KSKV
A Uim araaa
mark aara naaiia
that rour aubaaria
tiaa la a jraar ka
kind and that rour
aapar will ba rtop
Barf aalaaa grit
autkaa aajnaml.
H r. rfTf
V
POX. XXIX,
MOUNT AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1009
NO.
42
The Grounds of
Democratic Hope
Elector' Speech, 1909, Delivered by
J05IAH WILLIAM BAILEY
In the Electoral College, Senate Chamber, Raleigh, '
N. C, January It, 1909.
We stand in the shadow of a j barons at its foot compelled him.
great defeat; and seeing that it Charles II. gave the great re
is the fourth in unbroken sue- forms of modern England, but
cession, it becomes us here as re- the ghost of Cromwell guided
presentatives of a great and his- ( his pen.
toric party, whose records abound ; In such terms, sirs, I interpret
with the evidences of illustrious
servica to our Republic and to
civilization, a party which to-dav
commands the suffrages of 6,500
000 American citizens, and whose
destiny no man dare measure;
it becomes us to look about us,
to reckon with our peculiar situ
tion, to take counsel concerning
the condition of our country with
a view to proposing a program
in keeping with our record of
a mm I 1
service; and so, it possiDie, to
reasonably answer the cry inar
ticulate in millions of Pemocra
tiohearts throughout the Repub
lic "Watchman, what the
night?"
That we can reasonably give
back to them the answer, "Be
of good cheer, the morning Com
eth," I have in the high hopes
of my own heart the best assur
ance, and these hopes have I set
out to communicate to you.
... .V tand, I. say. in the shadow
of a great defeat of four of
them in unbroken, succession.
But we stand, and as we stand
our hearts bear witness that nev
er in the history of our country
was there so much for good
Democrats to fight for; never
had we a higher call to battle
than now, -itnd never were we
more ready to greet the call to
battle with a cheer. So far from
being broken, or overwhelmed,
our party is more numerous,
more united, more determined,
and more devoted to its stand
ards than at any time in its
eventful history and its causes
were never so dear to the
hearts of the people or so neces
sary to the welfare of our Re
public. y?t
Good causes never die. Right
and justice are immortal. It is
ordained in the destiny of our
race that these shall be attained
unto in the rule of the people.
And therefore is it true that De
mocracy is immortal.
The history of progiess is are
cord of defeats. A thousand
battles go against the standards
of Right: but every defeat marks
a step in the long, triumphant
forward march of civilization.
Joseph is sold into Egypt, but he
rises at length to save his fath
er's house. Socrates drinks the
hemlock, but his philosphy gui
des the ages; Jesus is nailed to
the cross, but the instrument of
his death is now the life of the
race. Carlyle hits the idea in
one of his great paragraphs.
Says he: "Upwards of a century
must elapse, and still the bleed
ing fight of freedom be 'fought,
who bo is noblest perishing in
the van; and the Moloch of Ini
quity must have his sacrifices
and the Michael of Justice his
martvrs." But our American
poet has put it in more popular
phrase:
"Truth forever on the scaffold.
Wrong forever on the throne:
But that scaffold sways t he future,
And behind the dim unknown,
SUndeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above His own."
King John gave the Magna
Char from the throne; but the
our present condition. We have
been defeated, but our faith in
our cause abides, and our cause
rides on in triumph. We are
cast down, but not forsaken, and
we know that so long as we
cleave to our cause, we shall
have naught to fear. We would
serve our Republic in triumph,
but biding that hour, we know
that we have served it more
worthily and more efficiently in
defeat than our triumphant op
ponents have served it in victory;
and we are not the men to refuse
to serve so long as that can be
sakl no matter who gets into
the places of honor, reward and
power.
I have just made a bold state
ment, namely, that the Demo
cratic Party has served our Re
public more worthily and more
effectually in defeat than the
Republicans have served it in
victory. Let me either make it
good or withdraw it. What is
the record of the Democratic
Party?
