National Republican., 1874-05-27
DEW6CRATIC DREAMING

That mysterious Democratic emissary
Governor Hendricks, Of Indiana, is agair
moving about, and tire Democratic corpse
accordingly gives some evidence of re
Viving life. OF course, that evidence is dis
covered in the presence of mephitic gasses
arising from a condition of putrefaction,
and Mr.. Hendricks is therefore to Ee
blamed. If he did not stir the matter up,
the bad smells would not be so obnoxiously
apparent His object is plain. II is no,
entirely unselfsh, for be it known that he
is an ambitious man, whose ambition has
not been gratified by the successes he has
already achieved, and he is no doubt dream
ing Of the Presidency. All the small fry oi
his political faith indulge in similar visions,
accompanied by insatiate longings for the
feshpots of official position. But while
they all yesrn in the same direction, and
hold their noses over the stencil which
their movements provoke, each individual
member of the party has different method
of procedure. One would 60 ahead for.
getful of the past, another would sooner
ignore the future than the past, and another
would prefer anything TO the present. In
short, the party is in a condition
of utter decentralization, with wordy
Mr.. Merrimon come again" in the Senate
to advocate initiation, while diversity oi
views and interests regarding free trade,
protective tariff, internal revenue, specie
payments, State rights and State sovereignty
confuse clearer minds than that of Mr. Mer.
rimon. Mr.. Hendricks, with fair war
record, fsirer than the majority of Demo
Gratis, stands prominent as the leader of one
faction: Mr.. Thurman, with his pro-
nounced belief in the doctrine of secession
leads another; while Mr.. Schurz and several
lesser lights hang on to the skirts of the
party with claim for recognition based
upon their services in the last national cam
paign, and the entire gang presents to the
critical eye mixed-up combination of in
congruous elements, the whole spiced with
q decided aroma of treason either to the
Government or to party principles.
Mover before in the history of the country
has such a sad picture of partisan demorali-
zation been presented. Having virtually
abdicated all control of their organization,
having passed it over to the hands of disaf-
fected Republicans who brought out
Greeley two years ago, they have sig
nally failed since then to organize their
forces. except in desultory kind of way,
and for local and especial purposes. They
have even lost their newspapers. The
New York World, for instance, struggles
for q precarious existence, advocating de-
funct theories and shadowY generalities,
while the Cincinnati Bnguirer advocates
imitation, free whisky and free ballot-box
stuf1ng. Nevertheless it is possible that
when a call Is issued for a national conven-
tion the political graves Of the party will
give up their dead, the ragamuffins of the
country districts, and the denizens of the
haunts Of vice Of the cities will respond
with loud hurrah, a nomination will be
made after unseemly wrangling, platform
of gllttering and meaningless plstitudes will
be adopted, and the Democratic dreaming
will end with another Democratic defeat.
In the meantime it will do no harm to al
low Mr., Hendricks to move around mysteri-
ously, making combinations with his fel-
low-dreamers. There is no authority to
prevent him from doing so, and if there
was 1t would be foolishness to exert it. As
the old woman said to her child, ''Let him
''make faces at himself in the mirror. 1t
f'won't break the glass and il amuses him"