CHAPTER VI.

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.