The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-11-05
THE MECHANICS AND LAB0RERs'
~- UNION PARTY.

nnw party presents q ticket for the
suffrage OF the people to-day. The name as
sumed nv the party Is the Mechanics end
J,aborers' Union party. The name indicates
that IT, Ia an organized combination OF one
class Of the community against other classes
or in the interest of one particular class
Such parties never accomplish good; they
never fail to do harm. In o. great civilized
country like this nothing could be more TN
fortunate than for q party organized In
class interest to obtain control OF. or any
measure of power in the government We
have fought the money power on this ground
We should have less apprehension OF cor
rupt administration elected by the people Of
all classes on general political principles,
than Of an administration, however pure Its
personnel, elected In any special interest
either in the interest Of the money power or
in that of the working classes. Corrupt Dem
ocrats or corrupt Republicans may be in q
year or two retired from office But the evil
wrought by city, State Or national admins
traton, conducted In the interest Of class Is
irremediable. except by years Of wise and
impartial government. The Federal admin
istration is and has been for years under the
"
er. The state administration until 1877
and the city administration until 1872 were
under the control of the same relentless and
corrupt class interest And what are the re-
suits? Almost universal bankruptcy; the
suspension Of industries: the depreciation Of
property and wages. and general misery and
restitution amongst the working people.
It Is folly for the working people to hope to
remedy this condition Of affairs by organiz-
Ing to wrest power from the present control
ling class to hold it as an antagonistic class.
That would only aggravate the evil; that
would only tend to still more disorganize
trade and industry, and array the different
classes Of society against each other.
Our friend, Mr.. John G.. Fleming, the can
t1idate OF the Mechanics and Laborers' Union
party for Mayor, has published an address,
in which he attempts to vindicate the organi-
cation Of the working people into q class
by the authority of a speech made by Daniel
Webster In the great canvass OF 1910. We
do not propose here to review the issues
upon which that canvass was made. We
only desire to cali the attention of the
mechanics and laborers of this city to the
fact that though Mr.. Webster, in that speech,
discussed the burthens under which the labor
ing classes labored, he never counseled or ad-
vised the workingmen to organize party of
| their own in the special interest of their own
| class. Nay, demagogue though he was, he
was too great and true statesman to advise
any ouch pernicious course. He recounted
the wrongs Of the workingmen with
great eloquence, but at the Same time
he appealed to them to join the Wing
party, and look to great Wing admin
istration for a redress Of their griev-
ances. It never occurred to Mr.. Webster to
organize the mechanics and laborers OF his
day into @ class party and array them against
all the other classes Of the community, He
could not have been guilty of SO great folly
He understood that no class could suffer I'M
less there was something wrong In the gene
raj policy OF government which affected all
other classes to a glvater or less degree; anG
believing in the wisdom OF the principles and
policy Of the Whig party he called upon the
| working people, as he did upon all other
CLASSES of the people, to support that party,
| Now, waving any discussion of the views Of
| Mr.. Webster as to the efficiency Of the Wing
party to remedy the evils of the time In which
! he lived. we hold that in this day the Repub-
| lican party represents the money power Of
| the country-the national banks, the bond
holders, the gold rings and the protected
| manufacturers-tha the policy of that party
! has brought upon the country all its pres
emit evils from which the mechanics and
| laborers are the chief sufferers. That It's pol
| icy is to go on in the interest of the money
power until the country shall be ruled and
dominated by an aristocraGy of national
banks. bondholdcrs and of1ice-holders. Can
Mr.. Fleming and the Mechanics and Labor
| ers' Union party remedy all this ? We think
| not. These evils and wrongs must be remedied
| by the Democratic party. The policy of that
party Is to substitute greenbacks for national
banks: provide for the free coinage of silver;
| repeal the tax on State bank circulation; es-
tablish free trade; reduce the number of office
holders and their salaries; pay the national
! debt according to the terms of the contract;
lower taxation; build the Mississippi levees,
open the mouth of the river, and construct O
great railroad to Texas. This is the platform,
national and State. of the Democracy Of Lou
isiana. and IL is the only platform which
promises to relieve labor and property and
| constitute this once more prosperous State
and city. The Democratic party Is the true
! mechanics and laborcrs' Union party of
| the country, and every mechanic
and laborer should vote its ticket
Mr.. Fleming is q very estmabie
| man and citizen, but the votes the mechan-
les and laborers may cast for him, will be
thrown away and utterly lost The theory
upon which he is running, If carried out prac-
| tically would work only evil and entail adj
ditional distress upon the country. The
votes of the mechanics and laborers cast for
| the Democratic ticket will aid In sustaining