The daily gazette. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1874-1883, 1880-09-16
From the rev York Herald.
MAINE,


the Republicans.
Their difficulty was that they claim
ed Maine as their property. "Lolg
JONES'" Republican politician of Chi
cago, said to Herald reporter yester-
day, II would have shifted at a fifteen
hundred Republican majority" defeat
sickened him.
Well, such are the fortunes of war,
or rather Of politics. We have SO often
toldIthe Republicans not to be too sure
that it may be disagreeable in us to
repeat it now. Still, as an illiterate
country gentleman once advised a bud
ding journalist, "What you want to do
is to re-irritate;" and it can do them
no harm to tell them again that they
need to be careful.
The result in Maine shows once more
that this country Is not owned by the
politicians, but by the people. The
Maine Republican leaders are strong
men and able manipulators. They
have held the State in their grasp for
more than quarter ola century, and
they had come to consider it their own
their property. When the people
saw this they determined to assert
their own proprietorship-that is all.
1t is a way the American people have;
it is trick they have often played
their political masters.
Whoever has watched American pol
itics for series of years ought to have
great faith in the people. They are
perhaps not always wise; they are un-
doubtedly very patient and long suff-
ering, and they certainly dlsappoint
the political managers very often; but
one thing must be admitted of them
they are their own masters and the
masters of the country. They know
how to assert their power and take
the reins from the hands of men who
have begun to think they own the
State. Neither the politicians, how
ever astute they may be; nor the par
ty organs, with their buster; nor the
independent papers; nor the great
army of stump speakers, with their
torrents Of eloquence-none of these
own the country or can make it do
what it does not want to do. That is
the chief lesson which the Maine sur
prise teaches, or ought to teach.
Meantime it may usefully teach
some subsidiary lessons to the mana
gers and organs of both parties. We
should be glad, for instance, if their
disappointment in Maine should lead
the republicans to moderate somewhat
the fury and buster of their canvass,
which has of late become insulting to
the thoughtful and sensible part of the
public. They have bristled with de-
nunciation and misrepresentation,
have 'crammed lies'' down democratic
throats, have asserted in the most
positive and furious manner that the
country must take the republicans,
with all their faults, or be ruined.
They rung the changes in Maine on
the "solid South" the rebel debt, the
public credit, the poor abused negro,
who in the mysterious dispensations of
of Providence always gets himself kill
ed about cotton picking time in the
Presidential year and comes to life
again directly after the November
election in time to cut his winters fire.
wood. They left no stone unturned,
nor any possible or impossible cam
paign tale untold, to persuade the good
people of Maine that they might as
well run over into Canada at once as to
let tho democrats come in. And be-
hold, when election day came, the peo-
pie, calmly, and not bit scared at all
at this sham thunder, went to the polls
and elected General Plaisted Governor
by very pretty vote.
You cannot catch the great Ameri-
can voter by putting salt on his tail,
gentlemen. The Maine farmer or lum-
herman OF fisherman is reasoning
creature the republican blunder was
that they treated him as though he
were fool. The people of Maine are
fond of Mr.. Blaine and proud of him
but we believe they would prefer even
their gre 1t favorite to reason with
them. When he sets a lot of wild
stump yawpers at them to tell them
that unless they do what he and Mr..
Hamlin want they ill be ruined they
gently warn him by turning their
backs on him. Unfortunately what
Mr.. Blaine did in Maine other repub-
lican managers are doing and letting
their organs do in other parts of the
country they are shouting "ruin,
ruin" to the people, who only laugh
and remember that the same men have
been crying 'ruin, ruin" these dozen
years, and have done nothing else.
The Democratic canvass has been so
moderate compared with that of their
opponents that they have been charged
with stupidity. We suspect they have
profited as much up to this time by the
vlruleuce of the republicans as by their
own skill. The result in Maine has
them as greatly as it has the
We advise them to take
nothing for granted except that elections
are uncertain. The gain of Maine is
important and fortunate
for them but even Maine has yet TO
choose Presidential electors. The sit
nation is just now extremely interesting
tor both sides, for neither can afford to
ose Indiana or Ohio, or both, in Octo-
Der. If the democrats should lose In
Llama in spite of the encouragement of
carrying Maine, this would be very
damaging and almost fatal blow to their
hopes. If, on the other hand, the repub-
,ans should lose Indiana as well as
Maine, they would scarcely hold up their |
IL or,n aud