The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1875-11-24
The Next Opportunity and Peril.

Political parties learn very slowly
the lessons of experience. And the
lessons when learned are Very soon
forgotten. Your party leaders and
managers are wise rarely more than
year at time. A party in power
rebukcd and pnt in peril by its blum
ders aud follies and crimes at the
polls may straighten itself out for q
few months and seem to be acting
wisely and discreetly, but with the
return of anything that has the APP
pearance of success, or that seems
like restoration of popular conf
dence, it quickly repeats the story
of Seshurun's waxing fat. or thel
two great parties the Democrats
have shown less aptitude for learn
ing moro facility for forgetting, and
o greater readiness at kicking over
. and npsetting in prosperity the we'll
laid plans which they had arranged
when adversely made them wise
This perseverance is characteristic
= in greater or less .degree,- Of both
parties; but as The Tribune has Of
ten heretofore pointed out, and as
the history of parties clearly demon
stratcs, the Democracy has oftener
3 illustrated it, and oftener earned de-
feat thereby. The spells of the
camp have have invariably democrat
lied q victorious Democracy, SO that
in the very midst ofstheir excuses
their shrewder and more discerning
adyersaries,, rallied and reformed,
have surprised them, and turned
their victory to,defeat and disaster.
Time after time this4,has happened,
until it would seem that the blindest
and most reckless partizan leaders
7 lad fairly learned the lesson and
/ profted by it. '.~ v
j Bat their stupidity is adamantine.
Nothing penctrates- it. When the
people, rising up against the degen-
eracy, the corruption and greed and
reckiesshess, of the party in power,
give to the Democrats, as they did
last Fall, the opportunity to show
their capacity and their disposition
to do better, the occasion is fritter
cd away and the opportunity wasted
by some such tremendous blunder
rs was made in Ohio and Pennsylya-
MIA, ALI men of sense and judgm ent
who considered with any degree Of
tlioughtfulness tile results of last
years elections and the causes which
led to them, know that the meaning
of it all was simply popular disgust
.
with the administration. The Dem
ocratic party lad done nothing for
which thepeople should turn about
50 suddenly and call it to power, but
the Republicans, through their Ad
ministration, had done, much for
which the people thought they
. should be driven out. 1t was; thus
that, victory came to the Democrats,
for this reason, and this only, that
Democratic Congress was elected. -
And then, with the simple fact star
ing them in the face that they had
achieved success, or rather that sue
had been thrown at them because
the people were tired of dishonesty
and triekery, and longed for a purer
political atmosphere and honester adj
ministration, what did these Demo
: cratic leaders do in Ohio and Penn
sylvania but formerly adopt q policy
7 not only at war with all their party
traditions and opposed to all their
party record, but absolutely in itself
dishoncst2 Was it strange that the
people turned on them and said,
"Faugh 90 awayg"
p And HOW there comes shortly an
other opportunity for this party
either to make an effort to retrieve
itself or to try another ghastly ex-
pertinent upon public credulity and
public patience. They have q Speak
er of the House of Representatives
to elect. Can they be honest? Can
they even appear to be2 Itis not so
long ago but that the youngest voter
can remember it that the party was
making q great cutlery, and very JUST
ly too, against what was known as
the Salary Grab. They made much
capital out of the fact that it was
passed by Republican Congress
and signed by q Republican Presi- +
dent. They pushed their opponents
with it; they appealed to the voters
to rebuke the party responsible for
it; they carried States and elected
Congressman on that issue. What
kind of comment is 1T upon the sin