New-York tribune., 1878-12-21
PUZZLING PROBLEM.

The Democratic party is in a quanda1y. Its
ablest men want to drag it out of the gutter
into which its soft money spree has thrown it.
to get the concern washed, brushed, decently
cloth d, and pasSably sober and to send it out
again as a sound hard-money party. But Its
weakest and wickedest men want to keep the
party just where it is. They like "more
"mODey" and rampant speculation, the sym
pathizing clamOr of the mob. and the deter
mined aid of every unrecOnstIucted rebel or
malignant repudiator. So the party halts at
the parting of the ways Before the elections,
the repudiators had the upper hand. They
had impressed Southern Democrats with
the idea that victory could be- secured
ONLY by union of the West and South on a re-
pudiating platform. The word passed, and we
know how little opposition was made at the
South, or by professed hard-mOney Democrats
at the West Nevertheless. as THE TRIBUNE
predicted long before the elections, the Green
back party drew more votes from the Demo
Gratis than from the Republicans, and the per-
| sistent teachings of men like voorhees, and
Allen, Pendleton and Thurman. bore fruit
after their kind. The Democratic party
| was beaten at the West as badly as at the East
Then came the splendid triumphs of the public
| credit, the swift march of the Treasury Depart
ment toward resumption, the united action OF
New-York and Boston banks, and the disap-
pearance of the premium on gold. Southern
Democrats began to realize that they had
blundered fatally again. To-day they know
that it was a terrible mistake to suffer the
party to become committed to repudiating
notions. But they also see that 1t is almost
az dangerous to turn back as to go forward
There is q great deal of bad blood at the
| West about the money question. The mis-
| chief is not confined to false theories Thou
| sands of men have got angry and are
bitter. Democratic knaves have taught
these people that they have been plundered
| by Eastern money lenders. The spirit of
repudiation, which has shown itself in the
conduct of 30 many Western towns, counties
and cities with respect 10 local debts, and in
the treatment of railway corporations and
railroad debts of several States, has been con-
stantly fostered by political mischief-makers.
| in the hope that it might break down both
the public credit and the Republican party.
| But the question now is whether the Demo-
cratic party will not be literally annihilated at
| the West, if it attempts to take sides with
the few hard d-mOney Democrats of the East
who have not surrendered.
The difficulty is greatly increased by the pO-
| sition of the party with respect to candidates.
Mr.. Tllden contryed, during the campaign of
| 1876, to remove much of the distrust or
hostility of Western Democrats, and he was
| supported, on the whole, with as much unan-
| unity in that section as any candidate from the
| East could have expected from the Demo-
cratic party. But his position has changed.
THE TRIBUNE has made Mr.. Tilden decidedly
unavailable. But it has not made nor has it
| tried to make him less hungry. He has a
| temper of his own. II the party spurns him
| now, after all the money he has spent
and the efforts he has made, there
will be Emusic in the air" when
any other Democratic candidate tries TO carry
New York. Mr.. Bayard is strongly supported
by the Tanimany leaders; fact to their
credit. But it will not help Mr.. Bayard that
he is the first choice of tho notorious Tam
many organization, nor will it help him that
be has been really manly and outspoken Oh the
morley question in many emergencies, nor
will it help him that he is from
formerly slave-holding State. Solid South
will have to pay this penalty, at least-it can
nominate any man it chooses, but can only
doom to defeat one of its own men by nom
ination. If the Democratic party is to be
pulled out of the gutter, il il is to look for
Eastern and hard money support, what candi-