Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 10.djvu/229

 CRISP

system never dreamed of such rates as those of the McKinley bill.

Our Republican friends tell us the laboring men should be independent. We agree to that. The great object and aim of the Democratic party is to contribute to the independence of the laboring men of this country. All classes of laboring men — the farmer in his field, the work- ingraan in his shop, whether protected or un- protected, the carpenter, the blacksmith, and all of those people we desire to make independ- ent; but we propose to do it by promoting abundance of everything that is necessary to sustain the lives of themselves and of their families. You can contribute most to the inde- pendence of man by furnishing him with a market where he can buy that which he needs cheapest. Then you make him most independent. He can then demand better wages than he can when the wolf is at the door; he can command better hours if he is able to get the necessities of life at reduced price ; and he can command that natural freedom which all men desire, if he can feel that no unjust law taxes him to give to some petty favorite of a party in power.

For twenty years the party represented by this side of the House has been striving for power; and the great issue on which we have gone before the people was a reduction of taxa- tion. We promised them everyr^-here that if they would intrust us with the power to do so we would reduce the burdens placed upon them by 195

�� �