Show full text of john W 0 davis 9 speech accepting democratic leadership clarksburg CLARKS BURG W va aug 11 following is the text of john W davis speech accepting the democratic nomination for the presidency a A i n amri and members of the a you will understand under with little explanation on my part the feelings which have led me to fix our meeting gat at this spot in ju the hills of west virginia these aru the hills that cradled mo and to which as boy and man I 1 lifted up my eyes for help in this soil rest four generations of my people tradesmen farmers and a sprinkling of the professions laborers all who played in simple fashion their appointed parts la IR the we afo of this community among them now lie those who gave me inq life and to whose high precept and example I J owe all that I 1 have eyer been and all that I 1 can hope to 0 o be these witnesses who surround us are the companions of my youth with them moat most of my daysi have been spent and when circumstances have called roe me elsewhere they have followed me with a regard and affection that has laid on me a debt oc of gratitude greater than I 1 can repay twenty five years ago they by first called me to their service ae as their representative in the legislature ot of this state and since mat day in 10 public office or in fit private life I 1 have fought with them unceasingly the battle for democratic ideals and democratic principles of their own tree free will and motion they presented my name to the democratic convention as one deserving of its consideration better than all others they will know whether what I 1 shall say may to you today ts to in keeping with the convictions I 1 have expressed and the action I 1 have taken in the past and more than an any others they will resent anything L may say or dd that shown their confidence misplaced it Is in the presence c of these hills these graves these witnesses that thail I 1 wish to hear your message and give you my reply A weighty commission you tou come to give me official notice that I 1 have been chosen by the I 1 continued on page two f column 1 full 11 text of john W davis speech accepting democratic leadership from pago 1 ono one inn party as its vo for tit mg brat mm in the gift of lisp til arita rhan in pi ople opi you invite nr 1114 to take ahto af ro ins 1 fit esq anti 1 inar ahal ita it ito 11 1111 ir it ahr coming catti lalen nit N u ull ith fir i r commission al 41 bo lie laid on lofty ill ill ihunt h b va van in inde ln d 1 l wiio who li 14 not dot fi fal fil I 1 lile lilo ouli unal doil etro I 1 lit u hurh it 11 tuek took und lm ho lo be 10 ain I 1 bilious belond lo 10 ond rt union hoin thought j of annin or honor to andor alc take it t ullin tit tin the fullest alth 11 hie his patty ity find nil its th ninin I 1 lioubov that you aro tho tile dative 4 of of tins who i etro ir with existing condl chono 11 lio fin annir for the day 1 whon when Antii Anin rica flea aill 1 mul mot har ln r duo fato it to the front kirnin und anti abo lip nta i roady to follow r the for nril march bogins and I 1 hn arwill nr platform and ito to f party principle pio slid thi tho ni such as I 1 o an uin por for ahinga I 1 thank god ami amt talc N ni is 1 apology 1 4 I 1 floal M mr r chairman in linita inic or what you burc ere rood good to nay ton curning my career and conduct ae AN a lawyer I 1 have no apology to offer error for olther either tile answer to any criticism on oil that mcora must romo come not only from those who liko yourself you reolf have won tho the highsmit dho distinction nt at tho the bar but also aa from I 1 tin lie more than other othor hone ml and patriotic inon mon ond anti onan who ninko make up tho the legal pro fi fanlon of thin country timy know und tile will kindly join you in testifying that tho upright lawyer selx 1 his 1 but nver laix 11 flout A word of permon nl history in thin film however hoever may antal n bo lie out of place whon I 1 wan or tile pur como of to ippu int tun illo to to tho th high office of denoral my firma 1 net wan to istir r nil all private employment and to too never illy etli the law iun firm of which I 1 wan wait then a member and unit of or which my itty father fattier wan tin hviid prom from that day until in lit detles an to groat great arlt wro wore antl ended d night eight yearn years later I 1 lind ho lio ollar client or employer than the tile and find the po people o ale of tho staten Whit whether ther I 1 served orin or in vell or faithfully not lint 1 I but others insist may an soon all t alio ile con v liti oll over wh which fell you no ably in lit my bohula I 1 realized that I 1 as called upon to repent my connor former action artion within thu tho apok I 1 sign ined to all my that I 1 could no longer korvo nerve thoin thern and covered my connections with alth alit honorable lionor ahio gentlemen who wor pre my iny partners port nors party only client I 1 linbo no clients today lint but the tile enot party and if they will it no tile hoopla of tile states many find bravo grave tire the problems of ihu tho hour and all fill tho the of und nt tit our command will be top taxed in their solution tho the allied fortch of proud and dishonesty of self seeking and partisanship of prejudice and ignorance threaten today an they have rarely done before tho the of our