Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-03-14
Candid Opinion.

any federal patronage for the next tour
years, large number of leading Dem
ocratic journals have commenced abus-
ing Mr.. Tilden in arancorous manner.
The Washington Herald accuses him
Of purchasing the Presidential nomina-
ton In corrupt manner, and now
comes the Chicago Times with the
following article, headed "Gone to
Pieces"
That Heterogeneous combination of
miscellaneous and peculiar office hunt
ers called the resurrected Democracy
has gone all to pieces again. In fact,
never, since it was called up from the
political graveyard by the scheme to
make Sam Tilden the national spoiIs
dispensator, has it ever been anything
but an iDcoherent accumulation OF dis
Jolnted fragments collection Of po-
litical dry bones of all extinct party
animals, out of which complete skel-
eton Of any kind could not be patched
up. Though assuming to have ma
jority of nearly two-thirds in the ma
tional assembly, that majority was
made up of all the political odds and
ends of earth. Bourbons, liberals,
sore heads, grangers, protectionists,
rag-lunatics, Calhounists, natonalists,
men of every sort and shade of public
opinion, holding utterly irreconoilable
views, and agreeing upon nothing but
the appetite for spoiIs, absurd oombina-
ton of old graveyard politicians that
attempted to impose themselves upon
the country as the Democratic party
come back from the other side of the
Stygian river, with all the sins done
In Its lifetime burnt and purged away
bearing new life, possessing a reform
character, and having a new claim
Carefully concealed) to popular trust
and confidence.
Setting up enormous pretension to
superior political virtue, this combina-
ton of inconsistent political humbugs
proceeded Systematically in an attemp:
to bamboozle the country into the no
ton that they were come to rescue the
nation from the vast army of official
thieves that were devouring it. They
held convention at St. Louis, yelled
"Rsform is necessarily selected a
slippery New York politician to repre-
sent one kind of principles and
facing ALWAYS Indiana demagogue to
represent several other kinds OF prin.
ciples, tied spawned political horses
together by the tails, and set them
cantering 10 opposite directions for the
spoils. The most surprising part Of it
IS that upon a programme of political
humbug so grotesque they actually got
for their contradictory candidates
majority of the votes. They were law
fully elected. They were the persons
constitutionally chosen to the Offices of
President and Vice President. And
it was completely in the constitutional
power OF the resurrected Democrats,
composing an almost two-t thirds major
ity of the representative body, to ap-
point and install at least the man who
was so constitutionally chosen to the
Presidential Office. But notwithstand-
ing the facts, the resurrected grave
yard politicians ANONYMOUSLY surren-
dered after their victory was won, and
like craven poltroons allowed defeated
enemy to hold the position he had lost
The resurrected Democratic party
humbug has gone all to pieces. 1t has
gone to pieces for the simple reason
that there was nothing to hold the Ill
natured parts together. There was no
bond of political cohesion; no common
desire to turn out the vast army of
office-holders and put a new army in
its place. That was in reality the only
purpose upon which the Tilden man
ayers were united. They were not
agreed and never would have agreed
upon any programme of governmental
reform. The cry Of reform was mere
blind. The spoils constituted the only
object of their combined effort. Sam
Tilden gone, the spoils were gone. No
spoils could be hoped for from Morton
or any other President ad interim.
When, therefore, Sam Tilden dropped
out of the possible result, the resur-
rected fag-ends of the putrid remenis-
cence fell asunder. When the pros
pect of official plumber disappeared with
the last hope of Tilden's Inauguration,
nothing was left to hold the conflicting
spoil seekers together.
The true course of political wisdom
for the again shipwrecked spoils De-
mocracy is, thea, then to Immediately
disband its organization, which no
longer exists as means to any polit-
ical end, but only as an instrumentality
of futile and useless contest against the
official class for the possession of the
spoils. When the official class no
longer finds itself opposed by COM
bination to contest it's possession of the
Offices. a .healthful political partyism
will of necessity arise, compel the ad-
ministration to have a policy, and to
depend upon two popular strength of