The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-11-14
WILSON ON THE ELECTION.

;
the situation:
CAUSES OF THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION.
He said that he did not consider that the
result of the elections indicated a thorough
or permanent revolution in public opinion,
or that this result foreShadowed the conclu-
sion of the next Presidential campaign.
But the Republican party, to regain what it
has lost. he said, must adopt wise, liberal
and heightened policy, must crowd its ranks
with all the worthy elements it can secure,
and it must be careful not to ALLEVIATE any
good men from the party. Above all, it
must put the best men forward. That is
the only policy for party to pursue; in
that way alone can it be kept at high
standard, and gain and retain success
Earnest efforts should be made to win back
to the party the good men who had left it.
MIR. Wilson had always regretted the loss of
many of the men who went with the Gin
cinnati movement in 1872. Some who
Joined that movement had interested mo-
tives undoubtedly, but there were others
whose motives were the purest and highest.
The loss of the cooperation of man like
Sumner and a paper like The Tribune had
always been deplOred by him, and he used
all his own best efforts to prevent the seces-
sion from the party which took place. On
the one side he urged the men who were
leaving the party not to go, and on the other
hand, he implored the leaders of the party
to do nothing to drive these men out. The
result of the elections shows the necessity,
said he, of a liberal and magnanimous pol
icy. 1t shows that Republican leaders must
be statesmen. The need of the time is
craftsmanship. With proper policy and
with the best of the party at the front. l
think, said MIR. Wilson, that the Republi,
cans can, in two years, carry every one Of
the old free States and some of the old
slave States. 1t is probable that the party
will be strengthened md helped by the pol
icy which the Democrats will pursue after
their accession to power. The history of
the Democratic party for the last twenty
years has been series of plumbers. 1t has
hardly drawn breath in that time which
was not a blunder. The Republicans have
controlled Congress for sixteen consecutive
years, longer time than any party has had
the control since 1929. The Democrats will
find it no easy task to conduct affairs to the
satisfaction of the country, a much harder
labor than to find fault with Republican
methods of administration. l find no rea-
son to think that their course will contrast
favorably with that of the Republicans. l
do not know what financial policy they will
pursue, but the cause of hard money does
not appear to have gained any thing in these
elections. People wanting work have been
prone to attribute their troubles to contrac-
ton, as Congressman Kelley and others
asserted, and Pennsylvania for instance,
seems to have become paper money State.
For several months we have seen the
the causes working which brought about
the Republican defeat of last week and long
ago l would have been willing to compro-
mise on majority of ten in the House of
Representatives as the result of the cleo
tions, and the day before the elections |
expressed the belief that they would go
against us. This country has grown so
great that movement once started in
creases swiftly in power and volume, and
sweeps across with a rush. The current
may set in either direction, and in which
ever way it advances it gathers strength and
expands till it carries all before it. If the
States which went Democratic Tuesday had
gone Democratic year or two ago, think
there would have been change in the cur
rent, and they might have been carried cas-
lily by the Republicans this year. Look at
Wisconsin. Last year it went over to the
opposition. This year it comes back
Iowa's case is not unlike. Last year the
Republican majority was cut down. This
year it is increased. The current of Tues
day was not permanent revolution. The
success of the opposition was due to tens of
thousands of Republicans, who either did
not vote or who voted against us, because
they felt inclined to give a check to some
tendencies and some things i'll the party
If the warning is needed and the Republi-
can party adopts a prudent, liberal, and
lofty course it will sweep the country again.
Among the causes of Tuesdays defeat was
the dissatisfaction among the unemployed,
who had lost work from the effects of the
panic, and who were restless and wanted a
change. Another cause was the burden
which the Louisiana matter has been to the
Republican party. don't think that either
party in Louisiana was right or entitled to
the Government. I'll not assert whether
there should have been a new election or
not, or what was the right course to take,
but there is no doubt that the matter has
been very heavy burden to the party
Another cause of defeat was the third term
question, which had far more to do with
the result of the elections than good many
people suppose. The opposition to the
third term suggestion came from two
sources. There is host of thinking men
i'll the country who are not williag to go out
of the safe way approved by their fathers
in this matter. The third term is peril
Gus experiment, and these men would Wig
erously oppose the election of any man to
third term. They are numerous enough
to decide the matter in nearly all the States,
and in none of the old free States could a
third term candidate carry a majority. He
might carry few of the old slave States,
but I'm not certain of that.
THE VICE, PRESIDENTS THIRD TERN VIEWS.
The Vice President then, with deep feel
ing and most decided emphasis, asserted
his own position upon the third term ques-
ton in the following words: "Fer my part
| would oppose with all my strength the
election of any man to a third term, were
he the best who ever lived in this country,
except in the face of peril to the country
so great and threatening that l would be
willing to advocate to avert it plain and
direct violation of the Constitutional vio-
lation that should be acknowledged and
condoned. Only if there were no other
means to save the country should any man
be chosen to a third term.
Another reason for the opposition to the
third term proposition, said Mr. Wilson, is
the marked dissatisfaction with men who
have come to power, or been appointed to
Office in various parts of the country. The
advocacy of a third term came from the
boSomS OF the men OF whom the people
complain with the intention of perpetual
ing their power. The idea was opposed to
the prejudices-and the just convictions,
too-the wishes, feelings and interests of
the great mass of the people, and it is no
wonder that they have thoroughly put it
down. These elections have settled the
third term question for the next hundred
years.
Another cause for the desire of change
which found vent on the Bird of November
was the opposition Of the people to certain
men who have been prominent in the party,
and to certain officeholders. l hope that
last Tuesdays work will have the effect of
purifying and strengthening the party, and
lead it to put its best men in the place of
some who have been conspicuous in it,
The state of things in the South, also, has
borne hard upon the party and has intiu-
enced the election, but | consider that the
course of the Republican party toward the
Southern States generally has been based
on correct principles. The men who came
into power in the South in the time of
Andy johnson made a system of laws to
oppress the blacks and deprive them of
their RIGHTS which m ada THAR condition