Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-06-15
THE CLAIMS OF THE DEMOCRATIC
PARTY.


sneer at the Democratic party. No matter
how pure public man may be, the fact that
he is Democrat is sufficient to call down
upon his devoted head the abuse of the
Times. The mendacity of that sheet is
boundless. 1t can pick flaws in the most
perfect declarations of political principles,
and find faults where none exist. In a re-
cent editorial on the Democratic position it
says:
To Judge from the proceedings of the Mary
land and Indiana Democratic conventions, the
Democratic party proposes to enter the contest
now near at hand with the fraud cry-with the
great central idea that somebody was cheated
four years ago. To judge from these indica-
tions, the party will not ask the confidence and
support of tho people on the ground that it
proposes to wipe ont all the war legislation, or
that it is In favor of a tariff for revenue only
or that it has any policy or purpose of its own,
or that 1t has done anything during the past
twenty years to earn the good opinion of any
! body. but on the ground that fraud must be
rebuked and punished, and that great wrong
must be righted.
It is not probable that the gratuitous
sneers of this Ishmaelite among newspapers
will have any effect on the public mind, for its
opinions have long ceased to be regarded as
of any value whatever. Yet it's misrepre-
sensations should be corrected for the bene-
fit Of those who do not understand the char
aoter of the paper and the system it invari-
ably pursues of maIigning everything and
everybody Democratic.
1t is true that the Democratic party has
raised the fraud issue, but not true that they
have made it the great central idea of the
campaign. And why should it not be
raised? Can such an $outrage upon the
eleotive franchise as that nerpetrated by
the Republicans in 1876 ever be forgotten or
condoned? To expect the Democratic party
10 ignore so great crime is to expect that it
is false to honor and willing to compromise
with thieves. The fact that the r g.
publicans stole the Presidency four
years ago, that they threatened, bribed and
committed the most shameless perjury to ac-
complish their purposes. is undeniable, and
will forever remain es blot upon our ma
tional name. The perpetrators of the crime
must be punished, and the party that ap-
proved of and p1ofted by it must be made
to feel the weight of the popular displeasure.
The Times is right in saying that the
Democratic party will not ask the confidence
and support of the people on the ground
that it proposes to wipe out all the war legis-
lation. The only part of that legislation it
proposes to obliterate are the laws designed
to interfere with the free exercise of the suf-
frage and menace voters by q display of
armed force at the polls. It will ask the con-
fdence and support of the people on the
ground that it is in favor of tariff for
revenue only, for every State convention that
has yet spoken has recorded it's voice in
favor of that change in our tariff system. It
will demand the support of the people be-
cause it has policy of it's own-a policy as
old as the constitution of the United States
and the declaration of independence. 1t is
policy based upon those instruments and
embodying the great ideas of the equality of
all men before the law, the protection of the
citizen in the right to life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness, and the preservation
intact of the respective powers and authority
of the federal and State governments. It
will ask the confidence and support Of the
people on the ground that during the past
twenty years it has accomplished much to
entitle it to the good opinion of everybody.
While in minority in Congress it prevented
the contamination of many rascall5 schemes
proposed by the Republicans, and since
gaining majority it has inaugursted and
successfully carried out many
important reforms in government, saving
to the people over a hundred millions of
dollars in three years. It has introduced
and enforced economy in all the branches of
government, thus enabling the secretary of
the treasury to largely reduce the principal
and interest on the public debt, has inaugu-
rated and carried out important public
works, provided for the care of soldiers dis
abled in the army, and accomplished much
other work that entities it to the gratitude
of the whole people.
The record Of the Democratic party is a
noble one, and none need be ashamed of it.
That few indiscreet members of the party
have occasionally sought to bring discredit
upon its motives is no imputation upon the
party as whole. There are black sheep in
every fold, and it is not to be wondered at
that few have crept into Congress under
the Democratic banner. Notwithstanding
the sneers of the Times and other kindred
sheets, the party will appear before the
people with record untarnished, and with a
platform of principles that cannot be sue
cessfully assailed.
DAILY WEATHER BULLETIN.