The Portland daily press., 1880-09-07
The.TwCe PARTIES.

'"E2ii's" TheIWO FartfeS! -, ha
+ It isioften said thathistory repeats itself" ;"
: and this may BE well seen, In this. campaign,
It is the old. -ever-recuEring fight between
Truth and Error, between Good andi Evil; !.
the old battle Of Ormdfzd and s,Ahfihan,
which can never end until 1.-The, leader
of evil, is put, down forever i.'The
history of every, people, and every time is
but the story. of these battles, or of skir-
lfiishes between The partisanssof the, ,6pp9s
ing forces. OF course, it is mot claimed that
either 's side in these conflicts posses
ses all the truth. pr., the error,
but that the average of truth lis high
er on. the one side thah on, the other,
sometimes but a very, little. higher, ibut BIZ,
ways higher In the present contest te-ir
tween the Reppbliea1 party On. On. ths ohe
hand and that mongrel party Oh, the other
which has been so well self-nained the Fh-,t
sion party, party whose only raison d'etfe I
is to overthrow the party of progress, and
which unites under its banner-and this
fact cannot be gainsaid dali tie, most dan.
gerous elements which bur present ciyili4ay
tienI emb1'aces,h he who s'runs may readothat
the Republican party embodies the highest
average of all that is good-and true.s NV,
The 81 Republican. party.pis the one
which gave birth to, and carefully aniurss sdo
and .guafded, those principles which finally
strangled theiserpenta aof' slavery and,soysr-
threw the evil hosts which rose inits de-
Defense. eliminating from. the confusion
which existed with regard to- the union of
the States, the grand. idea Of iiationalism..
-At.the close of the war lit. presented Ito the
world the sublime spectacle sofe party
flushed with with triumph, extending, to ffts enc
mics the e'hand of brotherly lowe, showing in
all its; Legislative acts the broadcast Christian
philanthropy consistent with aiMise. regard
for the N National welfare. ~ 1t at once began
the re-est ishment Of the. National credit
and has steadily pursued policy which
has resulted in one of the grandest financial
.triumphs Of the. age. It is not t top too much TO-
say. that to the Republican party is due the
existence Of the most: :benefcent laws which.
have ever blessed a people.
In spite of alhthe grandIachievements Of,
this party of philanthropy and progress,i
malcontentss. oppose it and would destroy it,.
This of courseis. to be expected s0pposi7.
ticn toreforin and progress must, exist I'M
the hearts of some, and MISCONCEPTIONS JAS
to the ends and even the achievements oofl O.
party, must arise to blind the eyes LOT
others, who else would i-be friends and eos
laborers. The most heterogeneous ele-
.ments, therefore, will unite togetherip such
"a struggle. This has taken place in' the
present conflict, and we have the Instructive
spectacle of extreme. temperance men lshohl-
der to shoulder with the blear eyed denizeps
Of the slums hard Ro oney men. hand in hand
with soft money men, all for the, moment
forgetting their principles ~ and uniting
together against the. party which embodiesc
the most advanced ideas of Christian philan-
thropy. ..
- There is il this, one ,deplorable feature.
which often ,excites EXPLANATIONS. Of. won.
der; but which has been exhibited in alf
similar conflicts, and always WIN Be: name
ly, the existence Of. d imen of good Instincts
and Christian principles in the ranks of the;
opposition. + Why is this?;, some ask. I'M en.
are governed by a great variety of motives
many of the most trifling nature, which lie
concealed, perhaps, from the men them
selves. One man grows UP from .chiItdho opd
under the instruction of parents opposed
to the Republican party" and ths' distrdst
and dislike fostered for years, has eyer sin zee
prevented him from recognizing it's tri ile.
worth, fory "Asthe twig is bent so is the.
tree ihclined.'. Had II, not been i for this
early .warping Of Judgment, this man would
be. an earnest Republican. We know, .mahy
such. Another may cherish one pet idea,
which, perhaps, Has not been given the
prominence. he thought it ought to have in a
party claiming to represent advanced idea B.,
Such a man, with a natuFai. Inconsistency, ),
will ally himself with .,- the .., enemies
of all advanced IDEAS Such a in In
is s;Nye the prohibition !, e candidate
for Governor. =. Another. may have. in
ambitionsfor office, an ambition not rrepIe-
hensible II jtsef, and Who, although he,
sees, the iniquity,. the. ludierons, incongruity
of the elements which make up the party to
which he is allied, has not the, moral cour-
age to cut adrfft from it, and so clings to Its
foul skirts. a eoanterp art to such a M an
may be found in Bion.s Bradbury, .Sewall g..
Strout, w. i. PutnamJ and others. All
these are good men, men of character;
whom we all esteem, whose interests, tastes,
and indeed every afiliation naturally ally
them with the Republican party, and who
are out of place when found associated wit
Kearney, Fogg, Kuklux, Garcelon~ Rum
and Confusion; but should be to-day, stand
ing in the.ranks of that party which .hold Ids
the greatest number of the prlrest, besst and
most influential. men in the nation. Take
such men out of the opposition. party-eah nd
they. do not constitute fiveper cent. of n
and it would be without head, a stfugsli.bg
confused mass of internal elements, unable
to do anything but wreak its vengeance with.
knife and torch Upon those who stood in lis
way. Such men,, men Of character and
standing, are necessary to, the. existence bf,
the party of opposition, and such have a.
ways been f9upd in IN il iq al the conflicts 81
the ages.
is, doubtless, law of Providence that;
the minor conflicts which are constantly
taking place in the great struggle between .
Good and Evil, Truth and Error, should, not
bessbetween the extremes of these. but upon
somewhat debatable ground. The conflict
is thus thus prolonged, until the inyincibility Of
truth is made plain forever. s.,...,r.s
- The advancement of the pagtyof Progress
is often slow, and often checked for time.
y seems EN- well sometimes that it should be
checked, that it may thereby gather new forde
for its onward march, but though it meet
with temporary defeat, we may be assured