Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 5.djvu/271

Rh party, I turn to you with a feeling of relief and hope. It is a joy to meet once more with men who dare to look the truth squarely in the face, and to call their souls their own. Your clearness of mind amid so much mental confusion, your firmness amid so much wavering, your courage amid so much pusillanimity, entitle you to the respect of friend and foe. You have manfully declined to kneel before the idol of a party organization serving bad ends. You have scorned to stultify and disgrace yourselves by honoring to-day what you denounced as a crime yesterday. You have justly repelled the leadership of the evil genius of the party nominated by Tammany Hall for its purposes. You have done more. You have shown the Democratic party in its distress the way of salvation. You have proclaimed the principle that, if it is to be the party of tariff reform, it must be led by tariff reformers, and that if it is to be the party of good government, it must be led by honest men.

Your acts have been as good as your words. Your platform is the model Democratic platform, indeed the model platform of the day. And your standard-bearer, Everett P. Wheeler, is by his principles and his public and private virtues the model candidate of whom any party might be proud.

I invite the Democrats of this State and of the whole country to look at this. What would the position of your party be to-day, what its power and its prestige, if it had constantly stood true to such a platform with such leaders at its head? It would be irresistible in the confidence of the people. Well, what has not been may be. Before us is a great opportunity. Now is the time, in this State at least, to crush the powers of evil and to clear the field for a power of good. Boldly plant your flag as the flag of true Democracy. Around it will rally not