The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1866-11-17
shall the Democratic Party Die
---- Or Live?

VT B<itt~
FROM the Chicago Times.
The present is a crisis i'll the democratic
party which has no precedent in its history
as it is crisis in the progress of the csuntry
winch is also without precedent Never be-
fore has the democratic party encountered
events Sd seriously affecting its future vitality
as now. Not that it beholds itself diminished
in the magnitude of its numbers,-for 4, Is
numerically stronger than it has ever been
before-bat Il at, having been beaten on a
great national issue, as to which it believed
itself to be wholly right and the opposition
wholly wrong, and still SO believes, it mus.
nevertheless abandon that issue-f,r the de-
cision of Il is 6uaI--and either 81, down in
helpless and decayilg inactivity. or str Ike
boldly ont upon rev hne, selected with pc
culiar reference, not to things AS would
have them, but TO things as they actually are,
and in pursuing which hue il shall cease to
be 4 hold Shack or CONSERVATIVE party, and
become, what 1t was in lis Paimy days. pro-
grcssiye and an aggressive party. ILesc are
the alternatives.
1t will not sit down in helpless and decay
ing inactivity.
What then shall the new line be In the
first place, must we not cut loose from the
administration Of Andrew Johnson, and
leaye that hybrid concern to float on the sea
of public contempt into which 1t some time
since entered, and from which no power can
rescue Il Is not the late defeat atiTiJu.aD, {
mere largely TO This administration than 10
all other causes combined? What Is there
in Its composition to command p9pu az con-
tideuce? Who, belonging - II, i enuIi,d,
by reason of his antecc,lcuts or % his states
maushia. to the confidence OF the resgec; II
the democratic party! Certainly Is not
! Andrew Johnson, nor William II. Seward,
nor Edwin NJ. Stanton. True. this ad minis
tratoH had right policy, and the democrats
ic party, In overlooking jhc cssc! men COM
prising it, aud thinking only Of the ri.hiiai-
ness Of the policy, displayed pririo'i'm
whose parity vas never .xceacd: bat the
policy having ftilel and having failed. ton,
through the teebIeness arl ieIly ard offence,
against public prcprieIy Osthr administration.
why should not The democr1,:c party
abandon the dead body iy7gcr adherence .g
which is death also 20 fSAit2
What next? Can the dcnpcra:iE party
succeed until the negro question Shall be got~
ten out Cf the way? II canl.ot. What next ?
! l. not negro sufTtage inevitable. aud j. not
the quickest way to get the egrO question
+ out OF the way, to at once concede the SUI
: uIdhiH8 lSoue pti1F t'i '4It 'FEtGS -
which it shall j. be cor ce,Ied We know
that many democrats have not reached this
advanced view Of tho ce.,e, AMI that such still
feel greatly inclined to revolt ut The prnposi-
! tion OF negro So rage in any degree bat let
us tell them that il is ALWAYS wise to accept
| the inevitable when the inevitable Gomez.
! Negro suffrage, we say, Is inevitable. and
whether it shall he qualified o, universal
! depends upon the promptiscss or oiherws
J with which the democratic partv shah move
| with reference to il. The south viii speedily
! yield qualified negro suffrage upon the mo
J ton OF the demoFratic party because it for
no other reason, she will soon see, if she does
not already see, that If she does not yield it,
she will ultimately be compelled to accept
universal negro suffrage.
Qualified negro suffrage Welded by the
SOUTH and by this we mean IMPARTIAL SUI
FRAGE. or suffrage dependent upon the intel
llgeuce of the nan. irrespective of color, as
is nor the rue IL. Massachusetts, TIE NEGRO
QUESTION WILL HAVE BEEN DISPOSED OF, AND
THE OCCUPATION OF THE NORTHERN REBUILT
CAN RADICAL PARTY WILL BE GONE FOREVER
Not one inch OF ground will il have to stand
upon and the country can once more turn
to those material questions Of public policy
the right disposition of which is SO essential
to the public prosperity. 1t will be upon
these questions that the democratic part7
will triumph, and it will be 10y this triumph
that constitutional government and our fed
eral system will be Preserved
| If the south be wise. it will not wait, of
| this suffrage question, even for the motion on
| the democratic party. If it be wise, it will
| lose no time in putting in motor, the neces>
sary machinery by which it will at the same
time save itself from humiliation, preserve
/ its own selt-reepcct. rid the country of the
most yexations question that ever distracted
any country, kill the worst political party that
ever existed On the globe, and put the
allion in the way OF speedy restoration.
! This machinery consists, of course. In cons
ventions to revise the state constitutions.