The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1875-10-13
The Political Situation.

The careful Harrisburg correspon-
dent of the Philadelphia Press has
gathered from gentlemen from differ
ent portions of the State, who are
there in pursuit of their business, sene
facts bearing ON the present canvass,
which are of special interest, aud
which may be relied on as correct.
There is not a single Republican, he
says, competent to express an opini"n
of the situation, who believes that the
Democracy have any prospect of sue
cess. 1t is also a singular fact that
the majority of the men who have te.
ported, agree as to their statement of
the Democratic plan of conducting
the campaign, which is to encourage
as many Republicans as possible to
vote the Prohibitory ticket, and to
work upon the sympathies of Republi.
can Gra.s~srs to convince them that it
is their duty to supper. the Democrat
ic party because it is the only reliable
free.trade organization in the country.
The financial question is entirely lost
sight of by the intriguers; all questions
relating to the administration of State
affairs, to reforms under the new Con.
stitution, are ignored, and the cam.
p ign reduced TO the jugglery describ-
ed. There is no fair discussion of the
real issues involved, which is one OF
the reasons why Mr.. Pershing is not
allowed to go among the people, as
Gov. Hartranft goes, to meet them
face to face. The object is to win by
"a trick, to wrest victory from the
infatuation of men insanely pursuing
impracticable objects; and then when
seated in power, the leader, of the
Democratic party will with impunity
restore the Government to a condi.
tion not only opposed to the organic
law, but directly in opposition to the
will of the majority, if fairly taken.
Fortunately the great mass OF the
people seem to understand the objects
of the Democratic leaders, and the
elements which they calculated would
fall spontaneously y within their con
troll are above and beyond their reach.
The news from the counties which
voted in favor of the local option is
unmistaka5le. In those counties the
Democracy started with the cry that
it was the duty Of the Prohibitionists
to vote for Brown and Penypacker,
and It is more than likely very large
number of the Republicans who be-
long to the order of Good Templars
would have done so had not the Dem
ocratic leaders manifested So rnuch
anxiety for them tu desert their party.
The fact that the Democratic press
championed the prohibition cause has
thwarted their own hypocrisy and de-
feated the inf;ltuation of the men who
plntted to mislead honest prohibition
lists. The veil has been lifted from
the eyes of these people, and they
now see where they stand. they see
that their cause, its moral force and
sacred importance, were never in as
much danger as they are now, under
the manipulation of the Democratic
leaders, who have taken the spirit Of
prohibition to the mountain top, offer.
ing it a fair realm if it will only fall
down tn worship it in the shape of a
vote to defeat the Republican party,
which is the true friend of reform.
But the trick has been exposed, and
the politico-temperance ticket, which
is revealed as an auxiliary of the Dem.
ocratic party, will not secure one out
of every twenty Republicans who are
prohibitionists. Every day of dis.
cussioG increases the light IN these
facts, and every man who goes into
the field of action returns with the
same story, to-wit: That the Repub-
liean party is unit, and the Demo
cratic leaders, in their efforts to de-
ceive the people and form outside com
binations, have entangled themselves
in meshes from which they cannot es-
cape without necessarily fatal wounds,
Such is the situation, as intelligent
Republicans view it, Gazette.