The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1869-10-09
n HE DIsCIPLINE OF PARTN

you kid you would know what il was to
leave our party" Such was the language
We Heard one Of our fellow working men
use % other day. Such has been the polit-
ical dlucation infused into the masses BY the
POlitk Al mOuntebAnks Of the day. Party,
like Religion, IL held sacred, and many gross
outrsKes are perpetrAted under the name Of
pArtJ In European countries IL 10 held
that rs the king" can do no wrong. The
same doctrine 10 applied 70 parties in this
counky. 1.-THE Party" ID infallible a. long
40 TIE leaders remain intact or do NOT
cham % the name. The principles, however,
may be manipulated 90 % 70 suit new and
fOrei 70 interests and issues, but 90 long a.
the anne 10 retained, " the party" whatever
it m4y be, is, to use . common phrase, +" oil
righsP
Pafty leaders have made 1t a specially to
iDOc khte the masses With the idea that to
leavI the party" was breach Of political
faith amounting to nothing less than pOlit.
ical eresy. IL is BY such teachings that
Partfe are kept together until the leaders
are tsady to make new move on the polft-
ical Hchess- board, when the principles are
ntpulated to suit the new circumstances,
wheel the new edict goes forth, and the rank
and le fall into the traces like 90 many
trAinS,d mules. A close observance Of the
WorH ngs of parties for the last ten or If
teen years, would be sufficient to convince
the post skeptical Of tine truth Of this o.
serti IN. The spirit Of party has Outlived
it's eedfulness. In the early days Of the
Reps blic it was governed by q laudable am
bitidh to serve the public veal, and was un-
der he control Of the great spirits Of the
age1 Besides the gulf between wealth and
lab9 was not 50 wide. The rich were not
50 II ch nor the poor 50 poor. Men from the
bend and the pillow were to be found in the
hallS Of legislation. Parties then were for
the hood Of the whole country, and it mat
terel not which party gained, the good Of
all tss the only object aimed at But then
We I'D small population, and q much
sma ker area Of country. These were no
" m31ey lords" nor railroad kings" to buy
up Thole Legislatures. Besides, the men Of
tho'k days were the men that made and
frauksd the constitution and who understood
the tter and spirit of that sacred covenant.
I'VE republic had nothing to fear from par
~ 81 der the guidance Of such mea, BIZ: !
WhA Is party to-day under the, new disci-
Plin1f school of corruption, sustained
and Apatronized by bondholders and bankers,
stock jobbers and railr Dad rings, in whose
intelests they are run TO the great detriment
Of be industrial classes. We would ask
any hOnest man, engaged in any industrial
pur'4lits, what has party done for him, and
whsh has it done TO advance the interest of
Of Is business or occupation Aud then
Whek he says, Il canpOt leave my party"
We Tould like him 10 tell Us what party be
belcpgs to; for we honestly believe be has
20 hrty to leave. If he be an honest man,
oiS Arty, whatever it may have been few
Ieart ago, has left him SO that, to-day, be
las DO party. The Democratic party, hav-
NC deserted the JeffersOnian doctrine, has
oct Us power. Corrupt and imbecile, 1t has
ent tself to the boDdholders and Railroad
ingt OF the country; destroyed in the
Outk, it is reduced to q sectional minority
n north, with . fair prospect of being
ut Up into as many factions IS there are
IspIbants In its ranks. The Republican par
y, pade up from the isms Of the Gay, is
lire 10y showing the symptoms Of dissolu-
loL Corrupt to the core, it distributes ito
'atIfnAge with lavish band. 1t requires
no on to portray its workings. They are
'lsI lie in every city, town and hamlet, and
sve workingman's home, Of Saturday
1ig4t, feels its effect to greater or less de.
sref' We would like, at this particular
un ture Of affairs, to call the attention of
to the advise Of Washing.
onfon this subject. We are not Of that
'las who believe Washington to be a
prophet, but We do believe he was deep
IA ksr and close TeasoDer, and derived his
'on lusions from a close observation Of ma
urI and the nature Of things. His warn
ng has special applicability 10 the pres
mt uncture Of affairs. "Ths spirit" SAYS
UNFORTUNATELY is insepaIahle
ro1 our nature, having its root 10 the
trfgest passions Of the human mind. Il
xifs under different shapes, in all govern
Oefts, more or less stifed, controlled or re-
'retsed but in those of the popular form
seen in its greatest TAnkness, and is
rYV their worst enemy. The alternate
lo4 lnatlon OF one faction over another,
happened by the spirit Of revenge, natural
o party dissentions, which, in different ages
ndcountries,ha perpetrated the most hor-
ID enOrmities, is itself frightful dsspot
suk But this leads, at length, to . more
orPal and permanent despotism. The dis
rofrs ana niSeries which result gradually
nchne the minds Of men to seek security
M Tepose in the absolute power Of an
and, sooner or later, the chief
{ some prevailing faction, more able or
loke than his competitors turns
bill disposition to the purposes of mis- own
lei alton on the ruins Of public liberty
udn truly 10 the result Of party discipline,
Of the man who Coca not see that the
ro4kiDgs Of present parties are leading US
q % some one Of these forms Of despot
Im1 must be blind to the logic Of events. )
From Switzerland
1ne Basic (SwiIzerland) correspondent of
leH W ash;ngtor Stae, describes the thrilling G