Fergus County Democrat., 1916-10-05
WILSON ADDRESSES
YOUNG DEMOCRATS

ment they really want to know what
you are going to do with that govern.
ment if they enfrust YOU with il.
They may not insist upon your telling
circumstances now past and gone, but
they VIII insist upon your telling them
what you intend to do in the future
For little while | myself eX-
pectcd that the campaign would be
an interesting. intellectual contest;
hat on both sides men would draw
upon some of the essential questions
ct politics in order to determine the
predominance of parties, but am sor-
ry to sy that ! have found nothing
to interest me and | am a little bit
ashamed of myself that should have
expected it. for | should have known
better
There is fact running through
all our political history of which
ought to have reminded myself, the
democratic party, my fellow citizens,
is the only party whose life has per
sisted and whose vigor has continued
throughout all the history of this ma.
lioII, anu lIfit llOl lldDpclltu w
accident II has happened because it
is the only party, | venture to say.
all oi whose life has been governed
or at any rate inspired by definite
prnciple-an absolute belief i'll the
control Of the people, their right to
control, their capacity to control their
own affairs and shape them into the
common interest
The democratic party has com.
mitted many errors, the democratic
party has made some fatal mistakes
Of action, but the reason it has lived,
the reason it is the only party that
has apparent immortality in our poll
tics, is that it is the only party that
has consistently based its benefits
upon the things and the convictions
that underlie all American history
the belief III the government of the
people and their own representatives
ut has witnessed the life and death
of two great parties, and unless ! am
very much mistaken it will witness
the life and disappearance of another.
1t witnessed the life, the increase,
the decentralization of the federalist
party. 1t witnessed the life, the in
crease, the decentralization, the der
cline and the disappearance of the
whig party.
"And then there appeared upon the
scene the republican party. first of all
organized for great and difficult pur
pose, 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 upon
them the spirit OF the federalist and
the whig parties and even since then
party has been evident
THE spirit Of those narties was one
Of limited control, OF the affairs of
the nation by those who had the big.
gest material success in the pros
perity of the country. Some of
them professed this very openly and
some of them practiced it without pro-
Tossing it. The theory of Alexander
Hamilton. who founded the federal
ist party. was that the best kind of
government is government by guard
ians and trustees and that only those
who represented the great material
enterprises of the country are capa
BILE OF acting as trustees and guard
ans. So that throughout the period
when the federalist party was in con-
troll, the whole idea was that small
group of carefully planning men should
govern opinion and control admins.
trative action of the United States
"The whig party. when it arose,
had somewhat more liberal concep-
ton, but before it had lasted very
long, it acted upon exactly the same
psinciple-that the great body of the
people is not capable of it's own think.
ing, and that small group of persons
must be allowed to do its thinking for
it, and the republican party has in