, 1874-11-14

these. Thoy aro evidently not ussd to such ox-
! porioncog.
1NDEPENDENT STATESMEN.
There mover was n free nation In which polttt-
| cul parttaa did not oxtat. A theocraoy or dcs-
pos!sn may exist without parties; but
| constitutional monarchy 1lto Englau1 or
| Germany, or republic like our own,
| livaa aud adyauccs only by tho attugglo Of
| conflicting parties for supremacy. Tho history
| OF tho progreas Of all aodoru frca States ia Il
| hiatory OF psrtlea. Parties arc tho agencies by
| which they move aud l.avo thot heiag. Iudiytd-
uals aro effective, and tell upon tho history or
policy Of country ouly by influencing or guild
| Ing party. It las sometimes boen said that a
| tfuo statesman should bo above party. Very
boautiful doctrine this, but very unwise and uu-
| p1actlca1. since III, that tho statesman gains by
ralslng hlmaolf above party. or disconneoslng
llmaolf from party. ia to render hfmaelt utterly
powerlesa to achieve anything Tor Ills
country. Not by raislng himself aboyo
pnrty, but by identifying hlmaelf with 1t and
leading 1t. may ho hope to carry out his plans.
ThoorieB aro good; but noaBures must bo con-
nected with mon III order to DO 1neasurea for
this world. The independent statesman is In tho
position, which Burke dakctihed, Of the ssatca.
man without friends. Says he: "That man rho
before ho comes into power has no friends, OF
who coming into power ia obliged to t1eaert Ma
friends, or who loalng 1t has no frienda to
syupashize with him. is q person who ought
never to bo suffered By controlling Parliament to
continue In any OF those situations which confer
tho lend mud direction Of public affairs, bccauao
such man has no connections With the interest
OF tho people. A statcamon, to bo successful,
| must ,aya connections with tho pooplo ramifs-
Ing through tho whole country. These connec-
tlons no man can form oxcopt through
party. Without such connection be las no ill.,
luoncc whatever. Tho same reasons that dc
into that ho should attach himself to party re-
quire that lo should be true to the principles
aud interests OF tho party. Political honor and
polsical wisdom aliko demand this. Parties arc
tho outward expression OF tho inner 1ifo OF q
Ercat people. To DO independent in politics ia
to take no share In that life. It ls to live po-
litical anchorito. It in to bo cipher In tho ma
tion- No one man'a individuality ia 30 powerful
that 1t can DO opposed successfully to tho conf
blncd indyiduallties Of thousands. Tho Frencl~
man who Ia neither Bonapartist, Monarchist, or
Republican; tho Englishuan who is neither
Liberal nor Conservative; tho German who is
neither for nor against Bismarck or tle Ultrn-
p.np&nrao. ff,a Grnpiar1 MIN ia t,o;fT,nr na.
publican nor Carllst; tho American who Ia
! neither Republican nor Democrat, Is o zero
in tho political action Of bis country.
It Is always possible, Of course, to i'm
agino q stato policy superior to any advo-
! cate1 by any party; but 1t is not possible to
carry 1t into effect until powerful party is odu~
catcd up to It and advocates It, Parties will
| always 10 moro or fesa corrupt. They aro not
divine institutions. But tho duty Of tho citizen
towards party into which corruption has czcpt
Is not to leave it for light reaBons, but rcmain
! and labor to purify it; to etect from it tho
| Bcabbed Rhcop which would uar the mbnlo f1ooA.
Tho political Archinaedea may movo the stato to
| q higher plane Of life; but he needs o lover to
| move It with, and that 1oyer fs party There
| ia uo othor. AL thia Ia true of par
| tise orerywlese. It IL truo Of parties III
| this country. Tho Republican and Demo
| cratic partiea still live, and tho contest In
| this country will be between them; aud in tho
| contest the Republican party must win. It rep
reBenss tho genius Of America and American In
etitutions. 1t is onservative-psogressfye, just
as the Democratic party ia conservatlye-statou.
asy or retrogrossve. In saying that the
Republican purity is consorvative-progrosstvo NC
mean that it ia net stationary; that it strives te
| bear tho country ever onward, but only through
| the modes and forna OF law and OF the Constf
tuition. It8 face il turnod towards tho future
It is not satisfied to preserve our instituttoue In
tact. II is eyor anxious to improve them, anG
eradicate oil excresoncos thai grow upon them
Tho agitation against Slavery WAS but ono act IT
its history. There arc other groat tasks in stor'
for,it to accomplish.
Since the recent election no have mor'
faith Ia the future than egor. Tint election
Was rebnke to Republican officials by the Re
publican party. It was the ehastiaenont Of th'
party by tho party. II vas tho powerful euor
OF n hoalthy body to rid ITSELF Of tho foul hunor
tnat wore undermining its constitution. Th'
purity wss becoming mere governing pnrty,-
governing for tho Hakc ct governing and OF hold
ing place. It's mombers havo wakeneai it to actis
work again, and reminded tthat it muss not onl
govern, but govern we'll IN the iatesess OF th
whnle country; that it must not only preaerv
what good fcaturea we have In our form Of gov
crnment but uda to them. They groatly err VII
think tbat tho Republican party il on It's las
logs. ThoRo who believe tlat tho detection
from tic Republican ranks arc great wlll d
well to ask Themselves, Whore can Repuhltca
desertsrs go? To the Democratic party2 III
element Of rcpu1sion Of that pasty for Reput
licans tp too great to permit Of an aftlrmativ
auasTcr. Aud II they DO not go over to til
Democrats tho; will remain with tho Republica