Daily Los Angeles herald., 1880-11-06

In. would have placed the party |
equarsly on the record as deter.
mined to maintain the old Jeffer-
soniAn doctrine In all 1t strictness |
and purity. It Is needless to say |
that the Democratic Congress per-
mittsd itself to be bullied out of its
positlon. The instances in the his
tory Of the world of . party under
COW turning Its audacious adverse
ries out Of office are very rare. Had
the Democratic leaders either re.
Trained from Initiating legislation
looking to the repeal of the Federal
election laws and the laws regulat-
Ing juries in the South; or, having
originated these measures, if they
had fearlessly locked shields on
the. Issue, they would have had
chance OF success, In the one in
stAncs on the ground Of expediency
and In the other on account of Its
sudacity. Pluck or cunning are
tho winning cards in politics; and
the Democratic leaders, In the first
Congress which sat under Hayes,
showed them to be possessed Of
neither. There was just enough
assertion of the doctrine Of tates'
rights on the part of tho Democratic
party, during the past four years,
to alarm the conservative citizen,
while there was not rigor or mas
culinity enough in 1t to attract
hardy and enthusiastic followers.
AS to questions of tariff and
finance, there are no honest and
we'll defined differences between
the two parties. The admirable
tariff for revenue only plank of the
Cincinnati Convention was ex-
planned away till it lost the Demo-
cratic party the votes both Of pro-
tectionists and free traders.
In truth the Republican and.
Democratic parties are both full Of
protectionists and free traders and
OF hard and soft money men, accord
Ing to tho locality in which they
live. In the Republican party
John Sherman at one time was the
softest of soft money men, just as
he IL now the hardest OF hard
money men, aud just as Senator
Allen G. Thurman from the most
inf1exibls OF hard money states.
men became disciple Of George
II. Pendleton and talked as glibly
about the issue of more greenbacks
ns the veriest political empiric OF
them all. Thus there were no such
radical differences on these Issues
between the two parties as to make
the country lean decisiveIy to the
one side or the other.
In the old days political parties
were divided by strongly marked
lines. The Democratic party par
ttcularly, until very lately, knew
how to rally the masses by taking
cries and by measures founded on
genuine patriotic principles. JEFF
ferson turned out the Adams ad-
ministration by vigorous and ag-
gressive campaign against the GEN.
trsllzing spirit of the Federallsts.
Madison and Monroe preserved the
party In full vigor by resisting
British insolence and proclaiming
for free ships and sailors rights.
Jackson's shibboleth was the Ma
tional Bank and DISQUALIFICATION.
Polk met the situation in the ring
Ing "forty-four forty or fighp
spirit and by the splendid incident
of the Mexican war.
In those days the Democratic
party had leaders who could sug.
gest popular rallying cries and in
dividualize taking and successful |
Issues. The rank and file of the |
party we're never allowed to found
er around, wondering what they
were fighting for, as they have too
often been obliged to do of late. In
those days II the Democratic party
took up any position 1t adhered to
It with the grim resolution with |
which death Is supposed to cling |
to . dead niger. There was no
confident advance and then, at the
hrst note of opposition, a precipi.
tate retreat. From the time the
Democratic party in Congress
shaped legislation go as to make
that memorable special session
necessary the party lost prestige
and hope. An Intelligent and
sensitive Democrat could not help
feeling thenceforth that his party
was dwindling day By day.
With no great, strongly individ-
nalixed issues 10 excite the people,
he possessors Of power are apt, by
The very advantage Of its posses-
lion, to retain their hold upon It.
This was The case this year. With
1t the reform issue Of 1879, or tho
M 1nsuo which We might have /
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