New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-03-21
POLITICS OF THE FUTURE.
A TRANSITION TAKING PLACE.

TYR NJ REGULAR COEREHPCADENi VI liAA ii-iA'e't-'i
WASHINGTON. March 10.-The future of national
politics is shroudcd IN mist just now. but 1t -
mist with rainbow hues and through its riffs there
seem to be pleasant prospects of time when party
strife shall be less fierce, when sectional hatred
shall vanish when the greed for Office shall be more
! tempered by patriotism. and when the whole land
| shall have rest. Perhaps these prospects are only
illusions born of the present sunshine and the maze
| which make coming events hard To trace, puV
they seem substantial enough 10 be real,
| and if is an agreeable task to scan
them as well as one may. All the more gladly does
one sketch the picture from its contrast with the
! gloomy outlook which appalled, the country only 4
| few weeks ago. when partisan animOsity carried
war Of threatening words TO the verge OF violence.
! A sagacious and honorable Administration has al
ready worked wonders. To it and to the abiding
good sense of the people due the serenity OF the
present situation and the grateful prospects OF iran
! ouillity which no one fail to notice. III mas
! shown how easy it Is to do a right act IN
politics. and how vain is the opposition OF
! selfish and ambitious men. system OF appoint
ment to Office based the theory that the Govern
ment Is treasure house of spoils to be sacked by
the boldest men in the successful party, ana the
plunder distributed among their most serviceable
| followers which had been built up through more
than a generation by intrigues, bargains and cut
throat tricks is demolished in n fortnight by the
ouiet resolute purpose of one strong man. theory
of party policy built upon the prolongatlOn OF
race preiudices the SOuth and the preservation OF
the bitterness between the North and South sur
vvinc the rebellion has been abandoned because it
could not stand before the liberal generous and
sensible views expressed by that same man, VINO
believes that strength and gentleness are not IN
| compatible.
Rnt the pohcians say we are in the midst of
| oh I hp
said Southern Democrat the other day. How do
Won like your Administration 7" asked an Eastern
! Republican of a Democratic Congressman. few
! DAYS aro a famous Republican orator was lnqulrng
! of his friends how they Telished working year 10
put their opponents in power, and at the same time
| certain Democrats writing from tennessee
that their party would go to pieces II hey went INTO
! the Cabinet. 81 can't make any caicua-
+ions - remarked lately distinguished Senator who
used 10 have "A reputation for predicting the future
of politics. "When Republican President puts
Democrats in the post-oflices and he will pay
| inst as much attention to the recommendations OF
Con ressupn rs 10 those of other respectable cltl-
zeps. there is no telling what to expect. It's revo-
linton. and nothing Less Well it's kind OF reyo-
linton that is likely to be popular The spectacle OF
! President trying to serve the country instead oil
| his party is indeed a strange one, but 1t oifends
nobody but the politicians by trade of both parties
! The effect of Mr. IIayes's course in the future
relations and movements of the two great parties Is
hard to predict but its influence on the people at
large cannot well be otherwise than beneficial. All
indications point TO long ul IN national POLITICS
period when no vital issues will be at stake and
when large masses Of citizens VIII not feel bound To
! get excited about the election of this or that
/ candidate-a season OF peace and good Will when
public attention can turn to industrial and social
! questions. How beneficial such an era OF Iepose
! would be to the nation | need scarcely stop
/ To discuss The energies of statesmen Journal
lists, and other leaders Of popular opinion
would lie turned into new fields. The restoration
| of our foreign commerce, tie revival OF our
| manufacturing industries, the further development
of our Western Territories. the improvement OF mu-
nicipal governments, more thorough methods OF ed
ucation. better sanitary conditions III cities, the
growth of a national hterature-these and many
other important subjects might engrOss their pow
ers and absorb more of public interest than the
strfcs of parties. We might even rope for time
when the appearance of a great literary work or
! new discovery III the domain Of science wonid De
thought more important event than the election oil
a Governor or a United State, Senator.
look for period of comparative tranquility IN
! national poltics-frs because the long epoch of
disturbance and excitement through which the
country has Just passed would in the natural order
of things be succeeded By season Of rcpose; ana,
| secondly. because the two parties confused by re-
| cent events do not know what to fight about. IL
will take some time for them to discover or invent
new issues and that time the country can profit by
to push forward in the path of progress. The south
ern issue in its old form is dead President Hayess
! in9uaural killed il. We shall never again the
ignorant negro and the vicious caTpetbagger lcagued
with the intelligent and virtuous element IN the
! North, or the coarse, incompetent uneducated, or
ill-educatcd party in the North using the brain and
merit of the South as a stepping-stOue TO power.
New questions will undoubtedly arise ont of the re-
lations of the two races in the Southern States for
model republics cannot be expected to exist where
Onehalf Of the voters cannot read the tickets they
put in the ballot boxes, but they will not be the old
questions which have divided Republicans and
Democrats at the North. As soon as the country Is
! convinced that the principles Of Hayess inaugural
will be successfully carried out the old party names,
as far as they concern The condition Of tine South,
will have no further significance.
A few years ago it looked az if civil service
| reform might De an issue which would dominate
| the near future OF politics; but after working
its way slowly beneath the surface until 1t estab-
! shed a firm root in the Judgment Of the people,
this reform blossoms ont all al at the top of
the political fabric. Sustained by the President
and his Cabinet il into vigorous action with
out much preliminary political agitation, and the
struggles that will grow ont of it hereafter Will
scarcely be those OF party against party. but only
the resistance of Congressman in the Republican
party to giving up their control Of patronage.
What then are likely to be the questions which
| parties will wage the warfare which II seems must
be chronic in popular government 1t is not my
purpose 10 attempt 70 point them out. Whether the
! Whir element Of the South will reOrglnlZe on the