New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-12-26
WHAT DOES me- UANT WITH 4 PARTYi

WHAT DOES NE WANT WITH A PdRTIf
That is a pertinent inquiry put by The Gin
c;ppof Commercial. "What does a President
"of the United States, who is attending to
his business, and is not candidate for re-
election, want with a party?" And, sure
enough, what does he want with itY What
does any one want with a party, or with a
| church, or friendly associations, or with peo-
pie who believe as he dOcs-with anything or
| ANYBODY, indeed, outside of himself and his
own views and puiposeSY Not being candl-
date for reelection, settles the question for the
| President of the United States that he has no
use for a party. His only use for it, ii we
interpret Alright the spirit of The Commercials
inauiry. was 10 gain the Presidency; having at
tanned which, and diScaimed any desire for re-
election or further political ambition, he wants
nothing more OF it. He can get along now
without IT: why should he bother himself III
| the mattcr9 From its own point OF view. me
Commercial is quite right and perfectly con
siStent. Its theory of the relations which
should exist between the President and the
party which elected him dOvctails precisely
with it notion of what is due from the borrower
of money TO his creditor The President and
the debtor are at an advantage over the
party which elected and the capitalist who be-
friended them When the debtor refusing to
pay more than ninety cents on the dollar of
his debt is told that such an operation will
impair his credit, the Western philosopher
replies for him: What does a debtor who is
"paying ninety cents on the dollar and has
made up his mind to retire frcm business, and
"not run in debt any more, want with credit
q, tts,io
the wishes of the party that elected him, and,
failing to secure the support of any other, Is
left without any backing for his Administra-
ton, the same philosopher says: Well, he
dis not candidate for reelection; what
" does he want with party = And it must
be granted that the debtor in one case has no
use for credit, and the President in the other
no use for party. Each is perfectly indie
pendent and can do as he plcases, but, as
was remarked by Mrs. Pitcher, when Mr..
p. got into bed with his hat and boots on,
:" it is not considered a proper thing in the
"best society"
The question, what does the party want with
Il President, may seem to some persons to be
not entirely without pertinence under the cir
cunStanccs. The party, we believe, elected
the President in pursuance of some purpose OF
its own. There is general concurrence, we
think, in Mr. Conlling's proposition that "Ad-
miniStratOns do not make parties, but par
" ties make Administrations" Now that the
President is in office and not a candidate for
reelection, he, Of course, wants nothing of the
party. He has got what he wanted and, per-
haps, all he wanted. But it is quite possible
that the party has not done so well that it
Ill a oil in
inc the Office for him; that there are certain
policies which it desires to have carried ont,
for the fmthcrance of which it looks to the
President But the party is under a disad
vantage 1t is Il candidate for reelection. Its
mission was not ended with the election of
President Hayes. 1t thinks it has other things
to do in the future; other Presidents TO
elect other contests to wage against the enc
mics of the public honor and the public faith.
The President may he at the end of his road.
He may sit down and say, This is as far as !
go; | have no further use for Il party = but
the party must 20 on through the present term,
and after it, with the President or without
him. There is only moral obligation resting
upon the President in the matter Ii is as easy
for him to disregard 1t as for the Nation to
disregard It's obligations to the public creditor.
The Nation may kick out the creditor with
ninety cents or with nothing, saying "What
edo we want with credit p and the President
may do as he pleascs and say, "What do
"want with II party p 1t is only question Of
disposition /; each has the power.
But after all, what does the President gain
by setting up an Independent opposition to his
partyi Candidate for reelection or not, he
must have some convictions he wishes to carry
out, some policy he would like to enforce. If
he is so welded to his notions that lac is will
ing to break with his party sooner than give
them mp, he must think enough of them to
desire to make them practical. And isn't that
"what he wants with "A partyV If he wants
nothing of the party, he need not abandon 1t
or gratuitously spurn and east it aside. If
he has no convictions of public duty, he need
only go along and be governed by the
convictions of his party If he has convictions
of duty at variance with those of his party,
he certainly wants some sort of party to
sustain him in them. If they are worth hay
ing they are worth making an effort to main
tain. Every man who has belief or theO-
ny in religion, politics or anything else, wants
ii party 10 believe with him. If he did not he
would not make known his views, and SUP
port them by reason and argument. A belief
that isn't worth propagating isn't worth
having, and whoever propagates his belief
shows by that that he wants party. "What
does the President want with party ~
! What does he want with brains or with any