Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1880-08-27
VOTERS.
The Gentlemen Who Hold the
Balance of Power and
Make Presidents.

Julian's, Speech at Indianapolis, Tuesday
Night
| refer to these personal matters in
no spirit of vain BOOSTING, but simply
in illustration of the duty of every
man to be faithful to himself, even
against the pleadings of prudence and
and peace. Nor do | wish to be un-
derstood as condeDning political par
ties. They are a necessity they are
an essential part of the machinery
through which the vigilance of the
people is able to preserve their liber'
ties. The great danger of our times
is that excess of party spirit against
which Washington so solemnly warn
ed his countrymen in his farewell
address, and which now seriously
threatens the suppression of individ-
ual thought and action. The path o.
political independence is by no means
an inviting one. 1t offers the fewest
possible temptations to selfish ambi'
ton. Independent voters are gener.
ally obliged to make themselves of NJ
reputation. They can parade nc
grand procession of followers. They
are allowed none of the spoils o.
office. They are obliged to face the
general hostility and scorn which the
smallness of their numbers and ire
quent potency of their action natu-
rally provoke. Senator ConklinG
styles them 'jayhawkers," "guerril-
las and "tramps." They are some
times called deputy democrats
"malcontents," and "impracticables'
who vote in the air." but they often
prove to be the true conservative
force in our politics and the real
leaven Of reform.
Undoubtedly they are liable to
make mistakes. Their lack of organ.
~ization is certainly attended by seri-
GUS disadvantages. Their usefulness
was greatly compromised by their
leaders in the spring of 1876 in their
famous New York conference, in which
they laid down the precise conditions
on which they declared they
would cooperate with the other par
ties, and then made haste to join one
of them after those conditions had
been openly spurned. They betrayed
vacillation and weakness at the criti-
cal moment which called forth
straightfOrwardness and courage; but
their power in our politics is unques-
tionable, and their persistent determi-
nation to exercise it is one of the
signs Of the times. Independent vot-
ers defeated Clay in 1874 and General
Cass in l848. They destroyed the old
whig party and formed a new organi-
cation composed Of abolitionists.
conscience wings" and boiling dem
ocrats. The republican party itself
was a bolt. 1t was principally made
up of "jayhawkers' and "tramps,'
who broke away from their demo
cratic and wing keepers, and made
common cause with the old f~reesoilers
in withstanding the further exactions
Of slavery; and the existence of the
great historic party would have been
impossible if the old wings who form.
ed the great body Of it had been as ia
tally smitten with the party devil
worship as are the republicans to-day.
Independent voters in 1860 rent the
democratic party in twain, and made
Abraham Lincoln president. Ia
1872 the republican party carried the
state of New York by a majority Of
$4,000 voters but in 1874 the demo.
Gratis triumped by the same ma.
ority, thus showing that the
state was not divided into
two parties, but three, inasmuch a.
the potency of the party battle-cry
was dependent upon outside help. 81
in the party divisions Of to-day, there
is a third element, not under the drill
of either, which holds the balance O.
power, and illustrates the noteworthy
fact that in free governments minori
ties often rule. The independent vo
ters held the balance of power in th,
nation, and welded it four years ago
as they probably will in the canvas
Of this year. AS the make weight il
party divisions they are f~requentl,
able to create the majority they desir,
and this invests their action with
commanding importance. They played
their part in the late Chicago conven
ton in defeating the third term con
spiracy and preserving the great un
written law of the republic from VIC
lation. The fear of extensive boltini
in the strong republican states, should
Grant be nominated, was in the air
and doubtless restrained many dele
gates who would else have fallen int,
the Grant column under the whip anC
spur Of Conkling, Cameron and Lo
gan. You all remember how the ma
ton held its breath while the fearful
issue hung in doubt; and when. a
last, the question was settled, and th,
lightning flashed the glad tidings owe
the continent aud kindled in millioni
OF hearts an answering thrill Of graft
tude to God for the d~eliverance Of th,
nation from a great peril, / rejoiceC
that, for eight years, by tongue and
pen, l had contributed my small quota
toward the grand work, and that it,
final triumph was largely due to the
"guerrillas" with whom l had co.
operated.
An English journalist of twenty.