The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-08-02
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South, ard the animositis Of The past I'd hir TO
Be forsottsn. DE Republican newspapen seine
the occasion 10 express the hope that the Inn
proved condition Of things win lead 10 the for
nation Of new political party. Indeed. with
newspapers Of the class Of the New York In
bxas IL seems TO be . dogma that there cannot Be
any true reunion In the Unised States or . con-
plete reconstruction, which shall not have as is
immediate consequences the formation Of an en-
tirely fresh and original political organization
This cry has found an echo here and there in the
South, and II Is worth while, therefore, 10 con-
slider quietly whether new political party NJ
this time ID either necessary OF desirable, II IS
important TO examine this whole question with
care. inasmuch as the existence or dissolution Of
any political party, however ancient and power
full, is Of little consequence in comparison with
the well-being of the republic
There must be At least two national political
parties in the United States Opposition Is in
dispensable TO the pruper conduct Of public
affairs, and We presume that no thinking man
will desire that any party, however respectable,
shall be free to do its VIII without such restraint
as 10 imposed by the reasonable and constant
criticism Of those who hold different opinions-
There IS no way of making these opinions effec-
tive except through political organization If
then at least two national parties are needed
now, as they always have been, what reason is
there for asserting that q new party ought 10 be
built upf
1t should be noted in the beginning that when
the Tribune and other newspapers urge thai .
new party should be formed they never contem-
plate the extinction of the party to which they
themselves belong. They do not admit that the
Republican party has fulfilled its mission For
them there are always new political worlds to
conquer. The party they want and look for Is
one that shall strengthen the Republicans. and
take the place of the National Democracy.
Their desire is not that the people shall say, As
in the old era OF good feeling: I'VE are all Fed
eralists-w are all Republicans" but that
the people shall be all Federalists, and none of
them be what used to be known as Republicans
and now are styled Democrats This is q one
sided arrangement If the Republicans asked
and Democrats, their sincerity would be adj
mitted; but there is nothing very attractive in q
proposition that would leave those who are DOW
members of the Democratic party al the mercy
of the Republicans II Is q good thing, perhaps,
to disarm, and allow those who are likely to
come into conflict TO simultaneously hang up
their swords and put their muskets in the chin
ney corner. What the Republicans want is a
reorganization that will dsa nm the Democracy,
and place new and better weapons In the hands
Of our present political opponents.
The central reason which is given by the Re
publican advocates of 9 new party is that the
present division of parties creates and perpetu-
ates sectionalsm, and the responsibility for this
the Republican managers place, as usual, upon
the Democracy generally and upon the Southern
Democracy in particular. None wish more than
the Democrats do that sectional lines shall be
oblterated, but it was the Republicans who
drew those lines, and ii is the Republicans who
maintain them. The political solidity of the
South, in other words. is the answer which the
Southern people make to the threats of the Re
publicans Of the North. The Southern people
find that by remaining solidly Democratic they
can protect themselves completely at home and
enjoy, at the same time, an influence in national
affairs that prevents the recurrence OF the law
less and vindictive acts which promised to make
the South desert ten and twelve years ago As
soon IS the Southern people can be satisfied that
there is no dsnger to themselves in breaking
ranks, as soon as the sectional pressure OF Re-
publicanism is removed there will doubtless e
changes in the distribution OF party strength,
and it may well happen thai the East will go
politically against the West, instead of the North
against the South. The condition precedent, so
far as the South is concerned, is that the North
shall be national in its policy The South will
then be national likewise.
The consequences OF the effacement of sec
tional lines throughout the country not far TO
seek. When the Republican party has some
other policy and platform than the political re
preston OF the South, and when the South can
safely have another policy than that of selEpre-
servation. both political parties must find new
and practical reasons to justify their continued
existence. AT present the two parties are badly
mixed up. On economic questions there are
Free Traders and Protectionisis in both national
parties, as there are hard money men and soft
money men, and opponents and advocates of the
reform Of the civil service. The one great prin-
ciple which is not boldly and emphatically as
serted by both parties is strenuous and unfalter-
ing opposition to monopolies- This is the bed
rock of the national Democratic party to-day 1t
is in itself good ground TO fight on but if this
single issue be not sufficient and il is not reason
able to expect that it will be- the people Of the
country, in the absence of the paramount con-
siderations which have driven them heretofore
into particular political camp, will naturally
seek that party which, in its practice and princi
Piles. best expresses their views concerning the
tariff, the currency, and other economic ques-
tons, whether that party be Democratic or Re
publican.
The process Of sitting out would go on rapidly
and make the two political parties separate and
distinct on series of vital questions, without
any of that interlacing or commingiing which
makes it difficult sometimes in these days, TO
tell one party from another. There will not
then be any straddling of the fence. Each party
must have both feet on the ground, and stand on
its own side of a well defined line.
There is no need OF a new political party.
The political parties now in existence can de-
velop and readjust themselves so as TO NIL the en-
tire public arena. There is room for improve
ment IN both parties, but the Democratic party
will have by far the stronger position before the
country, if il take the lead in abandoning the
effort to blow hot and cold with The same breath,
and determine to stand or fall by well settled
principles All the change, all the reform, that
the nemocracv need can he had within the