The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-08-04
gultttta1.
THE CAUSE OF DEMOCRATIC DE-
FEAT.

FEAT.
Extract from speech delivered BY Henry Wat
tefson before the Democratic Elitors OF lndl'
ana, June 80, 1881
Why was it that Mcclellan was not
elected in 1854? Not surely because. he
was not gallant and popular soldier,
and patriotic, upright and capable
man, 1t was because the party which
name him was not one with itself, end,
being but a make shift, trifed with the
situation. 1t put a war candidate on a
peace platform; another form of hitch
inc the horses tail to the rear of the
wagon. A m jDrity of the people to
whom the election wac submitted meant
to fight the war out, and to win in the
fight, that and nothing less; and they
we're already inspired by sort Of inner
prophecy of victory. The Chicago Con-
vention which nominated NJ Clelan did
not represent the aspiration of the time.
Nor was it open, manly and sincere. 1t
deserved defeat for its ingenuousness.
1t was doomed to defeat because major.
ity of the people believed that the sue.
cess of the ticket nominated by it meant
the abandonment of the fight for the
Union.
Why was not Seymour elected in 1868?
Not surely that there was anything
wanting in him. A truly great and pure
man; brilliant leader of the people and
a statesman of rare accomplishments;
possessed Of every charming and ga
cious gift of intellect culture and man.
hood But he was beaten, and badly
beaten, and there was but one man
himself who foresaw it from the first,
and. with tearJ in his eyes, tried to avert
the blow, not from himself but from his
party-when that party, repeating the
mistake of four years before and missing
altogether the temper of the time, put
hard money candidate upon soft money
platform, and arrayed itself 10 the per.
son of its nominee for Vice President
another noble, gifted and brave man
against the inevitable. General Grant
was the logical expression of the war,
and the war is not yet over. The clash
of arms had ceased. But the fash of
passion was all abaze Parties, like in.
dividuas, have penalties to pay for short
comings and follies. In 1868, it was not
in the books for the Democratic party,
which had an accumulation of bath to
answer for, TO elect anybody, and still
less to defeat popular soldier like Gen
eral Grant
In 1872 there appeared for a moment
a streak of daylight, There had come to
pass among the Republicans a schism of
no ordinary magnitude; it was the result
of honest difference upon public ques
tions of pth and moment, and it carried
with it leaders Of such importance as
Sumner, Greeley, Charles Francis Ad.
ans, SChurz, and the four great Repub'
liCan iou nails Of the North. The mill.
tary popularity of the President seemed
on the wane. There was a general and
as the sequel proved, a justified distrust
of the administration Why was the oc-
casion lost? Why was the opportunity
thrown away? Why did the fair young
hopes which deCked in Nay day cos.
tunes gathered in the beautiful Queen
City Of the West in the early spring, die
in the heat of nj summer | answer
with confidence; the same old biunder;
q party not one with itself inC)heren.
Ces-and incouei enciee; witches aBuide
of broomsticks; the high priest Of pro-
lection on tree.trade platform; every
body on fence Of his own, end nowhere
any deep conviction. must deal frank
ly by this melancholy episode in our
party annals. Never lived a man more
oil the people and with the people han |
HOraoe Greeley; never shown g MUS
which gave purer light, His 4reer
was one long, hard, benehCent, and bril- |
liant fight for man. His final appeal to !
the people, irradiating half circle, rest
ing upon Kentucky and New York and |
including Pennsylvania, o 10 and Indi |
ana, but reaching every nook and corner
in the land, showed him to be, not mere
ly a generous patriot, but a Philosophic
statesman of large int9ll Ctlal endo@.
ments and practical and popular ora
tor of the readiest and most effective de- |
scription. But he was more of philos !
opher than a statesman, and more of a |
philanthropist than either, and, in spite |
of his genius and of his worth, he was q
hero of ths closet not of the field. 1t
was not in his nature to deal with the |
baser reali5ms Of political life Continu'
ously pressing around the executive
Office. He could not, by any possibility, |
have made a successful administration. |
Extremes meet, and cut off from his old |
Northern connections, his sp 1ntaneous,
sentimental and kindly heart would |
have carried him South for sympathy |
and support, and he would have been es.
sentially, and almost necessarily, the |
President of the South. 1t was this be- |
lief which made his nomination 80 easy
at Baltimore. 1t was this belief which |
made his defeat 80 easy at the polls.
The North did not mean to surrender |
the Government to the South. 1t pre-.
ferred even G ant and Grantism. And
thus the sectional outCry proved as po.
tential against Horace Greeley as if |
it had been directed against Jefferson |
Davis, 1t was not the man; it was the |
idea.
We come now to campaign which |
was fought out upon principle; in which
the party was one with itself; in which |
the platform and the candidate had their
heads turned the same way; where all |
was consistent, and there was put into
the field an array of moral forces, sus.
tanning and organized ideas representing
the spirit, need and purpose Of the time.
In 1875 the Democratic party delivered
no doubtful note. 1t adopted platform
whereon the principles of Jefferson and
Jackson were grouped in symmetrical
arrangement and order around the great
practical question Of the day, admin.
istrative reform. On this platform it
placed as it's nominee not merely a
a. Of kba uohoo1 IF TaHarsoy, nrd