National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1872-05-10

the l'Nt ol Tue Nlstst A"hA' HnH lnr hNhl lhttl
csts of the American people Who of rs say
} II is not right 10 inaugurate reforms IN III
; party--not right 10 seize every oppornity I
! reinvigoratc it Who objects to honest crit
sism Of his partyl For one, not l. The Re
publican party needs 1t. Every party ha
needed it, and every party will need 1t, An'
that member of the party who claims il to b.
perfection, aud is reckless of the good name o
those who do not agree with him, may he hon
est, but certahly is not wise.
But while we recognize the propricty and
the need ~ critci2ing freely the short coming'
of the party and its administration, Of stirring
them mp on many points, Of shielding no OIL
GERS from the most rigid scrutiny, of inspiring
the whole party to an elevation and purifea
tion of policy We Insist all this should be done
kindly, and not destructivcly. No party can
he absolutely pure. Perfection in this world
is a dream, There will always he dissatisfac.
| tion and grievances, and some just causes of
| complaint in every political organization, -
But for these 1t Is not to be disintegratcd and
destroyed.
Ifthe Republican party. with all the legacies
left to il by the ~ar-of extravaganza, of see
tional and party prejudice, Of abuse OF author-
| ity and lawlessness with all the burdens laid
| on il of reconstruciiou and debt and foreign
complications, has not come clear up . its aims
| is il therefore 10 20 tn the wall 7 Are we, for
instance, 10 give up the Republican party be-
carse unworthy men, under its sacred name,
have cArpet-bagged some state governments
| . - ~
If shoddy-and that is what it is--did not
drive us ont OF the party during the war,
shall it do 80 now, or shall We drive il out =
Ana if the standard of Civil Service is what we
! v aid wish it Ia he; if Civil Service Reform
the lifting up of the oil of the country from
| party to capacity-comcs slow, is that Il rea
son for disbanding the partyi Or is it rca-
son, that there is not uuaIimity as to the time
when general amnesty shall be proclaimed =
Still more shall we be ready to let this party
go, because of differences of opinion as to who
.hall Ill its chi.tolli ccs Take anything and
everything charged upon the admin istraton
by the i,afiectod-assumption OF personal
power perycrsion of authority, lOwness Of
tone--if remedy is need, does it not lie right
among the Republicans themselves!
Docs anybody for moment doubt the
substantial. wisdom and honesty of this
great party, sanctified by much blood, and
80 many tcarsl Does any one think that any
other party is more likely 10 deal rghtcously
with al that pertains to the nations honor and
the huuihlcst citizens Welfare Has it not
given in these eleven years of power proofs
enough of its title to be trusted Even in
these last years, the three years of this admin
i,traton has not domestic peace been promot
ed and maintained las not the pubic credit
been improved; has not the debt been lessen
cd have not the taxes been reduced has
notthe country been prosperous Have we
not set an exam pie to the whole world in inau
guratins foreign policy of settlcing intcrna-
t onal disputes by arbitration, rather than by
the sword And in Civil Service Reform, the
work OF which politicians are little afraid
because.thc people have not fairly got hold of |
it, Il work which can he accomplished only by |
4 hard struggle against custom. and selfish
ness and grccd,-in this, has there not been a |
beg inning
Let us admit that there have been mistakes. |
There have been. | think san Domingo was
. lie. think the attom ut in the United States |
Senate TO discipline everybody who in any
p articuar Offered from the administration
WI another. | til TX col. 5 ,qucnti,l dan ages in
he claims before rhe Geneva Arbitration was
another There are yet others. BIT what are
these compared with the folly, the criminal
oily, the supremacy criminal folly Of break
NJ away from or trying 20 break up the party
BECAUSE of such mistakes and the personal ir
tatons growing out ofthem To compare a
,rcat thing with small, it is burning down
he house to kill the vermn. For if the Re
publican party goes out Of power, what is to
ONE in
The Democratic party, knowing it is power
scs by itSelt against united Republican, or
,anizatiou is pursuing the passive policy,
y hich simply means lying in wait to affiliate
IL some terms with disatfccted Republicans,
tnless it finds, between two Republican. orga.
izations, it can slip into power by itself
Md so, little Republican party, goes out eth
+ the Democratic party, as such, or party
he bulk of which is Democratic. comes in.
This new party which is to be inaugurated
t Cincinnati to day, and is to skim off all the
ream from all parties, and leave only skim
lilk behind, is simply, i'll that view, an ideal
arty; and ideal parties never prevail. New
urtics are hard to manage anyway, Beech
= says they are Ike new baJies-it il some
inc before they can he put to any use. And
venture the assertion that the Cincinnati
Convention, however numerously attended,
1t.,h g. d.:
owevcr more impressive than the Fremont
cleveland Convention in 1864, or the Andrew
ohnson Convention in Philadelphia, will,
fter all he powcrlcss in the canvass unless
he Democracy is absorbe d into its support
can become formidable only by union with
of all the clements of opposition to the Re 7
ublican party. Aud what an incougruous =.
fixture that will be know many conspic
Gus Republicans will be thcre-men long as
,cIated with the best work Of the party
ut they will not draw substantial support
way from the party, for di>atlcction has not -
,ken root with the people. Tho mass Of the o
rople believe in Republican organization y
Charles sumner, if uot there, i ,ad and he N
eyed to sympathize with the Conventions :,
nd hat greater name in Massachusetts, p
That one with stronger hold And yet he
IS not dissuaded any considerable number of
5 constituency from their faith i'll the party
its claims to the confidence of the people at
rye And as in Massachusetts, so elsewhere n
think it will he found that the people will
,t be turned away from the Republican or
.nization, and won over to Democratic al Al
,nce by great names OF oratory or glittering OF