New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-02-02

dona, il they had been strcng enough. Some
scns:ba men in that party. hg voting with the
Rniu''lican3 or staying aVny. have helped to
pake it IL. possible for The hrainlcss inrOnp"-
t-,Its and rpt;ess rev0lntionists to Do any ilis-
naief, and we thall BE tod hcnccfcrth that they
never Iaeaut to do anr. Perhaps not bnt in
that case Speaker Randall aud sumo Of his as
s,ci4taa in tte leadership have 6sgracrd them
selves very cLeapy. If they Lai ~ serious
r'.r9Gst and yet were wlliIg ~ violate every
tr,st that Speaker OF IA RcIlcsel tn'ive ought
to hold sacred, tliciI cChdlH appears little
mere disjrc;litatlr thar ii Wo'ld have been lAd
they RvOwei purpose OF the worst sort. l'c
net result, as TO tie PARTY, is That II ans "Lce
more rallied itsflt, almost to the last Ehi''
under TIE Leadership Of its worst ard inost CaE-
gsroIis mcrhcIs, only to get tnaten in disgrace,
and forced t. back down with di!nsy excuses.
In sober carnest, it * rot strange that mem
bera If the DrIGccrutic party ut Waglilst"h
begir to talk scrucsly OF abandoning the organ
izatio.. 1t ,nIst be unspeakaby painful, to aIy
Democrat WHO las cO!.iIOn sense or decent
Aelf-res1cct, to be identified with party which
canr0t even get whipped without making the
defeat ten times worse by its own ScnscleSs anu
diSc1accfnl behavior. Year after year, thls
party allows itself 10 be dragged ~ to its in
cvltahlc thrashng, knowing flat its mcn OF
b,nins aud character arc sent to the rear, that
its 1ncauest and most disr-puiGble elements Will
shane its tactics, choose its methods, and dahb
it oil over with dshOnOr IL the hopeless
stru ggle. What is the use No good cause
can possibly be helped forward by such fSftirS
ms the Democratic PARTY has been doing Of btc
.,.~,ll l.. =. Is
of office, the party is farther from that end than
It has been at any other time since the war.
Year after year. in Congress, the members 6f
the party suffer themselves to he dragged into
positions both indrfcusbc and tliScrcditIble, by
men of such snail caible that they would never
he suffered to take the lead in any political or
business organization under the Sln, except the
Democratic party. The better mon of the party
are trotted up to vote, get beaten aud diSErnced
rs usual, talk bitterly for n week about leaders
who have no sense, and followers who spend
their time III baT-r0Ouis, and then tall INTO line
again IA before. whenever the mos, GlrcaSon-
able ASA in the party sees lit to thrust forward
his tav0rte fora of folly or demag0Sism.
The retreat AS respects TIE electoral count is
complete. Democratic members Of tht Sen"tc
and of the House have al'raod In chuCGs upon "A
mode of counting tie votes which cannot be-
distinguished IRON that Which scNcial RerGbli-
cans have repeatedly proposed 1t has the
sanction of precedent i'll 1917, lN57 aud 1864.
and leaves wholly unsettled all questions as 10
tho bowers Of either house 0r of l-,t, hoIstS,
in any case Of dispute. II, ~ DuaOcralic
leaders profess, no dispute ~ to trc Ie~ld Of
the recent election WAS intended, the MrthoI
sanctioned 10y c,StoH, III rir'ilr cases o ish 10
have beer adopted AT tl.r Ontsrt witho:t delay
OF question. All that the Republicans have de-
handed is that no Il1n Should b. airltrd rr.dor
which it would be po,rihlc to de:c.d tnc viii Of
the people.