Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-10-31

The Christian Union, which is anything
but a partisan paper. holds the same view
with regard to the limits of political indie
pendcnce as related to the voters duty to The
public that we have recently oppressed, and
sets them forth forcibly as follows:
The legal right 10 vote as one plcases is moi
in question, nor is the right of changing
ALLEGIANCE from one party to another, nor is
the right of ahstaining from voting for either
party, nor is the right of voting for some ol
! the candidates OH ticket and AGAINST other'
| on the same ticket. In short, the citizen has
absolute legal right 10 use his own hest judy
mcnt in the beSiowal of his yot" where II
| will do the most good
The right of SCRATCHING such is thC
name Givcn to the craSIIre of = candhatc' ;
name is not in question, but only the con
ditions under which that right should br EN-
| ployed
When a party includes in its policy and
| expresses in lis platform principles subversivc
| of morality and the public veal, or when ii
| nQmiEatcs for Office men of VIGOROUSLY I'M
moral and dissolute lives, or when il nomin-
ates men who will hctray in administration
the principles embraced in party policy, the
voter has not only the right hut the duty of
refusing hy his vote Ia aid such evil.
| But in heated times men are liable to i'm
agne such conditions II exist when they
really do not. or To have an exaggerated
notion of personal independence or they
have been ovcrrulcd ami vcyr,l il tbs min
agement of the party, or they arc swayod by
the vehement prcjudiccs Of those with whom
they are wont to act, or they are biased by
personal dislikcs. or they adopt some airy,
ideal philosophy utterly impracticable-or
only practicable through long and gradual
change Of mems opinions-ur they imagine
that by scratching they can punish party,
or give il warning. or even reform its policy.
But right OF individual Judgment and ac-
ton, which lies at the foundation of intelli-
gent sclf-grvcrnmcnt, must not he carried 10
such ali extreme as 10 sacrifice another
principle equally fundamental; VIZ, so
cial and cooperative action. \ million
men seeking common end must yield
many individual preferences for the sake of
unity in action. There can hc no popular
government where there is no organization of
voters. Party organization is as much a
part of representative government IA the
constitution and the laws. To he s:lrr par
ties are not made obligatory They do not
need TO he. They are inevitable and indis-
pensable. They are as liable, and no more
liable, TO pervcrsion than any other part of
the machinery of sclf-sovcrnment. All the
garrulous talk about smashing the ma
chine if it signifies anything, means the
disorganization of the party. The right to
destroy party stands on the SAINT ground rs
the right of revolution. Neither right should
ne exercised except in dire extremity and
not then except there is Il reasonable prospect
of success.
The application of these principles is
obvious. Some juvenile Republicans pro
pose to scratch" Mr. Cornell Even his ad-
versaries admit that he is n man of personal
integrity He has never been sullicd by taking
brides. is of undOuhtcd ability. industry, and
sasacity in public affairs the worthy son Of
a father who was the bcncfactor of the State
of New York in the cause Of liberal cduca-
ton made easy to the poor.
Scratching Cornell means clccting Robin
son. who is the ''machinc' nominee of a
party VIGOROUSLY addicted to the use and
abuse of the machine" who is the nominee
and representative of TIldcn, and whose in
tluence us chief executive Of the State will be
devoted 10 the promotion of Tildcn's inter
ests in 1880. So that all the objections APP
parent in Coruelrs nomination by ma
chine" reappcar with greater force in his
rival, accompanied with danger to the Ma
ton at large, most far reaching, and which
can at present hardly he measured .
The Nation has escaped slavery, escaped
war, wadcd through the decentralization
which inevitably follows war. has met and
settled the enormous difficulties of recon
struction, has gone through the shadow of
commercial death and is rcascending the
heights of prosperity, has met the temptation
of the devil in the shape of dishonest and cor
rupting money, and at length stands on firm
ground. During this long march it has been
under the Republican banner. Ii was incv-
liable that in 50 vast and prolonged a CAM
paign amid new and unaccuSt Omcd positions
mistakes should be made But, in the main,
every great principle established every Ma
tiOnal evil thr0ttled or destroyed, has been
substantially the result of Republican rule.
There can bc ~ doubt of the verdict of his
tory.
Is this a time when mcn who have march
cd and wrought great National delivcrance
under Republican banners should give way
TO preiudiccs and personal preferences and,
directly or by neglect, pass the Government
over into the hands Of party which, how
ever, many noble men it may contain, has
been, as party, either lukcwarm or actual
ly resisting every step by which our Nation
has been saved and its policy exalted to
grounds far higher than have been occupied
since the days of the fathers who framed the
Constitution?
That Republicans as a means of accom-
plishing reform should defeat Mr. Cornell
and elect a VIGOROUSLY machine" made
Democratic candidate, in the interest of the
most unprincipled manager of political ma
chincry since the DAYS Of Aaron Burr, will
be a specimen of folly that will hereafter
cover with contempt every wise CndeavOr 10
reform our politics No men are 50 foolish
as men with high moral ideas and low com