THE HEROIC AND PROSAIC.
Heroism and the spirit of martyrdom and of self-sacrifice are
historical factors as real, as tangible and as much a part of human
nature as greed or hunger. The young Volunteers who forsake home,
business and personal ambition to help save our Nation from the money
power, starting in the name of humanity astride bicycles, horseback,
afoot and in Bryan wagons, preaching the new gospel of glad tidings
without money and without price, eating whole wheat, dry bread and
apples, with a square meal only now and then to remind them of the good
times coming, are not impelled by any strange or new force in society.
They are not the disciples of a new cult or ism, the latest off-shot
from the great tree of life. They are not a new product of civilization
but on the other hand they are the real conservative and belong to the
true nobility of the human race, that brotherhood of heroes, patriots
and martyrs of all ages and nations, as old as the human family itself.
On the other hand, the essentially NEW PRODUCT of our civilization is
the man who does not believe in heroism, who has stifled the nobler
instincts with which nature originally endowed him, and fills his
whole mind's horizon with the one image of gold. Those in whose minds
avarice has devoured all other instincts and desires to the point of
moral insanity, are the only strange or new off-shoots. They alone
are the special and characteristic product of our particular period,
distinguished above all else by its complete surrender to the one
passion--greed. The real cranks and monstrosities are not those who are
in line with historic humanity, but rather those who have crucified
their humanity on "a cross of gold" in accord with a temporary social
perversion.
HEROISM AND SOMETHING MORE.
Some say it is the weakness of our movement that we depend too much
on heroism and patriotism and other of the weaker instincts and
uncertain qualities of human nature and therefore the movement must
fail. Successful movements appeal to the more substantial motives and
instincts, such as cupidity, sectional pride, etc.
While it is true that we appeal first of all to the patriotism of our
citizens, to the heroic in man and to those deep religious and moral
sentiments of which heroism and patriotism are the highest product, and
while it is true that we regard these sentiments when fully drawn out
and properly applied, and during great occasions of National peril, as
being stronger than cupidity, sectional pride, or even regard for life,
and that the exercise of these qualities by vast bodies of men have
repeatedly, during each century throughout the history of our race,
saved the dominance of the Caucasian race and all those principles and
institutions that give value to the modern world, and, while we intend
during the four years to come, preparatory to the greatest crisis of
history, to continue to appeal first and foremost and all the time to
patriotism and heroism, love of justice and fellow feeling, still, we
intend to utilize every force and every means that will aid in bringing
about the better world for which we hope.
We recognize that while in a moment of enthusiastic ardor, a man will
give his life for a principle, and that during hours of deep religious
fervor, brought about by the preaching of gifted orators, people
renounce their old ways of living and often divide up their property
with the church and the poor, that such occasions are comparatively
rare, while every man born of woman desires food about three times a
day, that he desires clothing and suffers for the want of it during
every one of his sleeping and waking hours, that during a large portion
of his life intense feelings and regard are turned toward some woman,
and that nearly all men are at nearly all times vain, not in any bad
sense, but that they desire the respect and the confidence of their
fellow men, and when opportunity offers, strive to be conspicuous and
influential, and desire to be feared and loved and admired for unusual
qualities, possessions or acts.
Therefore, to make our movement completely and wholly successful,
we appeal first to patriotism and heroism, the noblest and highest
qualities produced by centuries of religious and moral training, but
secondarily we appeal to men's ambition, their love of gain, their
desire to eat, to be clothed, to marry, to become influential, their
vanity, their imagination, their love of activity and all the qualities
that they possess.
It does not lessen a soldier's courage for him to know that if
victorious in battle he is to be promoted, or that if a city is taken
or a country conquered, he is to have a plantation where he can rest
in peace when his gray hairs come with his children healthy and happy
about him. There is no need to dissect with the surgeon's knife of
close analysis the motives and minds of men in order to separate every
little vanity from the noble and unselfish impulses with which it is
interwoven, nor to cut away and lay apart from the strong patriotic
desire to serve one's country, every little individual and personal
hope that in the event one's country is served and saved, those who
bear the brunt of the battle will be especially favored and secure
first recognition in the universal enjoyment consequent upon such
victory. By taking human nature as we find it with its admixture of the
heroic and prosaic, its mingling of selfish and altruistic aims, we
seek to make every impulse serve the cause of humanity by contributing
to the one end--triumphant Democracy.
