The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-16 00:00:00

PARTY MEN.

" So far from the great modern republic being the
scene of political harmony and unanimity, it is the most
violent battle-field of party that the world has ever seen.
Men are not only led by conflicting interests into anta-
gonistic positions, but there, as elsewhere, they are found
taking the most opposite views of matters purely affecting
the public weal. And what gives to party, perhaps, a
more violent aspect in the United States than it assumes
in any other cuuntry, is, that every man is, more or less,
an active party man, enticed into the political arena not
only by the excitements incident to the scene, but also
by the apparent ease with which his direct connexion
with the machine of government will enable him to sub-
serve his own interests and prosecute his own purposes.
He feels that, if he manages well, he can do himself,
for himself, what, in most other countries, it requires the
aid of the great and influential to secure. Generally
speaking, there are no intermediate influences between
him and his object, the good offices of which he must
purchase with a price, be it in money, in abject sub-
serviency, or by any compromise of his independence.
The door is open to him, which he can enter without
another's introduction, and once within which, he can
play his own game in his own way. With these facili-
ties and inducements, the difficulty appears to be to
avoid becoming a partizan. The republic is one uni-
versal party field, and the number of politicians keeps
pace with the census. * ' The party man in
America is almost always able to define his position, to
point out the precise line of demarcation between him-
self and his opponents, and to sustain his own side of a
question by argument, which may be fallacious, but
which is nevertheless ingenious and intelligent. Enter,
for instance, in the evening, an unpretending farm-house,
and it is a chance if, after the labour of the day, you do
not see the occupant in his home-spun grey, reading his
newspaper by the fireside; for both he and his family
can invariably read, and he thinks that the least he can
do for his party is to sustain the local party newspaper,
many receiving, in addition to this, their daily metropo-
litan paper. In conversing with him, you will generally
find, if you leave him to himself, that, as a duck takes
to water, so does he very soon take to politics. The
markets and a few other topics may receive a passing
attention, but the grand theme is politics; and you will
be surprised by the ease and readiness with which he
speaks upon the most intricate national questions. For
the last fifteen years, no question has occupied so large
a share of the public attention as that of the " Sub-
treasury," the dispute on which turned on the best mode,
not only for the collection, but also for the safe keeping
and disbursement of the public revenue, involving at the
same time the whole question of a metallic and a mixed
currency. With the pros anti cons on this, as on all
other political topics, I found the farmers, in the re-
motest districts, not all equally, but all tolerably con-
versant, each man being able to assign an intelligent
reason for the side which he took and the vote which he
gave. Nor are their minds biassed by viewing a sub-
ject only on one side, the newspapers of one party fre-
quently agreeing to publish speeches and dissertations
opposed to their own views, provided those of the other
will do the same with regard to them. Thus a county
newspaper, in the Democratic interest, will publish Mr.
Webster's speech in full on a particular subject, it the
Whig and opposition organ will do the same with Mr.