Do your minds revert to those
early days when our party swath
ed the new-born Republic in its
swaddling clothes those great
principles which are its armor
to-day;-when it rocked the
new Republic in the Cradle of
Liberty under Jefferson and
Madison, Jackson and Monroe?
They were great days, and are
not tc be forgotten. But they
were the days of victory; and
great as were our party's achiev
ments then, I venture to show
that the achievements of the
Democratic Party these fifty
years of defeat have been no less
great.
Review for a moment these
fifty years since the great war.
What are the outstanding achiev
ements of this great period in
our history?
First of them all is Restoration
of the South-within herself and
in her relation to the Republic.
And who restored the South? Did
the carpet-bagger; did the fire
eater; did the Forakers and the
Lodge Bills, did Stevens and Re
construction? Did the Republi
can Party? Why, si) s, it has
not yet so much as gotten itself
"restored" in the South! It has
remained for the belated "Mr.
Taft to discover that such an
achievement was on foot; an(5"ie
has set himself about it with il
the ardor of a sole discoverer!
There is but one answer to these
questions the Democratic Party
restored the South to herself and
to the Republic. It was the
Democratic Pai ty that drove the
despoilers from this temple and
rebuilt the fallen State. And
yet, we are told that the Demo
cratic Party is not constructive.
I answer that this one particular
reconstruction is the greatest
achievement of any party in any
time and an evidence of states
manship beyond all doubting.
And how signally did the Repub
licans fall at it!
Again, what is the policy
throughout our Republic to-day
with regard to the negro citizen? !
I Is it the Republican Party's poli
I cy whatever that may be
i whether social equality, the ex
jaltation of ignorance over inteli
; gence, or whatsoever shape it
j may take running the gaunt of
: folly with blunder? Is it the Re-
publican Party's policy in Spring
i field, III., the home of its founder
Lincoln? It is the Republican
Party's policy in Philadelphia or
Boston?
The world knows the answer.
The Democratic Party is the on
ly party in our history that has
had a postive and unvarying poli
cy on the race problem in its poli
tical aspects, and today it looks a
broad and perceives that wher
ever that problem ha3 become in
tense there the Democratic Par
ty's policy has been adopted re
gardless altogether of sectional
lines. So we have given to the
Republic not only a restored
! South, but also the one policy of
safety in respect to the race
question.
These two achievements out
rank at every point any others
since the great war. But I have
not done by no means.
Of late the Republican Party
has boasted of the single gold
standard and our national finan
cial policy. Need I remind them
that when their leader, McKinley
was preaching bimetallism, our
leader, Cleveland, was holding
the tiller of the ship of State
true to that gold standard, and
we Democrats can now honor
his memory for the unswerving
courage with which, single-handed
and alone, with no party to
suppor '!!:im, he fought this
rru3fidrat)Ie tattle'1 f
Again, what is the other out
standing feature of Americar.
political history since the great
war? It is the controlling of the
public service corporations in the
interest of the people and the
warfare on monoplies. And who
brought this great cause to the
front? Who urged it on? Who
forced it upon a reluctant Re
publican Congress? There is but
one answer. Not the Republi
cans, for when they were them
selves owned and controlled by
these same institutions, when
they had not one notable man
who would lift his voice against
them, the great voice of Bryan
was heard in our land and mil
lions rallied to his standard.
Who seriously thinks that with
out him this cause could have
come forward, who dreams that
but for him and his militant
hosts President Roosevelt could
have hammered the Republican
Congress into even the slight de
gree of support that it has given
this great cause?
And, as if to give the Demo
cratic Party the completest pos
sible approval, at the present
hour the Republican Party is
trying to get the consent of its
owners, the protected interests,
to enact a tariff for revenue on
ly! I assert that I have spoke only
the words of soberness and truth.
Let me review the record. Since
the gat war our Republic has
made five great political advances:
Restoration of the
tive statesmanship by an opposi
tion party.
