Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-11-06
Lessons of the. Elections.

+ II Il III
The October elections have their les
son, of course. Everything has, if we
tenly had time and inclination to stop
and learn it and profit by. its moral.
We have these lessons in politics every
year with the falling of the leaves, and
the political organs moralize over them
and instruct their readers about them
in such..a way that we ought to be very
much wiser then We are. But we for
get. them. Only the party. in power
seem to gather wisdom from them, and
they only in sort of temporary way,
for they very shortly forget them too.
The same thing that has happened now
has been happening, ,only in larger de-
gree, once in four years ever since the
Republicans came into power. The
Democrats have achieved something
like success the year following the Pres
idential election ever since 1860. Every
time they have done it it has been
through some blunder or fault of the
Republicans, and the consequences have
in every instance been the same. The
Democrats, inspired by their momen-
tary success, have lost their heads en-
tirely, and instead of taking good for
tune with sobriety and prudence have
gone drunk over the spoils, forgotten
their discretion, talked loosely and
at the very next election been slapped
in the face and remanded to the back
seats which fate has assigned them. On
the other hand, the Republicans have
Invariably shown the conservatism and
wisdom of those who hold power and
appreciate its responsibilities. In every
instance they have first fallen back
little-repulsed but not defeated-and
waited till the enemy, like Jubal Ear
ly's army in the Valley, had become
demoralized with the plumber of the
camps, and then, recognized and re-
assured, have pumped down upon them
and driven them in a disastrous rout
from the field. CO. .s
The experience of the past dozen
years has shown that very little sue
cess is sufficient to demoralize the Dem
ocrats and sufficient as well to put the
Republicans on their mettle to retrieve |
their blunders and more than make
good their defeat. One needs but to
look back over the political record of
the past twelve years to discover the
truth OF this statement. Between the
Presidential elections of the last twelve |
years the Democrats have gained some |
notable victories. In every case they |
have been intoxicated and their eppo- |
nents have been sobered by them. 1t
may safely be said ior the Republican
party that it does not fail to profit by |
the lessons of defeat. 1t means 20 keep
in power, and for that purpose means to
reflect the popular will. 1t is wise in
its day and generation, which itsTop- |
ponent is not.
History is after fashion repeating
itself now. The Bourbon element of |
the Democratic party seems to have had
a partial success in Ohio. Straightway
it loses its head. 1t talks about the |
"great reaction" and the "tidal wave,"
and all that sort of irredeemable and |
unmitigated nonsense, as though there
was something definite and conclusive
about a Political scrimmage in which
tens of thousands of voters felt no in
terest and took no part. The meaning
of the Ohio election is plain enough. A
great many thousand Republicans, dis
gusted with their party and ashamed of
its record, have refused to vote for its |
candidates. In, consequence the DEM
ocrats haye secured the Legislature,
the United States Senator, and possibly |
the Governor. As an event in national
politics it has but the most trifiing sig
nificance. A Democrat remains in the
United States Senate-that is all. The |
party is as weak as ever in Congress;
it has gained nothing except pretext
for prolonging an enfeebled, useless
life. In Pennsylvania it has not strength |
enough to make decent show in the
face of all the villainous record of its |
opponents. In Iowa it had no separate |
existence, but was merged in the op-
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Monopolists. In California it is in the
same weak and fabby condition. 1t
only lives anywhere by the reeklessness
and stupidity of the opposition, and
the opposition have never yet been SO
reckless OF so stupid as not to appre-
hend danger whenever it came upon
them, and to put their whole weight in
to grand effort to retrieve themselves.
The party of the Administration has
been weakened by persistent blunder-
ing and criminal folly in the past twelve
months. Nothing but the worse record
of its opponents could hinder its defeat
in the October elections. But the peo-
pie are not ready to repudiate it when
the only alternative is the success of the
Democratic party. 1t may be an un-
pleasant statement,but it is fact. 1t is
not in the range of possibilities for the
Democratic party to come again into
power. That is the lesson it will not
learn, and so it iags superfluous OH the
stage, hoping for victory and bowling
over whatever gives it the slightest ex-
cuse for keeping up its organization.
The Democrats have no capacity for
learning. That, in plain phrase, is what