The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-11-01
YOung Mn in Politi.s.

Any party, in r;lef 10 be fit to live,
must move On. Old leaders and mana
gers become rooted in their ideas and
habits, and if the party is not entirely
free, so that y. ung men always have
opportunity {, come forward as repre-
sentatives f changing thought, it will
inevitably beg t. decay. This is es-
pecially the case with the Republican
party. because it is an emb -tliment of
the progressive thought of the country.
Democracy, benz at its best merely a
brake on the car. n chron' resi- tance to
everything i'll the nature o. real i'm
provement, adeal w ight t. be dragged
al ng, useful MY as ballast, can exist
after a fash on ii hout changes of
working rec AMI le al, rship. But Re-
publican prog 'ess absolutely demands
everywhe Repujli an (, eedom in the
expressi, n of opinion, and in the s-lee-
ton of men who best rcpr sent its latest
Thought. 1t came INTO being as the
W. rk of young men who then embodied
and grand y set forth the best thought
of twenty-five years ago. Its first
Speaker, Mr.. Banks, was thirty-eight
when elected; with him sat in the
House Trumbul', then forty-o ne;
Loveioy, forty-four; Colfax, only thir-
ty-tEree; Burlingame, thirty -four;
Bingham. forty; Campbell, forty
four; Sherman, thirty-two; Grow,
thirty-two; Covode, forty-seven; Nor
rill, of Vermont, forty-five;. Wash
burne. o. Maine, forty two; Washburne,
of Wisconsin. thirty-seyen; and Wash
burne. of Illinois, thirty Two
years later o.; hers were elected-Farns-
worth, thirtv-seven years of age; Dawes,
forty-one; Thayer. thirty-eight; +. p.
losr fhfrfx- 81 fvro torbf
Then came the mem Jrable Congress
elected when Mr.. Lincoln. then forty
eight years of age, o ened the path to
the Presidency by his struggle with
Douglas. In that Congress, Ferry, of
Connecticut. then thirty-five; Porter, of
Indiana. then thirty-four; Window,
then thirty-one; Conkling, then twenty
nine; and Mcpherson, twenty eight,
were new members. And with the
election Of Lincoln, in 1860. there
came into the House, Garfield of Ohio,
then twenty nine; Blaine, of Maine,
then thirty; Wilson, of Iowa, thirty
two; Conway. of Kansas, thirty; Rol-
Inns, of New Hampshire, then thirty
six; Wheeler, OF New York, then forty
one; and Kelley. of Pennsylvania, then
forty-sjX. These were among the men
whose activity then raised them to lead
ership, but in every district the great
part of the work IN the Great on OF the
Republican party was done by men
still younger.
Nearly quarter of century has
passed Men are now voters who were
born the year Garfield and Blaine first
took seats in Congress. A whole gen.
Grafton has arisen, s nee the Republican
party came into power, with new ideas,
new aims, new beliefs. They tan be
titly represented, in the active WORK of
n party, only by young men like them
selves. OF the old leaders many are
dead or physically disabled; some have
lost public confidence; many others still
remain to aid the party by a wisdom
tempered by long experience. But the
party would simply commit suicide, if
| it should shut out young and active men
from full share in its leadership and
management. They best know the
temper of those younger men who
now form a lar ma ority of the Re-
1 publican voters. What the younger
| voters want, # they have fresh ideas
and aims which the older lie der do not
| share. will never, heless get done before
many years The Republican party, il
it is still 10 embody the progressive
thought OF the Ma ion. must everywhere
| open lis uCliNc NOI u pidCCS Vi tIuSb
and its respvn. lc Leadership to the
men who have grown up wit the ma
oritv OF today.
There have been, of lac, some cheer
ing evidences that the steady forward
movement OF the party is going on.
Perhaps "the boys" sometimes make
mistakes, as is natur4l. But they will
learn whst ought o lie done and how
to do it 1. great deal more qui ky and
l<shoroughly if called upon right early
| to take part in the management of al
fairs. he younger voters who are be-
hind them, and sympatiIize with them,
viii a.so le rn ON thcr part infinitely
better if ,ompelled to select and r;ti-
else men of their own sort, than if
represented IN every meeting, every
comm {, ee, and everI o ce OF influence.
by venerable men WHO may not know
the true temper o. to-day. Ii tn re is
n county anywhere III which Repub-
lean oUng men are not called to the
| front a. active workers and responsible
! leaders, but are con n>tantiy crowded out
until it is sa d: '.No man an do any
thing in this county until he has gray
hairs" the Eepubi an party there is
sure to be IN decaying state.-M y
Tribune.