And so, sirs in the light of
triumphs like these we can face
defeat with stout hearts, and we
can go onward with these tro
phies in our hands indifferent to
the minor and insignificant re
wards of mere office. If they
taunt us with our exile, let us
answer them with these immor
tal triumphs. And if our own
hearts seem to fail us. or our
fellows would faint in the long,
long battle, let us cheer them
with these great rewards of the
struggle. We are more than
conquerors! Our party is su
perior to defeat, because its
cause knows no defeat!
For my part, I rejoice in the
act that the Democratic Party
is different from any other in
American history in that it can
withstand defeat It has seen
perhaps an hundred political par
ties rise andall. Its oldest rival
is only half a century old, its
youngest is dying of old age in
its thirteenth year. But the
Democratic Party goes serenlv
on. It is the only party in
America whose life is cotem-
poraneous with that of the
Republic it was ordained to pro
tect and nourish. It sprang from
the same great brain that the
Declaration of Independence
sprang from. It wa3 founded
by him who laid the enduring
foundations of our Republic
Thomas Jefferson. It has with
stood all the vicissitudes of our
national fortune. It has endur
ed defeats that would have scat
tered any other political party
toTfte" ftur'nifsftHsuhafiFrsRt rarefy -tfcr-fc& uVuujf
this to give of our best in
thought and devotion to it,
We understand why the Demo
cratic Party was kept out of
power the first thirty years fol
lowing the great war. It was
the logical consequence of that
war and the assassination of
Lincoln. But these forces have
now for years been far spent
How shall we account, then, for
our unbroken series of defeats
since 1896? It would be no mys
tery if our policies had been re
jected, but they have been large
ly adopted, as I have shown. I
think I can account for this poli
tical paradox of the progress of
a party's cause notwithstanding
the party's defeat
The body politic in our Repub
lic has undergone a great trans
formation within the last thirty
years, and as a consequence, we
have had a new and difficult fac
tor to deal with. Under the
fostering care of the Republican
Party politics has become a com
mercial asset, as a consequence
in every campaign of late, we
have heard nothing of the great
principles of popular government
but much of full dinner pails,
empty dinner pails, panics and
prosperity, wages and prices.
The increased sensitiveness of
the business element to the pos
sible effects of political change
being no other than that same
dread of change which is the
foundation of thrones has.
b?en the determining factor in
American politics these last
twenty years. Mark Hanna was
the prophet of this order. It
was he who raised the triumph-
istered upon victories that would
have intoxicated a less substan
tial organization. In victory and
defeat, in peace and war, in
prosperity and adversity, it has
maintained its onward course;
and to-day it stands forth more
united, more numerous, more as
sured of its mission and more
militant than at any hour since
the great days when Andrew
Jackson led it.
We can account for a fact like
this in no ordinary philosophy.
But we must account for it.
Wherein is the element of per
sistence so forceful in the Dem
ocratic Party? How do we ac
count for its survial? How do
we explain its life in view of the
pail, and by bo doing crushed in
defeat that Knight Errant of
mankind, who spoke not of
things so sordid, but rather of
the Crown of Thorns, the Cross
of Gold and the Cause of Man
kind. This tronsformation accounts
for the extensive political con
fusion of the last sixteen years.
It has required so long for the
new factor in politics to work
out its effects. It first frighten
ed the people with the dread of of the tariff the taxing power of
change. It then misled the peo-1 our Republic is farmed out to
ple-those who conceived of them as surely as was tiat of
politics as a moans of privilege! Rome in the days of Matthew
deceiving the people into think-! the Publican.
time-serving policies, the privi
leged classes spread abroad the
lie that it was dangerous, a
menace, etc., and a fearing peo
ple believed it But they will
not always be deceived. When
it is asked. What shall the Demo
crats do now? I answer. Let
them abide their time against
the hour when the Republican
Party proceeds to make good
with the people and the privileg
ed. Each has its promises. It
has given hostages to each.
With one or the other it must
break faith, and in either alterna
tive it will be impaled unto its
utter undoing. And in the mean
time, it will dawn upon the com
mercial classes in America that
only that party may be trusted
which guides the Ship of State
by the Pole Star of Equal Rights
to all, Special Privileges to none.
