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Show ELECTION OF UNITED STATES ! SENATORS BY THE PEOPLE. ! Speech of Hon. William Sulzer, of New York, in the House of Representatives, Repre-sentatives, Wednesday, May 27, 1908. - j . . . The Democratic party today favors every reform demanded by the farseeing, patriotic! and intelligent intelli-gent electorate of the country, it is now, as it ever has licen, the party of Jefferson, the party of the plain people, and the party of the constitution. It stands for equal rights to all, special privileges to j none. It Is oppofeed to the central-I central-I Union of wealth In the hinds of j the few by the robbery, under color I of law, of the many. It Is opiiosed to the further centralization of power In the federal government by depriving the states of their reserved re-served fundamental rights. It is the foe of subsidies and of every special privilege; and ns a minority party, in reccht cars It has aooom-I aooom-I plished mush for tho general wel- fare in preventing the enactment of j iniquitous Republican legislation for the benefit of the few at the expense ex-pense of the many. The Democratic party faviira the election of United States Senators by the direct vote of the people, and will make it tin L-aue and a live question In the coming campaign. It favors this change jn the federal constitution as II will every other change that will restore the government govern-ment to the control of the people It wants the people, in fact ns well as in theory, to nilu this great re-public re-public and the government at all timet to be direeUy rcspotihiblo to their just demands. lu my opiuion, the pcop'o can and ought to bo trusted. They have demonstrated their ability for selfgovtrument. ,, If the peoplu can not bo trusted, then our government govern-ment is a failure, and the free institutions in-stitutions of the fathers doomed. We must rely on the people, and we must legislation tlio interests of all the people nud .not for the benefit bene-fit of the few. Wo witness today In tho personnel person-nel of the United Slates nenate the supplanting of the democracy by plutocracy, lleroj Mammon is intrenched, in-trenched, Here tho criminal corporations cor-porations take their bland and defy the people. Here ih the lust bulwark bul-wark of the predatory trusts. Here is the citadel of the unscrupulous monopolies. And more and more the special iuteicsl of the country, realising the impurtance of the Sen- I ate, are combining their forccn to control the election of federal fena-tors fena-tors through their sinister inlluenni in state legislatures. Forty-six United States senators can prevent the enactment of a good law or the repeal of a bad law. Tho United States senate is the incst powerful 1 legislative body in tho world and its members should be elected by the people of the country Just the pame as the representatives lu eon-grcm eon-grcm aro elected. This Is of the utmost imKirtaute to the wage-earners wage-earners of the country, because whin the ceniito is directly responsible respon-sible to the people they will control it; nnd then, and not till then, will that august body respond to the will of the people. The right to elect United States senators by a direct Votu of the people peo-ple Is a step in advance and in tho right direction. V hope it will speedily be brought about. It Is the right kind of reform, nnd 1 hope it will ho succeeded by others, until this government becomes Indeed In-deed the greatest nhtl the btut and the freest government the world , has ever seen, wheit the will of the people shall be, uu it ought to be, 1 the supreme law of tho land. |