Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 12, 1899 Page: 12 of 16
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12
OLD PARTIB* AlfD THIRD PARTIES*.
On the subject of old parties and
third parties Colonel E. P. Alsbury, re*
cent candidate for comptroller on the
populist ticket and one of the ablest
single taxers in the State, had the fol-
lowing very caustic letter in a recent
issue of the Amarlllo News:
In the issue of Dec. 3, I note your
comments on the "Nelms interview,
and beg to differ from your views as to
the success of any true reform within
the democratic party. Experience
teaches that any trust of reformers m
its promises have been wantonly abus-
ed by the controllers of the Democrat-
ic machine. The history of a third of
a century is pregnant with this dire
experience—and it seems to mc as fool-
ish to deny it as to deny any axiomat-
ic truth. Henry Geoge, before his
death, gave up all hope of having his
great reform accomplised through the
democratic party. It is a party of
compromises; and compromise with
wrong will ever taint faith and justice
As to Mr. Nelm's interview—what ne
gave to the press—is a weak expression
of one who has lost fortitude In de-
feat. From a populist standpoint It
is the utterance of one who, if con-
scientious in his utterance, has not
understood the principles of men who
have honored him. He virtually ad-
mits the financial planks of the dem-
ocrats and populists are identical,when
ke should know that they are antlpodafl
in character. Populists discard the
idea of intrinsic value in a dollar, and
consequently deny any necessity for
the redemption of money. They re-
gard the redemption money idea as the
concrete form of a conspiracy of the
metal owners of the world to wring
Interest from the makers of wealth.
The democrats believe that the free
coinage of silver will be a remedy for
all political ills, but cannot give an in-
telligent reason for such a strange be-
lief. Free coinage could not Increase
the per capita circulation, because pop-
ulation will increase as fast as coin-
age. The same barons who control
redemption gold can and will control
the redemption silevr. If Mr. Nelms
spoke without reservation he was nev-
er a populist from principle. If he wan
ignorant of the populist proposition on
money, it seems passing strange that
a man of his great ability could have
been so illy informed. The intelligent
populist who is really in earnest,
will tell you that he can never trust a
party that befouls Its own nest In pri-
mary elections—that can be for free
trade in one section and for protection
in another; that can be for the gold
standard or bimetalic standard; a -
gainst national banks, and for them;
that recognizes Tammany society in
New Tork and proclaims Its rotten-
ness in Texas; that holds its adherents
to no particular creed or principle ex-
cept the blind worship of a party
name and the success of the party ma-
chine to land its nominees in office.
Yours truly, E. P. Alsbury.
To this the Amarlllo News replies:
'Col. Alsbury entertains the chronic
populist idea that the "controllers" of
democratic party have a perpetual
that cannot be broken by any
vote that might even over-
thai the party is
fHE SOUTHERN MERCURY.
January 12.1899.
er—however much of a dissenting ma-
jority to the contrary; that the omy
way to carry a measure among suffra-
gists is not by vote but by withdrawing
votes and taking to the woods in a
scheme of bushwhacking against a
faction of his own party, the Tom Wat-
son element. And he is obliged to do
so to be consistent in the opinion *hat
no reform 'can come through one of
the old parties'."
Let us enlarge on this statement
some, to see how wrong Col. Alsbury
is, and how much right the Amarlllo
News is.
Is it possible to reform the demo-
cratlc party? Or have the bosses real-
ly a "cinch" on the situation?
The only way to reform the demo-
cratic party is at the party primary,
or to vote it out of existence at the bal-
lot box.
To know how hard or how easy a
task it is to reform the democratic
party at the primary, we must know
the character and moral standing of
the men who compose the voting
strength of the democratic party, both
at the primary and at the ballot box.
And to do this we should retrace our
steps a little and go back, say to twen-
ty years before the Civil war, when tne
democracy was in the zenith of its
political power, and see what history
has to say on this very subject.
For twenty years prior to the Civil
war, the leadership of the democratic
party was exclusively in the posession
of the slave owners of the South,while
Its voting strength came directly from
the riff-raff and the boodle element of
the Northern cities and the "po" white
"trash," of the South. Under the guise
of a strict constitutional party, it was
the greatest foe to human freedom
and liberty that ever ruled the desti-
nies of a free people. And the Civil
war did not change this condition.
Since the war the political fortunes of
the South have continued, save for a
brief period of time during recon-
struction, to remain in the hands of ex
slave owners and their descendants, who
have inherited all of their fathers'
hatred and prejudice against freedom
and popular government. Now, as
before the Civil war, the boodle ele-
ement and the riff-raff compose the
voting and the moral strength of the
democratic pkrty North and Soutn.
And to know how utterly depraved
in point of morals and conscience is
this element of our poulation, and how
unscrupulous are the methods and mo-
tives of the leaders, is to know how im-
possible it is to reform the democrat-
ic party, or to approach any near con-
ditions of reform through any such
hopelessly corrupt agency.
Timothy D. Sullivan of New Yorx
city, a saloon keeper, a democrat, a
member of Tammany hall, and a Sen-
ator of the State of New York gave
a dinner to 3,000 of his voting serft on
Christmas day. These men whom Mr.
Sullivan fed, on Christmss day. stand
at the very bottom round of the so-
cial ladder. They are society's cast-
offs; their abiding place is In the
slums, and they are useful only as vot-
ing cattle to be driven hither and thi-
ther by the politicians at their own
sweet will. Political independents
they know not They have the first les-
son yet to learn In good citizenship,
1
ailia«aUMranei7tUliaUltSg iiaiBia«i3uenawBilJi
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The best testii
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OVER 2vSOO HAVE BEEN SOLD
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But don't think that because we make you an astonishingly low
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WARRANTY—We furnish with ev-
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not well
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some high-
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year.
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Isn't that lair?
The Balance Wheel, Upper Tension, Shuttle Lever and Feedbar are
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It hss improved Automatic Bobbin Winder which fills a bobbin with
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21 Extra Attachments and A lars:e and complete Betof attach-
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ACC6SS0fl8S. machine. Here is a list of them:
One foot hemmer and feller, one screw driver, one oil ean and oil, one guage and screw,
one paokage of needles, six bobbins, one instruction book, one tucker, one foot ruffles
•et of plate hammers, four different widths, up to X of an inoh, one binder and thread
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Time Tells the Tale Truthfully.
Since we put the Mercury High Arm Sewing Machine on the
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In ordering be sure to give your nearest freight office. Cash must
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charges. Address alf orders to
SOUTHERN MERCURY, Mil, T«
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Park, Milton. Southern Mercury. (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 19, No. 2, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 12, 1899, newspaper, January 12, 1899; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth185785/m1/12/: accessed July 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .