The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1880-02-20
pEmccRATIc BIuNDERs.
THE PARTY's INCURABLE STUPIDITY, AS SEEN
IN IT'S RECORD OF THE PAST TWENTY
+ FIVE yEAEs-PARTIAL LIST OF SERIES OF
sTUPENDoUs BLUNDERs.
rFrom the Chicago Times, 1nd.)l

IFrom the Chicago Times, Qnd.)]
There is now at Washington one stalwart
bourbon chief who has an appreciatlve un-
derstanding of his partys dismal situation.
8. He stood up. straight as a ramrod, and
svore for about five minutes like u Cartha
geuian pirate, while his black eyes glowed
like living Goals of fire, as he said that vol
umes would be required to express his
opinion of the satanic, diabolical, idiotic,
--folly of the extra session +" Then
he spoke piously of his earnest pleadings to
the Almighty to put few grains of COM
mon sense into the - stupid heads of his
party leaders 81 don't pray very often"
he said, but at the close of the rebellion
got down on my marrow bones and prayed
to Almighty God at the rate of three hum
dred and fifty words minute to have the
south go over to the Republican party or,
at least, some of its idiotic leaders" But
the Omnipotent paid NO attention to his
prayers; or else the southern brigadiers paid
no attentian to the Omnipotent. They went
on making g. - fools of them
resurrection" went into every campaign
with the damned, heliish, and senseless
solid south clinging to their necks." Then,
in agony of spirit, he cried: ''Oh, if could
only get some of our leaders in a room alone
with me for few minutes, so that / could
pound some sense into the devilish block
heads %
This expresses about all there is in the
Bourbon party situation. It is a situation of
utter hopelessness, to which she party has
been brought solely by its own persistence in
unparalleled political stupidity. For thirty
years-ever since the close of Mr.. Folks att
ministration-the history of that party has
been the history of pig headed combat
pct fIxa fol b1o Tho pf
Texas gave new impetus to agitation upon
the slavery question, both at the south and
at the north, and the tendency of public
opinion to divide on the geographical line
between the free and the slave sections be-
came strong and persistent. The predom-
inant southern idea was to extend the area
of slavery the predominant northern idea
to extend tile area of freedom. Influenced
by these conflicting ideas, parties began to
assume sectional character, the south versus
the north. Under the diaphanous pretense
of regarding slavery as state institution,
not to be brought into national politics,
northern politicians, styling themselves dem
ocrats espoused the southern idea, and that
party, at the north, simultaneously began to
grow ''small by degrees and beautifully less.
Nevertheless such was their political stupid
ity, they could not see the pit of destruc-
tion to which, as party, they were hasten
ing. They pesisted in giving to their organ
ization the character of pro-slavery -propa-
ganda and in more sharply defining, year
by year, the irrepressible conflict between
northern civilization and southern barbar-
ism. This was the real issue in every presi-
dental contest from Polk to Buchanan.
The crisis that had so long been approaching
was precipitated by the repeal, in the inter
est of slavery, of the Missouri compromise
the first in continuous series of gigantic
political blunders, of which. the latest is the
incomparably stupid blunder ins Name. ;
These grand blunders may be presented
numerically, in their historic order, as fol-
lows:
Blunder l. Repeal of the Missouri COM
promise.
Blunder 2. Attempt of the buchanan
administration to establish slavery in Kan
sas
Blunder g. Rebellion of the southern half
of the party.
Blunder l. Manifestation of sympathy by
the northern rump to their southern con-
freres.
Blunder 5. Opposition by the northern
rump to the emancipation policy.
Blunder 6. Hostility to the war policy
manifested i'll the peace programme of
1864.
Blunder 7. Re-embrace by the northern
rump of their southern confreres after the
war.
Blunder s. Opposition to the political en-
franchisemeat Of the negroes.
Blunder 9. Opposition to the war amend
ments of the constitution.
Blunder 10. Opposition to the candidacy
of Grant for president.
Blunder IL. Party solidifcation of the
south on the ol pretense of state sovereign
ty and white mans government.
Blunder II. Rejection by the solid south
party of Hayes Cancellation policy.
Blunder l3. Attempt to reopen the pres
idency squabble of 1876 by the Potter in
QUESTION.
Blunder IA. Southern war claims raid on
the national treasury.
Blunder l5. Espousal Of the greenback
fat money programme of national fraud.
Blnnder l6. The reactionary programme
to "wipe out the national election laws and
other legislation of the war.
Blunder II. The extra session to carry
forth that reactionary programme.
Blunder Is. Ratification and fulfllment
of executive usurpations in Louisiana and
Florida, and attempt to commit the usurpa-
tion in Oregon.
Blunder 10. Preparation and defense of
like executive usurpation in Maine.