The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-09-03
Another Bad Record.
How the New Era Has Belied Its Profess
sionS.

The following extracts from the Neoo Era
while it was opposing fusion, are OF interes'
now that it is supporting fusion. 1t has
eaten pile of dirt since it uttered the SEN
timents quoted below, and has changed
front with rapidity equalled by no pa
per within our knowledge. 1t took even the
Argus nearly month to change its opinion
as to the feasibility of resumption. 1t took
| the Neav Era but week to change its Opin-
ion on fusion. We find it necessary TO
quote from two issues only of the Era. In
other issues can be found much matter of
the same import.
| In its issue of July II, it spoke in the
course of an article opposing fusion with
the Democrats, of what it called different
| grades of fusion,' and condemned them ALL
The third and fourth ''grades" we give in its
own words:
We believe it is our first duty to unite on a
common ground upon which we all agree and
| break up the Republican party, and divide the
| offices between us. These matters OF differ
| ences between us may be settled afterward
We believe that as we can have no hope OF
| electing our candidates that it is our duty to
| JOln With the democrats anu nelp lueII urlNt
| the Republicans out of power.
The following are the comments it made
| upon these grades:
| The third is a compromise between good and
| evil, San agreement with hell and covenant
| with DEATH" doing good that evil may come,
| instead of doing evil that good may come; a
| 'srefuge of lieS,'' an institution OF one evil
that we may get rid of another, and totally
dishonorable to the parties engaged in 1t;
4. tNrr fhn
minutie of principle. The fourth is the bras-
est proposition in the whole lot 1t is not SO
sneaking, so contemplate, so insinuatlng, so
pregnant with low-lived cussedness as the 9TH
er three 1t says plainly we want you TO heip
the Democrats and if you are not too senti-
mental about the affair we shall expect your
help. They will probably do something for you
if you help them, though we are in no way GER
tain of that.
In another article in the same issue, it
says:
We ask no Democrat to violate his con-
science by voting the Greenback ticket, unless
he is fully with us on the issues we present to
the world, and we are opposed to lowering or
changing our standard so that anyone can unite
with u.s. We require no concessions of any
Democrats and we are opposed to granting any
In its issue of July 81 was leader en-
titled ga Last Word on Coalition" That
leader began by reviewing the history of the
formation of the new party and went on to
say that the money rings saw that something
must be done to crush it. 1t then adds:
The only question was what that something
should be. 1t was very evident that on an
honest canvass they would stand no chance
and that some plan must be devised whereby
the strength of the Greenbackers should be
weakened by drawing part OF 1T by speclous
promises to one of the old organizations. AS
the Democratic organization was, OF the two,
thought to be the least obnoxious, and conse-
0uently the most liable to succeed i'll entrap-
ping by sophistries, the Greenback vote it was
decided that that organization should BY ialr
promises, promises never meant to be 1ulhlled,
induce the Greenbackers to unite with them
on some so-called soft-money Democrat, under
the speciOus pretence that by SO DONG the
overthrow of the common enemy would be as
sured and the principles the new party was
formed to promulgate would, at least partially,
be successful. This plan if it could be made
to work, would, of course, be very satisfactory
to the Democrats, as it would enable them to
enter the presidential campaign next year
with the prestige of victory, (although 1t might
properly be called Greenback victory and by
nominating Tom Ewing as their candidate for
President, they hope, by using this years
precedent, to secure Greenback votes enough
to elect him. This then, is the plan Matched
in the corrupt minds of the same old political
leaders who have brought the people into their
present deplorable condition. That If 1t could
succeed it would infuse new life into the DEM
ocracy as national organization, there can
be no more doubt than that it would be the
death kncll of the Greenback party and the
hopes of relief the people entertain at the
prospect of its success.
The leader closed with these words
1t seems to us that the very existence Of the
Greenback party is in itself a denial OF the
right of either of the old parties to live. 1t is
an impeachment of their course, protest
against their pretensions, and an emphatlc
declaration that until their power is destroyed
and its own doctrines are triumphant there here
can be no salvation for the republic. How
tn en- can any Greenbacker use either influence
OF vote to strengthen either OF them?
That ,ras the last word against coalition;
for the next week the Neac Era went over to
the coalition forces, and has since then been
fighting their battles. 1t has used its infiu-
ence to further ''the plan Matched in the
corrupt minds of the same old political
leaders who have brought the people into
their present deplorable condition" 1t has
made the agreement with hell and cove
nant with death" it denounced. 1t has
made ''the fraudulent stroke it warned its
readers against making. 1t has betaken it.
self to the ''refuge of lies' it pretended to
fear 1t has followed that "sneaking'
''contemptible" course, pregnant with
low-lived cussedness'', that it.so fiercely con-
demned. 1t has sounded that ''death-knell
of the Greenback party that it feared the
fusionists would sound. 1t is a fusionist
now, and so convicted out of its own mouth
of selling out the Greenbackers. What
some of those Greenbackers think OF the
sell-out is already evident The vote for
C,oo,1oof p,;ll cboxv u,bat ntbarS tbiu1,