the great material enterprises of
the country are capable OF acting as
trustees and guardians. So that
throughout the period when the Fed
eralist party was In control the whole
idea was that small group OF care
lully planned men should govern opin-
ion and control administrative action
in the United States.
The Whig party, when II arose, had
a somewhat more liberal conception.
but before 1t had lasted very long, it
acted upon exactly the same principle
that the great body OF the people is
not capable OF doing its own thinking
and that a small group of persons
must be allowed to do its thinking for
it, And the Republican party has in
herited that idea-not the idea OF gov
ernment by the people, but OF gov
ernment for the people by those who
govern It.
1T was a foregone conclusion that
parties that held such principles could
not live in America. The only reason
they existed for a short time was that
they did rally to their support some
Of the fine, planning, enterprising
minds OF the country and that so long
as those men had the conscience OF
public service, great things were con
ceived and great things were done,
but just as soon as they put in pos
sessio nof the government men who
were attorneys OF special interests,
the decadence of the party inevitably
ensued.
The Republican party as now con
stituted and led believes in govern
ment by the attorneys of special in
terests. They are perfectly willing
that the attorneys of the people should
appear before them and plead for the
rights of the people, but they are not
willing that the counsels which de-
termine action shall be participated In
by the attorneys of the people.
"one of the things that they are
most constantly talking ABOUT is the
protective tariff and there was a time
when a very wide taking OF counsel
entered into the formation Of our tar
iffs. but not toward the end Then
a small group Of selected counsellors
always determined what the items OF
the tarif should be. The only per
sons heard were the attorneys for the
special interests, and the attorneys Of
the people could batter at the door as
| they pleased and mover get a hearing
"The end OF such a party was fore
doomed, and now the party that be-
lieves In the people and tries to do
things for the people has been I'm
power for four years. And what has
= happened? 10 has redeemed some Of
The promises falsely made by the at
torneys for the special interests. And
It has done something more interest
ing than that
You remember that four years ago
there was a great body OF spirited RE
Dublicans who said "This thing is be
coming fraud and a sham. We have
been taking care Of some people, but
we have not been taking care Of the
great body Of the people. We have
not thought about their morals; we
have not thought about their health /:
we have not thought about their rights
as human beings and we insist that
you put the policy Of this party IN
our hands or we will so on and form
a party OF our own.
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