Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1881-11-17

IL must be admitted that in that ca
pacity IT has served the purpose well
and 1encered the country substan-
tai service. The dominant party of
the country is SO strong and so CON
fident OF It's ability to continue in
the control Of public affairs that it
is apt 70 get careless, TO depend tSe
much upon its reserved strength,
and allow the elections to go, by
default This is especially the case
in what are popularity known as the
soft years. like t..5 present one, inst
succeeding 9 Presidential election.
and after the Democracy has been
"whipped out of its boots.n Las;
year the Republicans took off their
coats, rolled up their sleeves and
demonstrated their capacity for
downright herd campaign work in
a way that was beautiful to behold,
and the result was the triumphant
election of their ticket. How nat
ural it was for the most of them TO
wish to rest upon their laurals this
year and TO take a little vacation
away from the polls, while their
constant and steady going neigebors
stood sentinel over the destiny of
the Republic. They remembered
that they piled up their majorities
for Garfield and Arthur last autumn
like Alps on Alps, until the fossiliz-
ed BourboEs were buried far beyond
the hearing of Gabriel's trumphet.
and thousands of them in every
State looked upon the defeat Of their
wary opponents as a good job well
performed, and never again to need
repeating.
Just here is the point where the
Democratic party seems to make
itself useful 1t is the parable OF
the wheat and the tares over again.
the enemy sewing the tares while
the Republican husbandmen are
asleep, sand the result in some cases
has almost proved disastrous. The
Democratic party seems to have Just
vitality enough left to occasionally
terrify the di'atory Republicans in
to doing a duty that ought to be
done regularly, without excuse or
omission, and that is, to exercise the
inestimable privilege Of the elective
franchise whenever there is an op-
portunity presented to them. As a
raw head and bloody bones that
party has become quite a success,
and, as inherently bad as it is ac-
knowledged to be, it is still capable
of some benifcent and wholesome
uses. 1t generally lifts its hydra
head in the off years, as it did last
week, and the sight of it scares
the lazy Republicans so that they
will certainly 90 to the polls until
the next Presidential election is
settled in favor of the right ticket.
A certain class of Republicans are
prompted to do their duty more by
their fears than by the desire tc set
their principles triumphant, and the
Bourbon scarecrow is useful factor
in prompting them to the discharge
of one of the highest duties Of the
sovereign people.
In many of the northern states
this horrid looking skeleton has been
shaking its dry old bones in the wind
and the sight has not been a pleas
ant one. In New York and Wis
consin especially the scare over a
probable Democratic ascendency
as been so complete that the result
will I've salutary and lasting, and in
favor Of good government. Both of
these states are reliably Republican
on a full vote, and both are neceS-
sary, in all ordinary calculations, to
the success of the Republican pyra
mid i'll Presidential contest. Both
were carried SO easily last year that
both came near being wholly lost
last week through sheer neglect and
apathy. Napoleon was defeated at
Waterloo by the non-arrival of
Grouchy in season, and many a po-
| litical battle has been lost by the
| failure of the reserve forces to APP
pear on the ground IN season. If
the lesson Of last Tuesday has the
effect TO unite the Republicans of
New York, and Danish their selfish
ness and heart-burnings, no further
excuse need be offered for the exist
ance of the Democratic party.
In Wisconsin the old bugbear has
! also been made available. In that
state, about 10000 Republicans who
voted for Mr.. Garfield, swelling his
majority up to nearly $4,000, staid
at home on one pretext or another,
and thus ieopardized the election of
the whole Republican ticket. After
days of suspense and nights given
to close figuring and comparisons,
the returnes come slowly in and
reveal the fact that, while the Re
publican candidates are elected by
considerable majority, the Demo
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