Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1869-09-25
Republican Party-Signs of its Decay.

ana SNlnp.tllltN ot tlic country anu tc"h-
crs whose credit, sagacity, vigor, and elo-
1ucncc enable them to keep the popular
mind in blaze in behalf of the cause.
The Republican party is cca-lng to have
either taking cause or accredited leaders.
OF the original leaders by whom the
Republican party was built up and guided,
almo>. every one has fallen into discrcdit,
and lost either his influence with the party
or his iutcrc>; in its success. William IL.
Seward, who supplied theparty with ideas
and watchworl>, and was long its rccog-
nizcL chief. is as clplcSs an old man rs
was poor King Lear after being stripped
of his hundred kn rls by his unthankiul
daughters. John p. Hale is returning in
| disgrace from Il second-cIa>s foreign mis-
sion. Salmon +. Chase, accounted hy
many Republicans their ahlcst statesman,
has more sympathy with the Democratic
than with The Republican party; and it is
surmiscd that Charles Francis Adams, the
strongest American diplomatiat of this cen
| Grafton. is learning the same way. These
two statc.mcn-Clia base and Adams-con-
trihutcl more than amy other two to the
success of our civil war; the one by pre-
venting II collapse of the finances, the other
hy preventing foreign ntc ycntion in aid
oi ;hc cunicdcratcs. Whcnn men Ike these
GROW cold toward the party and dc.cr; it,
| they cause others t. believe that it has ac-
complishcd its mission and that its days
are numbered. John G. Frormont, the
first Republican candidate for President.
IS quite ont OF politics. The Blair family
have all gone over to the other side. Ben
Wade is still in the patty. but he has been
superseded by a IcmpcrItc Senator. and
no place is found for him in the new Ad-
mini,traton. Thurlow Weed has with
drawn from politics and is writing his auto
biography. Horace Greeley Is comm" to
regard negro politics Il, ohso'"te. and is
| doing hi, he>tto revive the old Whig issue
of protective tariff. Even Charlie, sun
ncr feels that the negro hobby has been
ridden down; and as Su,nnrr is nothing if
not malignant aud sensational, his last
great speech" was il vcuUmuus trade
against England.
, We have gone through the list OF prom
| incnt leaders Of the Republican party and
| find that even Of thr few who still act with
it. none i "ivjhg the strength of hi. mind
to the oil is,uc,. The present head of
the party is rrccn. pro~clyte who has
| taken none Of the old Republican chiefs
Into hi, Cabinet or hi, confidence. What
would hcconc of the Liberal cause in Eng
land if Bri .ht. AMI Gladstone, and Love
and Mil, and Forster, and all its recog-
nixrd leaders should either retire, like
Achilles to sulk in all their tents. or de
Vote ihoir zeal and co1ucncc to other sub
jccts?
The Republican cause is as obsolete and
supcrannua'cl ~ the Republican lead
crs. The only excuse for being which
the party now gives is, that it is necessary
for preserving the fruits Of the war But
nobody believes that there is now any dan
GER of secession or Of the establishment
of slavery; and where there is no further
Ground for either hope or fear it is impos-
>iblc to keep up any interest Negro SUI:
iragc is the only fruit Of the war" about
which Republicans can feel any concern;
and as they assume the most complete con-
fidcnce in the ratification of the fifteenth
amendment, they stultify themselves when
they pretend that there is any further
place for their party in the politics. Of the
country. The only real object of keeping
up the organization is to ''nuzzlo 'twixt
the breasts oft the Federal Treasury. But
Il party which has no longer any a1irma-
tive policy and lives only for "pap' is in
the last stages Of decay. If tho Rcpubli-
can party had not lost all vitality, it would
not have run such man as General Grant
for President. In advocating and voting
for him, its tone was lowered to his key
and cannot again be raised above it, Bout
wells letter in support of Stokes and its
total want of effect, show how hopeless an
undertaking it is to elevate the spirit of a
party when it has been once let down. and
no new issues are introduced to infuse
new igor.
The speedy discrcdit into which Prcsi-
dent Grant has fallen since his inaugural
ton will hasten the downfall Of the Re.
publican party. 1t precluIes all prospects
ofhis denomination, and opens the door
to early intrigues for the scccssion-in-
trigucs which will weaken the cohesion
and destroy the unity Of the party. Colfax
is already in training, and keeps himself
in the public eye by endless journeys and
constant speeches. while poor Grant is de-
scrting his post and sncaking around the
country in silence with no ability to say
word to redeem his Administration from
the discstccm into which it has fallen.
Boutwell, also aspircs to the Presidency di-
rectly under the nose of his imbecilc chief.
and means to use the Treasury patronage
to promote his chances. Colfax and Bout
well are men of small calibre; but men of
superior capacity, like Chase or Adams,
understood too well that the Presidency
will never again bc'reach through Re
publican nomination.
The most recent and one Of the best
signs of the times is the recent Labor Con
eress. The tradcs-unions are composed Of
men drawn indiscrininateIy ffyln both par