Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-02-19

ne .ntptthiifaH JaTty anu tHt IsopIes
THE strength of the Republican party
has always consisted in its amenability to
just popular government. 1t came into
being as the organic expression of the
profound convictions of the people
against the iniquity of slavery 1t con
tinued in power through the war as the
embodiment of their devotion to the in
tegrity of the Union. 1t has retained
the control of the Government as the rep
resentative of their determination that
the fruits of the war shall not he sacri-
feed On all these commanding and
overtowering questions it has stood for
the popular will.
But not on these alone Within and
under these decisive questions hun
dred others of one kind and another have
pressed for action. The practical admin
istration of government produces con
slant issues and divisions in its progress.
To meet and respond to these in ac-
cordance with the popular cXpcc-
tations is more difficult than to act upon
the great controversies of the political
arena, for public sentiment is less sharp
ly defined. 1t may also be more sudden
ly developed and more capricious in it's
expression. To-day il may blaze and to-
morrow blow over. Besides, from the
very nature of the case the expression
may not come until the action is taken.
A question is oi(en prccipitatcd upon the
Administration or upon Congress and
necessarily carried To decision before it
has been fairly presented to the public
mind, A party in power is required to
act in emergencies rs they arise, and IL
cannot always wait for the indication of
public opinion. 1t must proceed upon
its own best judgment and sense OF right
and if it makes mistake must be ready
TO correct it,
Upon this whole class of questions, AZ
well as upon those great cardinal prnci-
pies and commanding issues which de-
fine the divisions between the parties, the
Republican organization has shown itself
amenabe to the public judgment. A
striking illustration is furnished In its re-
peal OF the salary increase. The passage
of that measure was the work of no party
The representatives of both shared in it,
but not as party agents. 1t was not II
party question. AS a matter Of fact, the
majority of the Democrats voted for it and
the majority ofthe Republicans against it,
but all upon their own individual re-
sponsibility. The action was hasty,
and before its consummaiion there was
little public discussion one way or Che
other. But when the measure became
law, the peculiar sentiment found ex-
preston, and in obedience to the plain
will Of the people the Republican party
in Congress has wiped out the odious
statute. SO far as the party was in
volved in its enactment, it has corrected
the mistake The President acted in the
same spirit in the matter of the Chief
Justiccship. When he found that public
sentiment did not approve his choice, and
that he had committed an error, he with
drew his nomination and made another,
until a satisfactory result was reached.
If we cannot have a party which will
make no mistakes--an ideal that is inn
possible Of realization in this world-the
next best thing is to have one which is
disposed TO correct mistakes when it
makes them. And this is just what the
Republican party is. The trouble with
the Democratic organization is that it is
not only wrong upon almost every impor-
tant question, but remains wrong. Its
tendency is vicious. 1t has gone on year
after year repeating its old blum
ders and crimes 1t cannot learn any
thing from the expression Of the pop
ular judgment. The Republican party,
on the other hand, has shown in the
cases we have named, and many
others, that it listens to the will of
the people. If it falls short Of public e1-
pectaton at any time, it only needs clear
expression to bring it back to its true po-
sition Far from perfect as it may be, it
thus shows that the country is safer in its
hands, and that il is more worthy of trust
than party which learns nothing and
forgets nothing -Atbany E06ntng Jou'-
nal.