Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 May 1907 — THE YOUNG VOTERS. [ARTICLE]

THE YOUNG VOTERS.

The young men of to-day who are just reaching their majority should remember, in making choice of a party with which to affiliate, that they owe it as a great duty to both themselves and the country to make no mistake. The choice when once made should be the result of patriotic thought. Ours is a government by parties. It has always been so and will continue to be so as long as the republic is maintained along the original lines. There are two great parties now in existence which divide the bulk of the country’s vote in nearly equal portions. The Democratic party is the oldest of the two. It has lived more than one hundred years, and during that time it has beenin control of the government as long as all of the other parties together. It was founded by Jefferson on the theory that the people could be trusted. The Whig party and its successor, the present Republican organization, followed the view of Hamilton that the people could not be trusted. True to its life-long policy, the Democratic party is today appealing to the people to assert themselves and re-claim in their own interest the government, which has fallen into the hands of political self-seekers and commercial mercenaries. On the other hand the Republican party is asking for votes, but only to perpetuate existing conditions, which are evil to the very core, A great struggle will take place in 1908. The result of that struggle will have much to do with the welfare of the nation and its people The success of the Democratic party will mean the restoration of rule by the people. The continuance of the Republican party in power will mean the continuance of trust and monopoly domination, tariff extortion and the rule of greed. Where will the young voter stand? Is he going to be a patriot or mercenary? It is for him to answer and in giving his answer he should make no mistake.