The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-10-23
Tao Dissensions of the Democracy.

not desire II to be placed In q more despioable
and desperate position than it has attained by
the action of its leaders. In the face Of the
impending defeat in the Presidential contest
which Is clearly foreshadowed by the result ol
tho October elections, II not only oonfesses its
inability to contend successfully with tri-
umphant Republicanism, but also acknow-
lodges its internal dissatisfaction with the
programme prescribed by it's National Con-
vention. The proposition TO change oandi-
dates at this late period of the canvass would
neither have been made nor entertained for
moment If there had been the faintest glim-
mer of hope for Seymour and Blair, and the
discussion which has followed this proposal is
of q peculiarly significant and disastrous
character. eve will inevitably be
beaten II we persist in running Seymour and
Blair" says the World. "We will be beaten
O Thousand times worse II we change front on
the eve OF the battle" is the responsive echo
of hundred Democratic journals. "Ssymour
will do well enough, but Blair must with
draw" says the World. 'If there is to be
any change, we insist that 1t must be complete,
and that our favorite Blair shall not be made
the soapegoat," answer the Southern Rebel
Journals. "Blair's nomination was a bad
blunder at best, because, while theoretically
he was supposed to be available as an ex-
Republican general, in practice he is the worst
soareorow on the ticket to all moderate men,"
says the World. "The great mistake was that
brother Frank was not nominated for Presi-
dent instead OF e-President," answers the
redoubtable Montgomery Blair.
These diverse views in regard to the oandl-
dates are still further complicated by differ
ences of opinion in reference to their proper
successors. Ne man OF character and standing
Ia anxious, and few are willing, to accept the
questionable honor of q nomination from an
unauthorized committee OF party fore
doomed to defeat. The only man who had a
powerful hold upon its affections, Pendleton,
would be still less available than Seymour;
and he would care little, on the eve of Novem-
ber, for the honor he earnestly but vainly
struggled to obtain in July. 1t is reported
that il Judge Chase would consent to run at
all 1t would only be as an indepen-
dent candidate, rejecting the Demo
cratic platform. Hendricks has failed
TO carry his own State as a candidate for
Governor. Hancock is disgustsd with the
intrigues of the Democratic politicians, and
Mcclellan has announced in the most positive
terms his determination to abstain from active
participation in public affairs. The party is
therefore compelled to add to the modification
1t feels in not possessing available Candidates
the distressing consciousness that it has lost
its opportunities to secure better M aterial, and
It must encounter defeat under leadership
which lacks the confidence and respect of its
own legions as well as the country.
These difficulties in regard to men, serious
as they are, only typfy still more important
dissensions in regard to measures. The cry is
now being echoed by large portion of the
Democratic press that the proposition to
change leaders was prompted by Belmont, and
the Chairman of the National Executive Com
mittee Is accused of criminal Indifference il
not of downright treachery, to the cause he
ostensibly represents. The virtuous indgna-
tion ordinarily displayed against the "bloated
bondholders'' who have the audacity to ex-
peot that the National Government will
saoredly maintain its plighted faith, now finds
vent against the small but influential wing of
the party which is denounced as radically
unsound because it is unwilling to openly
advocate reputation. On the other
hand, Democrats who wish to as
sumo the virtue of preserving the
public peace even il they have it not, are
anxious to free their consciences of the stain
of openly supporting the revolutionary propo-
sition advanced by Blair, and incorporated, at
the request of Wade Hampton, in the Demo
cratic platform, that the reconstructed govern
ments should be abolished by military force;
and yet the bulk of the party devoutly accept
the declarations of the Brodhead letter as the
essence of modern Democracy, and as a candid
exposition of the real purposes of the party.
The dispute on this issue daily grows more
exciting. The New York leaders are com-
PEELED to disavow, in the most positive terms,
the Blair doctrines, and to antagonize their
own platform; and the Southern Rebels, being
now as arrogant and arbitrary as ever, are
stubbOrnly declaring that they will only assist
the Democratic party on condition that 1t shall
become their subservient slave.
As last resort, Seymour has taken
the stump to rally his terrified and
disoordant forces. JEFF. Davis did the
same thing in North Carolina after the
surrender at Appomattox Court House, and
previous to the overthrow OF Joe. Johnston 8
army. He only succeeded, however, in cover
Ing himself with ridicule by this expiring
effort, and the desperate exertions of the