San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1880-06-26

JUNE rs, 1880, -.s 4. I
to thcIfte Of aay form Of iristosssti'
rulsfo Could that lift tho brutalisst
and poverty stricken elements, Of oul
population IA . higher level, or min
lister TO the aggregate we'll being ofth.
inatioa 2 The regeneration Of our pol
itics. through ths right working OF oal
democratic nachinety, ID ooufsasediy
very difficult task but no task copl|
bc more hopeless than the Attempt 4
save the country BY confesaiug tht
failure Of bur republlcan' experiments
and resorting to expsdiens &hicl
have broken down ~ often rs they havl
been tried. When even the hlsves o
despotio power 10 Europe have csugh
the spirit Of democracy, and thrones ar
'tottering 10 their Inevitable fall. it il
worse than inadnsss to think Of vrs
tractiog q single inch fro1 the Grount
on which NO stand. odW .eiabi5nroI
Another remedy for. the prevalent
debassmsnt Of the. ballot, however, i
proposed, and that tisa"strong govern
ment." This Is favored by, . very Tor
midable party. The restriction Of ths
suffrage is not demanded, because sths
popular current is deemed too stroni
at present to be resisted; but the ig-
norant and degraded masses-ths
driven 'cattle", Of politics@are Y
be fed aud hetded by ths leaders who's
success in controlling their ballots 0hdl
become SO shSmefully proverbial. Th'
champions Of this scheme are the be,
levers 10; d third term for genera
Grant; and leading and inauentia
ministers Of the gospel, like Henr,
Ward Bsecher, ara among them The,
tell us that q settled constitutiona
head for the government is necessary
and that God will put Grant ia
place Of power. We are assured tha
this is especially necessary for the pur
pose Of maintaining order Ia tho South
and a prominent Pennsylvania politi.
clan declared, in the late Republican
convention at Harrisburg, that th,
people were ready to place . crown
upon his head" These strong govern
ment men tell US that the business in
tcrests Of the country need rest
and that to prevent the recurrence .
presidential elections. and the peril
incident to the strifes and rivalrios b
parties, We need permauence ID th'
presidential Office. They say what W
want 10 our government is "stabilit,
and continuity" They make no dis
guise Of their opinion that the wid,
diffusion Of power among the
people is an evil and that one
of the reasons for giving
Grant third term is that he will hay,
the nerve not to be counted out-by the
Democrats if ne should believe himsel
to have been elected. These peculiar
champions Of political reform struggle
for power for the sake Of plunder. The
only government they sincerely believe
10 is plutocracy. and they repudiate
every political principle ii copAict
With their faith. They regard with
secret but supreme contempt the yer,
idea Of popular self government ant
this is illustrated 10 The fact that Sen
ator Cameron and Senator, Conklini
hold the states Of Pennsylvania ant
New York as conquered political pro
yinces, while the pro.cousular power o
Senators Logan, Carpenter and othel
champions Of the strong government
idea is scarcely less noteworthy. These
leaders have no other thought but t.
win and they are doubtless ,embold
ened in their purpose by remembering
that when the title to the presidency
\