national ideals traditions and alen are looking as kance at one another tire mistrusting ono are doubting each the othorn rood good will and li honesty of purpose the solidarity of tho the groat great war has riven given way to a chaos of bloes and sections and classes and into rents each striving for its 11 own advantage car qs of the tile welfare of the tile whole government itself to which the humblest citizen has the tho right to turn with confident reliance in tit ita its evenhanded justice has fallen under tinder tile prevalent distrust no aang r Tru there la is abroad in the land a feel ang too V doop loop minted for any trifling that men in office can call no longer 1 bo trusted to keep faith falth with ith those who bint them there and that the powers of government are being exercised exorcised in the pursuit of personal gain instead of he elie common service out of this and because of it there here has developed an alarming tendency to take tho the of the law out of tho the hands of constituted officials and to ex execute cule its processes through individuals or through organized societies by methods little different frohn those of private revenge A situation ao ISO threatening to the cry f foundations of tari social order demands boldness in lit facing the causes which have brought it about end and tireless tire leaa exertion ox in tho effort to rr remove ee mm oo 00 44 a i them to bring the government inck to tho the knople alf 1 and always ha hae 8 boon been tho tile doctrine of democracy today in addition it in 1 tho the supreme nood of thu lie hour to bring back to tho tile people confidence in tholar KOV coy orti ramont rn mont ment tho tha search for tile causes of thin hinto of affairs ioann UK ug at once to the ti of elio hint lont four yearn in 1920 wo we passed through n political camp campaign in which wad was pron ehod an a creed find 1 up a n duty all thoo ali forceps forr of dir discontent content wore were ond anti tho file inborn of ovary every ring hat linto worn into burning bunting flame wo haya onton of tho the fruit of tho tile treo tree planted and it tin beon llott bitter r in me mouths of oven tho the I 1 speak with whon when I 1 ray ont tl ni it linn lins brought forth corruption lii fit high in legisla and anti discord in party rounelle impotence in government 11 i it liot hot at ruggle for profit and ad intakeo which fins lin ue its ut at hunio anti humiliated ug us for taisto th ho party now in power connot tho ity that IH in its it duo file no ut at atie 4 h loikith loi anth ith hour flour and no pro nilso of reform ann cancel halt a uno line of tho elie facts the time do d islands plain speaking it is 1 not a welcome tank task to recount tho the multiplied scandale Hcan dale of those mt ml l years it senator of 0 tho the united states convicted of corr corrupt apt practice in lit tho the 1 ao of 0 his sena sent a of tho elio interior in return for bribes granting dwity the naval oil erves so emmary to the security of tho tile country a secretary of tho the navy ignorant of tile in progress a it if not indifferent to it an attorney renor gener nl ni admitting bribo takers to the elie department part parti ment nent of justice making them hib him boon com palona and utilizing tho the agencies of tho tile law for purposes eca of private and political vencanzo ven canco gance it chief of tho tile veterans bureau stealing 1 and helping others to steal the millions in money and supplies provided for tho the relief of those defenders of tho the nation most entitled to the nations gratitude and care such crimps are too gross to bo be forgotten or forgiven s sharper edge I 1 do not believe that the millions of sincere and patriotic men and women who have compo composed ced the rank and file me of the republican party are more ready to condone theeo these and similar offenses or to pardon the offenders than tho those 49 e of other p political I 1 faiths indeed their indignation has perhaps a harper edge for it la Is coupled with the char chagrin rin that musk must follow from the knoAl knowledge edge that under authority issued in their namu I 1 corrupt men have crept to places of 0 power and then betrayed tho trust that placed them there I 1 thare are tire circumstances i ho however wever eiph which spread responsibility for the effect of these things upon the public 1 confidence beyond tho the list of tho the I 1 criminals them themselves olves there Is 1 first 1 tho fact that the I 1 ho revelation of these I 1 crimp R was not the result of nn an action taken by the executive no I 1 burning indignation thorf put in tr anin aln tho forces of investigation and 1 or of punishment the tha eam boniv as the nult of the painstaking effort of faithful public fiery anta in tho the legislative branch of the covern mont who nho could not close their 0 es even m when hen others chose tu too I 1 again when dig discovery covery was threatened instead of aid and assistance si from the executive branch there pro hurried efforts to suppress i mony to discourage witnesses to spy upon investigators and finally I 1 by trumped up indictment to frighten and anti deter them from the pursuit the spying of senators and congressmen the hasty interchange of telegrams in department code the refusal I 1 of those accused to come