The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-11-08
THE RESULT.

THE RESULT.
That the real fruit of Tuesdays vic
tory was plucked BY the Republicans in
Cecil county, no candid man will deny.
1t is true that they have elected but two
out of seventeen candidates upon their ,
ticket. That the immediate partisan adj |
vantage may be conceded to the Demo- |
Gratis, inasmuch as they have secured
large majority of the offices by small ma
.iorities of tho people. That they still |
retain their hold upon the county admin
istration. That the Republicans, having
failed to secure a majority of the Board |
Of County Commissioners, leave the po-
litical patronage of the county in the
hands of the dominant party. These are
palpable facts of some import, so far as |
"party' organization is concerned. But
victories there are, Purchased at such |
cost, as renders them more disastrous |
than defeat. This qualified success of |
the Cecil Democracy is one of them. 1t |
is a dearly learned triumph. We think it |
not difficult to demonstrate that the moral |
results of Tuesdays contest are with the |
Republicans. Not since the Democrats |
gained the ascendency in the county in |
1867 have they so narrowly escaped a |
total rout as in the present campaign. |
Majorities always are tyrannical, and the |
Cecil Democracy have proved no excep-
ton to tho general rule. In the clamor |
for patronage, and the personal rivalries
that its dispensation begets the public |
interests have been overlooked. The !
servant has usurped the authority of the |
master, and official dictators, themselves
the creatures of patronage, have cut high |
capers in the face of the disgusted peo-
pie. The wrangling leaders of Cecil De- |
mocracy seemed to have forgotten that |
the substantial voters of the county had |.
any rights they were bound to respect. |
From year to year the people have pa
tiently borne the insolence of Office and |
the impertinent assumptions of their To-
cal masters. At last they have resisted
the party yoke, and, although the whip
and spur have been we'll applied to
the CALLED jades of "pearty," and they
have bent low in the traces, still the |
rickety old "machine,'' freighted down |
with the dead weight of placemen, plot
tiers and plunderers, has we'll nigh stuck
fast in the mire and mud, into which the |
multitudinous feet of office hunters have |
ground the highway to place and power.
The people are beginning to see that I'M
reasoning partisanship is the curse of
local municipal governments That per-
sonal fitness and individual qualification |
for official service, backed by personal
honesty, are surer guarantees for the
faithful performance of public trust than
mere partisan service OF party available
ity. Doesn't this election show it? Six
years ago the present Democratic incum-
bent Of the Clerks Office was elected to
that position by majority of SIS votes.
To-day his would-be ''pearty" successor
is elected to stay sat home" by ma
jority of nearly 300 votes. Six years ago
the late Reuben D. lamar was elected to
the office of Register of Wills by 300 ma
lority. To-day Mr.. Harry Miller, labor
ing under no party disability, secures the
same office by the meager majority of f.
votes Two years ago the present full
Board of Democratic County Commits
sioners were elected to office by an aver
age of about 300 votes. To-day the Demo-
Gratis secure but two out of three, their
candidates being the best in a party sense.
The legislative ticket indicates no better
>sS}fluw wing. James Madison Tombstone is
his own successor by Sc votes over the
highest Republican; and Messrs. Steele
and McCullough's average majority is
800 votes, and that in the face of Cor
mans money and anti-local option whisky
Two years ago Touchstone, Turner and
Knight received an average majority of
$40 votes in the county.
Who has deserted the standard of De-
mocracy in Cecil? The solid, respecta-
Bile classes of Democratic voters. The
men who want reform in our local af-
fairs. The men who want to elevate the
methods of politics. The men who will
repudiate improper nominations. The
men who recognize the fact that individ- |
ual qualification is of more importance to
the general welfare than partisan atfiila- ,
ton. These men have added their votes |
to those of the Republicans, and given
the Democratic leaders in Cecil I rebuke
that they will not soon forget. Need we
say that the immediate future is bright
with promise for better administration in .
county affairs.