The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1870-03-29
4 Talk to Young Men About I
Cast Th eir First Votes.

puobably be the ipost Important one you
win ever cast, as'the chances are more
than even that it will control your whole
political future There is, in human ma
ture, certain pride of consistency, and
a certain dread Of ridicule. which hold
back the average iye:er from, cutting
loose from his party, even after he more
than suspects that purity of being in the
wrong II, therefore, the first vote be
wrong, the probability is that the last
one will not be right,
The young man, in determining with
which party tosilsptifs- his political for'
nes.should look beyond the ephemeral
measures of the present, There are
deep, ,nderlyine rrrciples which must
be the basis OF every permanent political
organization. The party that is without
these. and which relies for success merely
upon the happy -go-lncky chance OF falll y
ling upon the apopularsidc of issues as
they arise, exists liy 'avery iprccarious
tenure, and must be wrecked with the
first misadventure. n..,i.
There is one solid and enduring foun-
dation for a political party, which is in
separablc from a republican form of gov
ernment. This basis is sometimes for
inulated in the phrase Opposition te
Capitalization" 81 i adaa 9lF
Z 1tis an axiom of political economy
that 1T is the natural tendency Of powcl
to steal from the many tothe few J" ant
this axiom gives vitality to the maxim
External vigilance is theprice of liberty
This s.eternal vigilance" is to be exer
cised in repressing "the tendency o
power to steal from the many TO tn
few" a. -, ,q45
Whenever, from any cause this vigi
lance ceases to be exefcised-w whenever
there does not exist in the republic
powerful party organization vigoroasl,
restraining this tendehcy-such republic
is rapidly losing its republican essence
Capitalization concentrates power in th,
,
hands Of the few, and whatever. els
such a government may be called, 1t i
no longer republic. l,i'iis
Since the establishment of our gov
ernment there has existed in it part.
with this broad principle of thorougl
republicanism as its cornerstone. Tha
party has controlled the policy of tn
government during three fourths of it
existence, and will hereafter control il
except when defeated by unreasonin!
passion. Such a party must continu
co-existent with tue republic, because it
existence and its .ascendency are essen
tial to the permanence of republican
government. 81 i'a
Young as you may be, you have re
peate0ly heard II said that the Demo
cratic party"would not stay dead" tha
s.any other party. beaten as it has been
would have gone to pieces" 1t rises
strong and vigorous, after every fall
Now there must be some reason for this
1t must have Truth and justice and cor
rectprinciples somewhere in its compo
sition or it could not exhibit such re
markablc vitality. II is "truth," no
',error' winch acrushed to earth will ris
again. TO guard and protect the prin
ciples which make ours government @
the. many, and not Of the few, is the mis-
sion of the Democratic party, and fror
It's very nature the mission is q perpe'
! ual one. a a,i,f -
4
The party opposed to che Democrac
is, of necessity, forced to adopt one I
two lines of policy: 1t must eithe
stake the bull by the horns" and Pre-
claim openly for centralized govern
ment, or, lacking holiness for this,
must favor measures tending to consoll
dation, while disavowing consolidate
itself thus attempting to do what it ha
not the harSlihood to avew. - ss
The first Of these lines of policy wa
pursued by the Federal party until it ws
hopeiessly crushed out by the good sens
of the people, and the party itself dis
tsolved. -
| The second of, these lines-that <
inaugurating and advocating measure
tending to consolidation has been adol
tied by all the successors Of the Feder
lparty. IS, So
HENRY CLArs great nAmcrican sy
tenn high tariffs, a national bank, an
asystem of internal improvements to /
paid for by the government--was d
lsigned to bridge half the distance bt
tween liberal Democracy and consolid
ltion. These measures we're the suppor
of the Wing party. Its successor, II
Know Nothing party, attempted to ina'
guratc union of church and state, tt
most odious form Of consolidation. Th
!, successor of the Know Nothing part
has assumed many names, but has a,
Ehered to 10 fixed principle; yet it hi
contributed more to consolidation tina
lall its predecessors. More mischief b,
seen done in this direction within the la
ten years, than can be eradicatcd in Il
next twenty. aia4i
/ But tits chiefly to the vacillations al
Inconsistency of the present opposite
Ito the Democratic party that we desi
to eah the attention of the young vote
/ Every platform Il has adopted h,
keen Inconsistent with every other; Il
lfr = = /.