New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-11-06
LIE NOREMRER ELECTIONS.

To tue mass or voters most interested IN the
results Of the November elections, the purely
personal aspects of the whole matter present
themselves as the chief. and indeed the only
consideration. Which of certain men have been
chosen to discharge responsible duties for
which they are not fitted by habit associations,
education, or training, is the sole question:
There is a trihe of nOtOriety which these men
mistake for fame, bit of cOnspcuousness
which they call honor and there are large pos
sibilities for helping friends and making dis
honest and diSrcputable gains, by selling
legislation aud trading off political in
fluence and these are the momentous inter
ests which are considered by the men who re-
joce most over the result, and who in either
! ease, whichever way the election goes, furnish
! the sinews of the enthusiasm of victory.
| They think of nothing beyond, weigh no con-
sequences, entertain no philosophy. This view
of results is trivial, petty; it is ptiable that it
! is so general; that so many men competent to
consider larger interests, and so wei qualified
for better work, should lower themselves to
this outlook upon the field.
Besides the petty personal and pettier par
tsan aspects of these November elections,
there is phiOsOphic view of the whole field
which seems to us TO have its lessons and its
warnings. 1t is a question for time to solve
whether its lessons will be learned or its
warnings needed. Here i'll New-York we have
decided the question of an appointed or cleo
tive judiciary, in favor Of the latter. That is
triumph Of the politicians. The argument
against an elective judiciary has been ably
and fully stated. 1t had only reason, experience
and common sense to back it. Against it were
partisan machinery and partisan prejudice, and
the power of the Caucus. The latter gained the
victory. The opposition waits the COM
ing of q deeper disgust for a Caucus judiciary,
and can afford to abide its time. This was
pretty much all that was not personal in the
New York canvass. In Massachusetts,, what
was not personal or that did not relate to
the general disaifectiOn with the ruling pow
ers, was the question Of Prohibition. Massa-
chusetts is wrestling earnestly with this
problem. Upon it hinges a whole system of
legislation. We have had action and reaction
upon this special subject, and through
the agitation we are coming into a
clearer comprehension of the scope of
legislation, the sphere of governmental
responsibility and the bounds of personal lib
erty, In Wisconsin, beside the ordinary par
tisan and personal considerations, we have
had as an element in the canvass the issue
lately raised between labor and capital in the
war of the farmers upon the railroad corpora
tions and that has served to unsettle rela-
tons and loosen the bonds of party ale
glance. In Virginia, there was question
arising more Immediately out of the special
politics of the last twenty years, to wit, the
hot, bo nd Loft
enfranchisod blacks of the State.
But aside from all these subordinate con-
siIerations, viewing these elections in their
relations to national politics and national par
ties, there are certain things to be considered
which the great parties may not overlook.
Sixty thousand Republicans in Massachusetts
refusing to vote, and as many more in New.
York, with large numbers doing the same
thing in all the States which held elections
on Tuesday, are indications OF deep-seated
and widespread disailecton with the Repub-
lican party and the present Administration
We need not look for causes. They are patent
enough. They have been recited day after
day for year past. They may be found in
tho reports of investigating committees
in the acts of tho last Congress
in the imbecilities of authorized Or
gans, In the state Of business and trade, in
the rascalites and perjuries of officials and the
utter incapacity and stupidity of the Admins
tration. We are at a dead halt. There is an
impression throughout the country yet that the
Republican party is the safest, the wisest, and
the most honest, if only 1t can rescue itself
from the grasp of the scoundrels who have so
long controlled it. The general belief is that
the mass Of tho party means well and is honest.
The elections of this week are reminder to
the party that 1t is responsible to the people
to its own rank and file--to itself. Will it
heed the warnng3
If we may judge from the parallels Of his