THE ROLL OF HONOR.
The most important feature of the Democratic Volunteers' organization,
is the honor roll, on which is recorded the work done by each
Volunteer. To all faithful workers are issued semi-annually
certificates of honor, and to those who perform services of unusual
merit special medals and other awards of recognition.
One copy of the honor roll is kept by the National leaders in a
safe-deposit in St. Louis, and a duplicate copy by the great leader of
Democracy at his home.
By this system, each worker knows that everything he does is recorded
at headquarters, and is kept there for all future time for reference
by our national leaders, when they wish, either in asking for services
or bestowing favors, to find the real, deserving, fighting material
in our party. Each worker knows, also, that it is the end of the
unjust custom, whereby one or two loud-mouthed adventurers, who have
done nothing but who claim all, in the hour of victory cast aside the
unselfish workers, whose years of patient labor gained the victory.
With an account kept of the sacrifices made, the clubs organized, the
members secured by each party worker in our country, there can be no
more climbing into favor on the shoulders of others, but, instead,
each man stands on his own bottom, reaping the fruit and recognition
of his own work, and is assigned to leadership as the result of the
exercise of his own genius and talents. At present, every Congressman,
Governor or President elected to office, is punished sufficiently to
offset all the pleasures and satisfactions of having been successful
by the impossible task of trying to disentangle the various claims of
the men who helped elect him. But no such discordant scramble need ever
recur, for the Volunteers will, in the future, keep an exact history
of the service rendered by every party worker, and, in Congressional
parlance, each fellow will know exactly "where he is at." The system is
as carefully thought out and perfected as that of any standing army.
The roll of honor appeals to the strongest instincts in man, which
have been utilized in every successful social or religious movement
since the dawn of history. If he is vain, it appeals to his vanity.
If heroic, it stimulates his heroism. If ambitious, he sees the way
to get place and position is to merit them by faithful work and that
they cannot be had by cheating the rightful owners out of the fruits of
their victories, to which he has not contributed.
In the Catholic Church and in many other institutions through all the
centuries, as among the followers of Napolean and Caesar, men have
often given up their lives for a medal or a bit of ribbon. For such
rewards England to-day gets almost as much service as from her vast
pay-roll.
By proper organization, vanity can be made to offset cupidity. It
is as strong an instinct, and we have the means of satisfying it.
To-day the name of England's Queen cannot inspire as great enthusiasm
in the majority of the English speaking race, as does the name of
William Jennings Bryan. The enthusiasm now aroused has sufficient
force to accomplish all our ends. What we need is simply to harness
this Niagara, organize this power, and apply it systematically and
continuously. It can be done. It is being done. Never in the history of
our country has the year following a great political campaign been the
scene of such a rejuvenation of the defeated party as has taken place
since our late repulse.
As every plant must shoot down two roots for sustenance, before
putting forth a new twig, so we have decided to plant the roots of
our organization prolifically throughout the Southern and Western
states, where our cause is strong, thereby securing the support for
a continuous and aggressive campaign before sending our Volunteers
into the doubtful states and those still given over to the idolatrous
worship of the golden calf.
Each congressional district in the Southern and Western states can
be made by contributions of one cent, five cents, ten cents at a
time, collected by the Volunteer Speakers, to support permanently one
organizer in Republican territory.
There are many different ways to work. One is by educating and
agitating and by advancing our principles indoors and outdoors upon
every possible occasion by public speeches. Another is to go to
work quietly, and, by personal man-to-man solicitation, to organize
regular ward or precinct clubs in one's own town or county. This is
the first thing to be done, where no regular Democratic club exists
independent of boodling bosses. But, anyhow, get five true and tried
workers enlisted and forward their names to headquarters. They will
then receive monthly instructions for carrying on and enlarging the
work. When a club is already formed, the Volunteer is to build it up
by increasing its membership and educating its members, and defeating,
as club officers, any man who is known to apologize for the existence
of any monopoly whatever. After this try to establish a league of
the clubs in the county, city or state, known to be formed on right
principles.
In the centuries to come, there will be no prouder title to boast of,
no higher family honor, no more distinctive mark of aristocracy, than
this record in black and white that one's forefather belonged to the
band of patriots who, through four years of persecution and struggle,
succeeded in driving from American soil, that last representative of
historic tyranny, organized plutocracy.