The last campaign will be
notable in our American history
because it has defined the issue
about which vaguely now for
years past and very clearly now
for years to come the battle for
the life of the American Repub-
lie must be fought It is just a
year since President Roosevelt in
a message to Congress declared
that the predatory classes are in
conspiracy to own, control, and
use this Republic for their own
peculiar enrichment regardless
of rights, regardless of justice
and regardless of laws. Who
knows so well as he that they
have taken charge of his party
that their hope is in his party?
To whom did they contribute in
1904 and 1908? And who was
apologizing for their contribu-
This is the issue: and the line
of battle will be drawn about
the tariff, about the financial
system, about public service cor
porations, about monopolies, and
fundamentally, about the control
of our finances, the control of
prices, the control of taxes and
the control of our political par
ties. It is the struggle for the
people against the privileged
the predatory. The predatory
are already in control. By means
ing that the people's interest
was identical with the interests
passing of so many of its rivals? ! of the privileged, But it remain-
forming of a race
(1) The
South.
(2) The
policy.
(3) The fixing of the gold
standard.
(4) The controlling of the pub
lic service corporations.
(5) The reforming of the tar
iff (now proposed).
And in every one of them the
Democratic Party has had an in
comparably larger part than the
Republican Party. I challenge
any man in any party or in any
land, to show an equally brilliant
There is but one explanation.
The Democratic Party is not an
idea or opportunist party; it is
not a party Df expediency; nor is
it a party of leaders or organiza
tion. Its foundations lie deeper.
the Democratic Party lives in j by these privileged
great and immortal principles and the Democratic
and it draws its life anew year i feated, but purged of all taint of
by year from the hearts of the control by the classes in the in
people. It3 causes may vary, j terest of privilege, I sky that the
its leaders may change, but its defeated are rather to be con
ed for the recent campaign to
clear the air; and the clearing
away of this confusion is worth
all it has cost. And as we stand
to-day, the Republican Party in
victory but pledged to and owned
interests,
Party de-
foundation Equal Rights to all
Special Privileges to none will
endure when the idea and oppor
tunist parties, as abolition or of
green-backs, or full dinner pails,
are known no more in the earth
forever. So long as men shall
seek freedom; so long as equality
shall move the hearts of men; so
long as liberty is the lode-star of
gratulated than the victorious.
The Democratic Party never
was and never will be inimical to
business interests. Because it
refused to sink our Republic to
the interests of the privileged,
because it declined to make poli
tics a business asset, because it
spurned those who would make
merchandise of patriotism, be-
11 i
manKina; bo long as tne dream j cause it was true to mankind
of self-government leads on the : rather than to any interests
race; bo long as God means that j whatever, because it held fast to
men shall learn to govern them
selves, each in the interest of all
and all in the interest of each,
so long may we fight on, assured
of the truth of the words of the
great Vance "Democracy is
immortal and cannot die!
So much for the past, and so '
much for defeat Our , hearts
now turn to the present the f u-'
ture and victory. We have every 1
reason to believe in the destiny
of the Democratic Party, and
great principles rather than to
The Democratic Party comes
on the scene in this hour like a
ship cleared for action. Defeat
and high endeavor have cleansed
her for those who would have
used her. She is the mjghty free
instrument ready and fit for the
strong arm of the awakened
giant. He will arouse, and he
will strike, never fear. For the
people will not suffer their gov
ernment to be taken from them.
To such an end has our party
been kept; to fit it for such a
mission has it been sent into the
wilderness. Thank God it re
turns cleansed "Fair as the
moon, bright as the sun. and
more terrible than an army with
banners!"
We have but to hold our organ
ization to this high course, main
taining in its individual leader
ship, locally as well as nationally
men who are worthy of our cause
and whose ability and character
command the confidence of the
people, and triumph is assured.
Continued to page 3.
Sweet Potato Slips
It matters not where you live, you can raise Sweet
tatoes from my famous Blips.
Yours truly,
Po-
- - ar f " i
and beneficent record of construe- every obligation in a time h'kJ
JOHN A. YOUNG,
Greensboro, N. C.