The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-11-14
iWihle'u 6lH-N4 I'D

Shall the Democratic Perty Die pr Ltye
The psesent il c4isis til ne ptmoo4tic,
party Which has no precedent in its history,
as il is cEisis in The progress ofthey country
which Is also withosf preSedentF Never be.
fore has the Democptic party encountered
events so seriously affecting its future vitality
as now. Not il beholdsitself diminished
in the Imaginable of'its Numbers is.
numerically stronger than il has ever been be
fore-bu. that, having been beaten on great
national issue, as to which it believed itself 70
be wholly right sMaAhs Nppositicns molly
wrong, and still 90 believes, II must neverthe-
less abandon that ,ssue---fos the decisipn of
it 10 final--and either sit down In helpless And
decsvinc inactivity. or strike boldly out upon
new line, selected with peculiar reference,
not To things rs we would have them, bss to
thinpe as they actually are, and in pursuing
which line it shall cease to be . .hold>back OF
conservative party, and become, what !,
was in its palmy days, progressive and an
aggressive patty. These are the alternatives.
1t win not do to sit down in helpless and
decaying inactivity. ,e.
What, then, shall the new line be I? In the
first place, must we not cut loose from the adj
mnistration of Andrew Johnson, and leave
that hybrid concern to float nm the sea of pub
lie contempt into which IL some time since
it? Is not the late defeat attributable more
largely to this administration than to all other
causes combined? What is there in its com
position to demand popular confidence
Who belonging 10 it, is entitled, by reason Of
his anteeedents or of bis statesmanship, to
the confidence or the respect of the Demos
cratic party? Certainly is not Andrew John
son, nor William II. Seward, nor Edwin NJ.
Stanton. True, this administration had
right policy, and the Democratic party, in
overlooking the chief men comprising It, and
thinking only Of the rightfulness OF the poll
cy, displayed patriotism whose purity was
never excelled but the policy having failed
and having failed, too, through the feebleness
and folly and offences against public proprie-
ty of the Administrations Why shoald not the
Democratic party abandon the dead body,
longer adherence to which is death also to it
set2
What next? Can the Democratic party
succeed until the negro question shall be got
ten out of the wayi 1t cannotl What next
Is not negro suffrage inevitable, and is not the
quickest way 10 get the negro question out Of
the way 10 at once concede the suffrage, max
ing issue only on the degree to which ii shall
be conceded2 We know that many Demo
Gratis have not reached this advanced view of
the case, and that such still feel greatly in
clined TO revolt at the proposition OF negro
suffrage in any degree; but let US tell them
that It's always wise to accept the inevitable
when the inevitable comes Negro suffrage
we say, is inevitable, and whether it shall be
qualified or universal depends upon the
promptness or otherwise with which the Dem
ocraiic party shall move with reference to it.
The South Will speedily yield qualified negro
suffrage upon the motion of the Democratic
party; because, if for no other reason, she
will soon see, if she does not already see,
that if she do not yield it, she will ultimately
be compelled to accept universal negro
suffrage.
Qualified negro suffrage yielded by the
South, and by this we mean IMPARTIAL
SUFFRAGE, or suffrage dependant upon the
intelligence of the man irrespective of color,
as is noe the rule in Massachusetts, the negro
question will have been disposed of, and the
Northern Republican radical party win be
gone forever Not one inch of ground will it
have to stand upon; and the country can
once more return 20 tLose material questions
Of public policy, the right disposition Of which
is SO essential TO the public prosperity. 1t
will be upou'these questions that the demos
cratic party will triumph, and it will be by
this triumph that the constitutional govern
ment and our federal system Will be pres
served.
If the South be wise, it will not wait, on
this suffrage question. even for the motion OF
the democratic party. lift be wise, it will
lose no time in putting in motion the neces'
sary machinery by which it will ct The sane
time save itself from humiliation, preserve
its own set-respect, rid the country Of the
most vexatious question that ever distracted
any country, kill the worst political party
that ever existed on the globe, and put the
union in the way of speedy restoration. This
machinery consists, of course. in conventions
to revise the state constitutions. Chicago
Times.