for ward under oath to purge esnil esail a these things serve to blacken a page that was wa already dark enough lul probe help perhaps in moral quail ity but hardly lees loss painful to tho tile I 1 co country antry ham been the attitude ol 01 some of mono thome in high placcie whose offit off 11 of exposures by crying out not a 11 tho tile guilty hut but against choh mini exposed them what dball wo we may a statement botnen from one who uhn of or all mn men should ha hn cimett inert most deeply stirred that wonder in not that so many eliav fallon but that so fow few bave havoc be n shown untrue with what tico wo we groot tho the libelous atit K that after all nil then theno aro but provoked by tho tile do attendant upon tho the grout great war ie Is memory then thon so mhora that wo no longer recall the herolf dueh of 1017 and 1918 1919 wh when ni ro rose ao to heights of moral I 1 tir when every meeting place anra a bompio and every hound a shrine shall wo we for got 1 una no tin taint enlist or or corruption ham avor attached to any man who held public office during luring flint grant Pt ruggle or to an tin man who to hold office under tho th fedral fed ral government until march 4 1921 mirll 11 shock was lato late indeed in arriving if it in to bo be put for fortuni arird now an tho tile excuse for shuso gromm nil misdeed dukch direct charro chargo I 1 chian tho tile republican party with this corruption in office I 1 charge chairge it also with mith in log I 1 do more I 1 charge it with that grossert crosB gros cat seat form of 0 favor itlen willell kevch to him 1111 ito io 11 hath a t I 1 and anti taken away from him who ho hath not to pervert hish high office to por per 1 sujint bonal nain ill 1 an of lentie cle tested by on all honest lioi icat mon men but to uso tho the power 1 of legislation purposely soly to enrich ono one man or sot set of men nt at tho the ox ex penno of others IN 1 robbery on oil a large 1 aenlo though dono done under forma forms of law in tho tile passage of tho the ford 1 nty tariff act Imposing Impo sInK i tho the highest rates and dutle s in the tariff lil history story of the nation thoro there was an unblushing return to ahe tho evil daas da of rewarding party support and anti political with log Isla tivo favors in tho the language lan 1 of ono ong of the advocates of that measure if we tako take care of tho the producers tho consumers can tako take care of os es for overy every dollar that this statute has drawn into the treasury of or the united states it has diverted five from tho the pocket of the consumer c r into the pockets of the favored je fe although the platform adopted at cf cleveland evelan d bolds out to tho tile taxpayer the elusive promise of toilet to those who nho are dally daily paying their taxes through their living expenses as a indeed they are it tt no cohere now hero here offers any promise of a reduction in tariff duties but lauda lauds the tv lating bill as tho the summit of human wisdom aa bs i I 1 honest ionest lacking la is there not something of humor as well uell as u li honesty lacking in those who in OHO and tho sunie breath can promise a reduction of the cost of living und praise a statute which maista the price of the elemental necessaries of life who ho can demand as they should the payment of our foreign debts hue but refuse to accept from front the debtor goods in which alone payment can be made who ito clamor for an american merchant marine but deny it the tile cargoes for its existence when a reduction in the burden of income taxes could no longer be denied the country was as presented with the mellon bill offered by the administration to the people as the last word on that when it met mot the test of impartial analysis here too there appeared tho the motive to favor the taw fem possessors of swollen incomes beyond the many of moderate means under democratic initiative and democratic guidance a bill was as passed in its stead so changing the weight and emphasis of tho proposed reduction as to give the tho greater relief to those whose tax payments pressed upon their scale of if chine ing although the executive approval this bill received was grudging and reluctant not even the submissive convention at cleveland dated to suggest that the mellon bill bo revived and adopted as a substitute sti liti tute wo we assert in our platform that tit republican party believes that national prosperity must mut originate with the special interests and seep down town through the channels of trade to the less favored industries to the ago earners and small salaried employees it has accordingly enthroned privilege and nurtured selfishness fish ness I 1 repeat the words and I 1 register the emphatic dissent of the tile democratic part from that doc trine and impotence I 1 charge the republican party with corruption in administration U ith favoritism to privileged classes in legislation I 1 charge it also with division in council and impotence in I 1 action no political party has the i right to hold tho the reins of govern I 1 anent unless it can exhibit tho the cardinal virtues of honesty sincerity and unity of these the last Is by no means the least important matter how lofty tho the ideals or how pure tho the of any party the country la Is not served unless it posses possesses |