New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1879-11-19
Extreme Methods In Politics.

lmated OF late that the Democrats in
several of the Southern States intend
to transfer the power to appoint Presi.
dental Electors from the people to the
Legislatures. Any State can do this,
and the Democrats have the power to
do it in every Southern State. The al
legged reason for the proposed change
is that the choice of electors NAV be
placed beyond the reach of Federal in
reference under National election
laws. The real object is to consolidate
and perpetuate Democratic power in the
South.
Under republican form of govern
ment, where elections are frequent and
the possession of political power and
patronage is always at stake, there is a
constant temptation to resort to doubt
tul and desperate methods in politics.
We are not sure but this tendency is q
natural phase of the party spirit which
necessarily exists in republican gov
ernments, and which, within proper
limits, is a healthy condition. Where
political power is vested in the people
there must be parties and party spirit,
and when this feeling runs hi gh party
managers will be tempted to resort
to wrong methods and extreme
measures to acquire or retain power.
But it it is q natural phase of par
ty spirit, an inherent feature of
republican government, that is all
the more reason why it should be
constantly resisted by good men of all
parties. Fraud, violence and injustice
always beget their like, and resort to
such measures by one party is pretty
Sure to be made a pretext sooner or
later for similar acts by the other, and
thus both become engaged in mad
contest for power in which everything
is lost sight of except party success.
The history of American politics fur
nishes numerous proofs of this propo-
sition. There is scarcely a State in
which one party or the other has not at
some time resorted to high-handed
political measures which in after time
have returned to plague the inventor.
Such things always do. There is q
boys saying, "cheating luck never
thrives," and it applies to politics as
we'll as to mumbleehe-peg, to states
manship as well as to marbles. We
think it can be safely said that no party
in any State of the Union ever gained
permanent advantage by any act of
political injustice, such as an unfair
election law, an unfair apportionment,
a prostitution of benevolent institu-
lions to party purposes, or anything of
the sort.
Of course, the worst feature of all
such practices is that they provoke, and
in the minds of many justify, retalia-
ton in kind, thus educating political
leaders, and to some extent the people
themselves, in the idea that everything
is fair in politics. For proof of this we
may refer again to the history of poll
tics. There never was gerrymander
or other political trick or outrage by
one party that was not pleaded in justi-
fcation OF similar acts by the other.
And further proof in the same direc-
ton is found in the fact that already in
some quarters it is limited that if the
Southern Democrats place the appoint
ment of Presidential Electors in the
hands of the Legislature the Republic
cans will do the same thing in New
York, where they have a large maio. ity
in the Legislature, and are pretty
sure to retain it for some
time to come. The Journal
would certainly oppose any such
retaliatory action by the Republicans to
the utmost. The proposed actor of
the Southern Democrats would be anti
republican and in some sense revolu.
tionary, but that could not justify simi-
lar action on the part of Republicans.
Yet if the Democratic programme is