Show I THE JEFFEKSONIAN TOUCHSTONE I An Appeal That It Be Kiffidly Applied Ap-plied and Enforced in the I Administration The Jeffersonian Association of New York held its sixth annual meeting on Monday night LieutGpv Black haying hay-ing been reelected President for the sixth tune acknowledged the compliment in the following speech It is hardly necessary for me to declare de-clare again my sense of the importance of Jefferson Associations to the Democratic Democrat-ic party and the cause of pure popular government My views on that subject have been so often stated in your hearing that a repetition of them at this time would probably be neither profitable nor edifying I may say however that the restoration of the general government to Democratic hands makes it all the more necessary that we should recur with greater devotion devo-tion to the principles of Jefferson and his coadjutors in the formation of the party in order that they may now again after a Federalist intrusion of nearly twentyfive years be rigidly applied and enforced in the Administration We have no right to fold our arms and rest supinely because our candidates have been at last elected and are at their posts Good Democratic government requires the eternal vigilance of the people The Federal officials whom we have chosen wtll need our organized and intelligent support if they are disposed dis-posed to do thoroughly and completely the work set before them and if they are not then the rank and file of the party will be untrue to themselves and false to our posterity as well as to our ancestry should they fail to bring the policy and the conduct of their faithless leaders to the infallible test of the Jeffersonian 1 touchstone The situation of Mr Jefferson when he came in after Adams in 1801 was very like that of Mr Cleveland today The offices were filled from the highest to the lowest with malignant Federalists who had for years prostituted them to the basest partisan uses just as they were when Gov Cleveland succeeded Arthur How did Mr Jefferson deal with the placemen of the infamous Hamilfonian spoils party Let the Democracy ascertain ascer-tain that and they will have learned how Grover Cleveland should and how we are bound to presume he will deal with the official representatives of the spoils party so signally repudiated by the people in November last Since our last annual meeting many Jeffers Democratic Associations have been formed throughout the country in which the constitution of this one has been more or less closely followed We I should be especially encouraged by the movement in various quarters toward the formation of Jefferson Associations like those of Clearfield and Northumber land Should any great emergency arise should any new departure contrary to the fundamental principles of the party or shocking to the truly democratic spirit of our people be proposed by men in whom we have confided the intelligent cooperation cooper-ation of these bodies might be of essential service The Democratic Societies were the nurseries of Republicanism in the momentous struggles preceding the popular popu-lar victory of 1800 like them Jefferson Associations are designed to preserve the government of the people by uniting them in fraternal associations under the name of Thomas Jefferson that great apostle of human liberty whose name implies not merely a watchword but a creed Jfitr risbunj Patriot |