The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-09-07
THE TWO PARTIES.

AMI now, lellOW-clJlZenS, the Two
parties, with their records and pro-
fessiOns and certificates of character,
are before you. During the last ten
years the democratic party has ap-
peared in almost every conceivable
guise and disguise. In Ohio 10 has
tried every style of candidate, from
secessiOnist to soldier. As national
party il has attempted to modify its
doctrines To suit customs and lOcali-
ties, and i'm attempting to make itself
all things to all men, has Justly lost
the confidence of the people Each
year their Old doctrine Of secession and
their anti-natiOnal spirit have pervad-
ad and vitiated their whole Organi-
ZatiOn, rs bilge water in the hold of a
ship taintS the cargo and infects the
crew. For them, ;Is for the ship, the
public safety demands disinfectants
and long quarantine. Every year has
witnessed the utter explosion of some
favOrite dogma Of that party. Read
over the dreary catalogue of their
doctrines and declarations OF the last
/ ten years, and you will find that at
| least three out Of every fourand utter
Z - ,IvsssI. ItcUsLII a few out of the many
examples that might be given. The
shOuld they make war on the union.
the nation has no right To coeree them
! into obedience. Dead The war for
the union n failure. Dead. The laws
/ that called soldiers into the field uu-
constitutional. Dead. Slavery Il divine
and benefieent institution which the
nation can not touch i'm war, and
ought not To abolish by constitutional
enactment. Dead. The negro race
shall never wear the uniform of a SOL
dier, enjoy the protection Of the laws,
nor hold the ballot ola citizen. Dead
everywhere except in the councils Of
] the ku-kluX. The law that made
greenhaclSs legal tender uncOnstitu-
/ tiOnal, and these notes will soon be
worth less than the paper on which
/ they are printed. Dead. The 18th
and 18th amendments are fraudulent.
/ revolutionary and void. Dead, and
the Ohio democracy are thiS fall Al
/ tending its funeral. These and many
more of their fundamental doctrine.
are as dead as the constitution and
laws of the late confederate states.
/ The simple fact is that no mere change
Of costume, attitude, profession or
/ leadership will remove the ingrained
hA' AtAAAnAAt7F1 W AAAN AEAAAAtAAAAG VI EAAAA-
iZatiOn. II has Outlived its epoch and
1 its usefulness. As an iceberg holds
/ fast frozen in its heart the debris OF
the clin from which it was broken of,
so the democratic party holds i'm its
organization the broken remnants Of
slavery and rebelliOn, and all the pas
siOns they engendered. Perhaps ]
may add, that as the iceberg, drifting
away under warmer skies, melts into
mists and waves, dropping its insight
ly sediment into the depths of the sea,
so only may the democratic party, by
dissolution, mingle its better elements
with the genial mass Of the people,
and sink its evil Out of sight.
TOall these echaracteristics therepub-
lican party presents the most striking
contrast. It differs from the demo-
cratic party i'm its origin, in the objects
IL pursues, i'm the spirit which an
imates it, and even i'm the character Of
its faults. ItOriginated in those senti-
ments most honorable To human ma
ture-the love Of justice, and the con-
vietiOn that the nation must cease 10
be an OppTessOr or perish. II won its
first victory in an appeal To the con-
science of the nation. It earned the
gratitude of mankind by saving the
nations life, by preserving and
Strengthening the bond Of perpetual
union, and by securing to all men
equality before the law. It's life has
been so identified with the public
safety and the public faith that its
success at the polls has always been
hailed, in war, as n victory over the
enemy iR peace, as q triumph for our
credit abroad and our prosperity at
home. It's past achievements need
not be rehearsed. They have taken
their places securely and forever
among the immortal glOries of the re-
public Time will not dim, but ratlI-
er brighten, their Iuster
Most Of the doctrines OF the repub-
lican party have become the fixed and
irreyOcable policy OF the nation.
Success has added to its ranks some
bad elements, some men without con-
vicliOns, who always drift to the
winning side, Is loose freight rolls
with the lurch Of the ship. Some
times the party, in its pride Of strength
has been wrOHg-headed..h has made mis-
takes. In some quarters corruption
has crept into its ranks. But for all
its sins, the severest criticisms usual
ly come from its own members.
The greatest peril that threatens IL
is the danger that it may be satisfied
to rest upon its iauTels and forget thai
the conditions Of national life are for
ever changing, its wants ever new
and that no party can live wOrthilv
which does not continue 10 represent
the HOblest aspirations and the most
enlightened thoughts Of its time.
Let us not fall into the error IF 70
lying for rs success upon the greater
sins and fOllies Of our antagonists.-I
Let the time never come when the
highest e1lOgy that can be pronounced
on the republican party will be that IL
Is less bad than the democracy. Thus
stand the two parties to-day. L sfe
no stl1ieient reason why the poplar /
verdict should be reversed in rSgaru
To either Of them. Eleven yesrs ago
Jhe people pronounced the sentence
tilat expelled the demOcracy from
power. Ten times they nave Deen Dee
thus summoned To shgW WY JIi1t W
sentence should be feVoEeu- zen
times they have bees heaIu ny 4 pa
tient aud generous people, and ten
times they have been remand again
to exile. with A. impressive eXhOrta-
ton 10 repentsnee and good works..
With uubesitating confidence the re- /
publican party calls again for the YER
dict. /