The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-03-05
The Nobility of Political Strife.

A curious illustration of the way in which
mans notions of things may get confused is
afforded by the speech of one member of the
Legislature who, at the close of the session,
congratulated his associates that party poll
tics had not been known in their midst" The
p fact that attention had been given to matters
purely personal and selfish, that all the time
had been occupied by the schemes set on foot
by private greed and the petty chickering's OF
rival corporations, gentleman regarded
as "the harbinger of useful legislative action
and exalted craftsmanship" which, he trusts,
will take the place of s'useless party bicker
ings and strifep' Like many other people he
is evidently unable to comprehend the fact
that party strife is the most ennobling strife
in which men can engage. 1t has to do with
the highest and most general interests of hui
mainly. 1t is the safeguard of liberty. To
the mass Of mankind it is the most unselfsh
Of all pursuits. Men turn away from their
petty personal concerns, from their strivings
for private or corporate gain, from their search
for ten per cent. on their capital, from their
private animosities, from their hunger for
railroad charters, and consider what is best
for their State and their country. A man
who desires to become disinterested patriot
and a useful, unselfish citizen, cannot do
better than to engage actively in politics
without view to any personal advantage.
There could be no better course of moral
gymnastics. -.fi aa
1t is only the low aims and selfish purposes
of few men that give political contests their
sole unworthy aspect. And after such men
have done their worst, the field of political ac-
tivity remains one of the purest and noblest
on which good man can enter. There is
corruption enough and wickedness enough
there, to be sure, but relatively there is moth
ing but honesty, justice and good will. If
circumstances had made it the duty of the
Legislature that has just adjourned to consid-
er such broad political topics as some of its
predecessors did just before and during the
war, its tone would have been infinitely high
er than it became when it concluded to ignore
even matters of general State policy and de-
vote its time wholly to determining whether
Smith or Jones or Brown should have the
largest franchise for plundering the common
wealth. To our mind it is Identifying the
noisy contest of yelping ours over fat car
cass too much to say that it betokens "a spir-
it of useful legislation and exalted statesman
ship" A.4 ' 81
ONE of the Democratic Head Centres of
New Hampshire is John G. Sinclair, Chair
man of the Democratic State Committee. He
and his party are now trying to get the sol
ders' votes. They are reminded of speech
made by Sinclair a few years ago, when the
battle flag of the Eleventh New Hampshire
was brought into the State House. Sinclair,
who was member of the Legislature, then
said:
The flag speaks more eloquently to-day than
human tongue can speak of the carnage of hell
which abolitionism has brought upon the coun-
try-that flag, until it was seized by red-hand-
ed abolitionism, foated on every sea, was re-
spected in every land and never trailed in the
dust.
He and his political associates have not
changed their minds. They are hostile to the
fruits of the war now as they were to the war
ITSELF af1 .