The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1880-07-09
The Republican Platform.
From the New York Herald.

A closer examination of the Republican
platform compels Us 60 regard 10 as Joke.
1t is impossible TO imagine that the gentle
men who drew It regarded it as anything
else. Take away from it the brag and the
buster which constitute its comic por-
tions and there is nothing left but COM
monplace.
{ IT begins with Dragging. The republi-
can party. says the first section, suppressed
the rebellion, abolished slavery, raised the
value of paper currency from thirty eight
cents to par, increased the foreign trade,
paid the pensions. paid off third of the
debt, revived industry. 1t seems a pity
to stop just there, Why not have added
that metropolitan party raised the great
crops Of the last few years. caused the
droughts and rains in Europe which made
50 great and profitable an expectation of
our products, created the fine wheat and
corn weather with which we have been
blessed for years, put a stop to the cattle
plague discovered and developed the new
mines of precious metals and dug out the
Erie Canal.
1t the republican party really furnished
all the soldiers of the war and paid all the
taxes since the war, undoubtedly it did all
the other things we have suggested. The
plain truth of course is that the republican
party has had control of the government
for twenty years, on the whole hiss mis-
managed public affairs very badly, aud is
not bit sorry for its misconduct. In put
ting down the rebellion and in freeing the
slaves Mr., Lincoln took counsel at every
step with leading democrats as we'll IS re-
pubIicans; he was the President of the
whole country, and democrats were con-
staDtly among his most intimate and cher
ished counseilors. AS for paying the
taxes. the democrats have not been ex :
empted from that: the pleasing and
republican part was to collect them and
spend them, paying their share and no
more.
The republican chiefs have fallen into
the habit of looking backward. 1t is the
common habit of parties which have been
in power twenty years. In that time. and
indeed before that time, parties. IN the
nature of things, become efete. Like old
men they live in the past; there is NO
future in them. Like old men, also. old
parties conveniently remember only the
pleasant and creditable part of their past.
Thus the republican platform in its anus
iEg retrospect says nothing of the SCANDAL
Gus disagreement In the Southern States
for which the party is SloDe responsible;
nothing OF the years in which they tam
pered with the currency and brought upon
the country by their cowardlee the plague
of greenbackers; nothing of the mischisV-
GUS election laws which they enacted aud
misused; nothing of the scandals in which
all the republican leaders, with less than
dozen honorable exceptions, have been
disagreeably involved; nothing OF the
waste of the peoples money which was
thrown with lavish hands TO iobbers of
various kinds for years, until the Demo
Gratis were at last placed in control OF tbs
House by an indignant and impoverished
country,
Where the platform ceases to brag il
begins TO buster, the connection being
made By brief section in which p0lygamy
internal Improvements and protective
tariffs are huddled together. few cold
words in commentator of Mr.. Hayes
vetoes being thrown in. The buster con
Germs, naturally, the solid South and those
dreadful Democrats. whose only ohject. It
seems, is to turn their minority into
majority,ias though the only object OF the
chiefs were not to retain pos
session of the government. The buster
is, on tbs whole, more strongly comic than
the brag; it draws picture of the Demo
cratic lust of Office and patronage"
which if it were not labelled Democrat"
would be generally mistaken for 1es-
criptiop of the Republicans drawn by
Surely party which seized
the Presidency as the Republicans did in
1867, and then quarrelled with the man
they forced into the White House because
he would not crafty to the extent of their
demands their Unsuitable lust of Office and
patronage" but honorably preferred to
serve the country rather than the party
leaders-surely such party should sing
small" to use sea phrase, when the
topic is greed of office and power.
The Democratic platform is by no means
faultless: we mean to take it to pieces an
other day. But it has at least the very
great merit that it looks ahead 1t promises
the country something; the Republicans
promise nothing, except continuance of
a high protective tariff The Democratic
platform speaks of living questions; it pro-
poses free ships aud an extension of
American commerce inAmeEiean bottoms;
it proposes q reform of the revenue laws
so that they shall yield revenue and not
ln ainiy embarrass commerce and foster
it proposes to spend the
IL iOncludnd IN newt mace