Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1880-11-13


The Republican campaign of 1880
abOunded in surprises. and every supris-
ing thing that occurred was in the ma
ture of encouragement to members of
the party. The unusual spectacle of an
ex-President working hard to secure the
election of the party candidate was not
more significant than was the spectacle
of President paying visit of cOngrat-
ulatiOn to the President-elect two DAYS
after election. The words of earnest
commentator of Garfield, coming from
Grant at the climax of battle, stand side
by side with the eulogy pronounced by
President Hayes as the smoke lifted from
the battlefield. The past, present, and
future of the Republican party met in
the persons of its chosen representatives
and shook hands.
Never before has there been such a
group in any political campaign. Never
before has any party shown an ex-Presi-
dent and his friends, President and
his friends, and the President-elect and
his friends in such harmony. An ex-
tended rule in the old parties engender-
ed such riyalries and animOsities that
an outgoing President stood toward the
incoming executive as the chief of one
hostile clan would stand toward another
under restraint of treaty obligations.
There has been much talk within the
last eight years to the effect that the Re-
publican party, having accomplished its
work, would fall to pieces through the
agencies that destroy other parties. The
superstition that the reign of political
party in the United States was limited
to twenty years agitated many earnest
men, who, while they did not believe
that the work of the party was done,
could not shut their eyes to what they
believed were signs of early disintegra-
ton. The fear on the part of the others
that vital issues were being lost sight of
in the eagerness to form on new align
ment, gave as much announcement to
the enemies of the party as the want of
faith on one hand and the inexplicable
influence of superstition on the other.
There were in the party the old gray
boards who voted for Fremont, the cOur-
ageOus, aggressive stalwarts who stood
by Lincoln, the veterans who chung To
Grant and worked with Hayes, and the
young, untried men of bounding i'm
pulses who were to follow a new leader
Looking over the field, the Democrats
believed that simple devotion to princi.
pie could not hold these different classes
together. They believed withDthe indie.
pendents, that the Republican party had
80 lost in vitality that it would never
make another fight like that for Lincoln
In 1864 and for Grant in 1868 and 1872
They believed that the close contest OF
1876 and the contentious that followed
had destroyed the esprit dc corps of thu
Republican party, and that the bitter
struggle in the Chicago convention ha(
made concentration for strong fgh
impossible.
Earnest Republicans could not sccep
this theory. They believed that the mel
who had followed Lincoln and Gran
were 80 tenacious for principle that n,
personal attachments or special resent
ments would induce them to waver O.
hesitate. They saw in the grasp of grea
leaders and the personal attachment
they inspired an element of part,
strength, and believed that there wOull
be prompt response when the order t.
move forward was given. They believet
this because they had faith in the devO
ton and earnestness of Republicans
But they did not know it, because tn
mettle of the party under such circum
stances had never been fully tested.
Everyone understood that the part,
was on trial. Did it carry with it tn
seeds of decay or did it retain the vig0
and courage of its youth? Was it sim
ply loose alliance of great factions O
homogeneous body Of men ready t
make sacrifices for the same principles
that had guided the party for twent
years? Where the leaders of transcend
emit ability ambitious schemers or mel
like those who, when the war broke on
in 1861, thought nothing of rank or place
but everything of the SIMPLE opportunit
to do their dutyp
The answer came with the opening Q
the campaign, and it was made NOR
definite and emphatic when Grant de-
cided to do for his party what no othe
ex-president had ever done. The answe
stands now in all its completeness bt
fore the people, every detail brought on
in sharp outline by the brilliant light Z
a great victory.
The impulse that led Grant, Conklini