Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-12-11
TIE PRESS AND TIE POLITICIANS

sessments are to be prohibited under severe
penalties. And all this is to be done by men
who few months ago were quite confiden.
that they alone understood public opinion,
and that they were taking the right course
to fortify themselves before the nation.
AID yet there is absolutely no excuse foI
theirduliness and aluggishness Of perception.
For they have been warned by the press Of
the impending catastrophe for two years al
least. Nor can they fad refuge il the as.
sertiCn that they Were only warned by
Democratic journals. On the contrary the
pEess which is usually Republican has beer
the most incessant critic OF the party man
ayers, and has pointed out tie mistakes
they were making in the most candid way
Why the party managers refused to pay
any attention to the views of the press is :
question which needs TO be explained. Nc
doubt the atmosphere of Washington has
the popularity of being non.conductor,
az regards the popular view of things. IT
is not enough realized that people live there
under the most artificial and unhealthy
political conditions, Congress and the de.
| partments, no matter what the latter may
be, invariably attract crowd of selt.seek.
ing, sycophantish people, who fatter and
fawn upon every one welding power, who
undertake to exclude all disagreeable indi.
cations from the surrounding country, and
who hedge about the managers with Chi.
nesa Wall Of Illusions and batteries.
Il has been said that kings never hear
the truth, ard it may be sIid with almost
equal accuracy that managers and mem.
beers of Congress and Senators are as care.
fully debarred from the truth as princes.
The press Of the country offers it TO them,
but they are assured by the rabble of Office
seekers surrounding them that the asser.
tons of the press are false, and that the
people are not displeased with what is 60.
ing OF. Aad it is extremely difficult for
these officials to ascertain where the truth
lies, because they do not begin by taking it
for granted that the leading journals of the
country srecandid and represent public opin-
ion as faithfully as possible. Ga the con
trary, most of them rather take it for
granted that every paper is the organ,
ayowed or concealed, of tome clique or fac
tton, and therefore they pay little or 70 at
tention to journalistic criticism. TIE re-
cent elections have shown how greatly
self-deceived these politicians seem. Evil
IDENTIFY they had concluded that there was
no particular danger, Cor they had ignored
the warnings of the Republican and indie.
pendent press, and they had based their
calculations upon information derived from
persons whose only object was to i1gratiate
themselves with officialdom. So the re.
suit Of the election came upon them like q
thunder burst out of clear sky. They
did not know what to make Of it. They
almost imagined that the Dies irg had
come, and that they were involved in q
general and universal ruin. 1t they had
possessed the sagacity to accept the repre-
sensations of the press they would not
have encountered that overwhelming de.
feat.
If they had taken that course they
would not have been compelled 70 make
public profession of their repentance, as
they ale about to do row. They would
not have been forced to take new de.
| no -tura ~, tba f.ca Of JoFa,l tHL,,. !, ]
not have to undergo the humiliation of
accepting change of policy obviously be-
cause it is thrust upon them, aud not be.
cause they believe in it upon principle. No
doubt it is not always the case that the
press is right in these matters, but in the
present instance it could not well have
gone wrong, Tor public opinion had lorg
been. pronounced upon the apparent lacheS
OF the party managers. It is true also that
the schism between Stalwarss' and
"Half Breeds" in New York bad a ten.
dency to discredit with the former all
| journalistic comment which seemed to be
n the interest of the latter. But after
making full allowance for all these consid-
eratious the fact remains that the politi-
clans made a fatal mistake in affecting to
despise and ignore the voice of the press,
since it was, as events have demonstrated,
also the voice of the people. But the
strong probability is that the politicians
were led to this blunder by an undue de.
pendence on the power OF the machine
in politics. And this has always been a
common error. Organization and discipline,
nevertheless, have never been sufficient to
control the Republican masses. They have
always refused to support measures or men
in whom they did not believe. And as the
independent element in the Republican
party is always strong enough to control it
if put to the test, it was a fatal mistake to
defy it.
Il would have been easy enough to have
avoided the verdict OF November. Bu.
disastrous as that defeat was, it may after
all prove to have been beneiicent, If the
party managers heneeforth show their V i'll.
ingness to become firm reformers, and to
follow the lead of that free and in depend.
ent press which assuredly stands for all
that is best in public opinion. A party
which is in full aud complete harmony
with the press is of necessity power in
the land. This was formerly the case with
the Republican party. Bat when the
managers grew so bold and SO full of con.
ceit IS to conclude that they could carry
things as they CHOOSE, with the aid of the
machine, and in defiance of the press.
they scaled their fate. Thenceforwsrd
they could only proceed more rapidly to
destruction, and now they are waking up.
bruised and sore, at the foot OF the preci.
pice over which they have fallen, and are
wiling to take any path that will lead
them again TO the position from which they
have ousted themselves. No doubt it is
never too late to mend but then it ia also
never too soon to begin aad if these pol.
iticians hsd only begun when the evil