Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-29
PARTY HARMONY.


parties are calling loudly upon thei
followers TO close up the rsnks ant
fall into line for the coming preslden
tial contest. There i, q loud demand
for party harmony, and q desir'
strongly expressed that the lion anc
the lamb In each Of the two ~orgsnizs
lions should lie down together. Thu
principal trouble Is that In both In
stances the minority lamb Is unwilling
to lie down inside of the majority
lion, while there is q large class Of
voters who are following very slowly
In the wake Of party organizations,
and who show q decided tendency to
desert to the enemy on tho slightest
proyocation from their leaders.
There can be no denial of the fact
that the republican party Is more
widely split Into factions and shows
signs of greater dissatisfaction than
the democracy. The wounds Of the
Chicago convention have not yet heal
ed and the political bitterness aroused
during the opening months Of Gen.
Garfeld'slbrief administration, which
was intensified by his sssassina-
tion still remains. The fifteen hun.
bred thousand republicans who last
fall refused to affiliate with the party
organization have not yet returned to
their party allegiance.
1t Is q serious question whether or
not the great majority Of these will con-
tinue to hold themselves aloof. The
lines along which party harmony is to
crystalline have not yet made them
selmes visible. All political history
shows that party dissffection Is easier
to foster than to heal, Parties can
readily be split Into factions. They can
be reunited with difficulty and
only when some common issue of
admitted gravity presents itself upon
which opposing parties disagree.
What Issue Is now before the people
which can call together the shattered
republican forces7 Certainly not the
tariff. The debates In the late BON.
gress Indicated that free trade or ultra
protection cannot become a party Issue
between democrats and republicans.
Both parties are hopeleuuly divided on
the tariff and both will dodge its dis.
cussion as far as possible In the coming
national campaign. Nor has the anti.
monopoly question been considered by
the leaders, except from an opposition
standpoint sufficiently to make that
an Issue In the next campaign. All
the history and %precedents of the
party oppose the hope that this all
important subject may be made the
rallying cry to unite the party and
draw back Into allegiance thousands
Of voters who allege that monopoly
has for years found an able ally In re-
publicanism. It Is difficult to say
what steps have been taken by the
republican machine to remove the
snags against which the party so
nearly suffered shipwreok last fall.
The evils Of . corrupted party organ
ization still exist. Bossism has ap.
parently refused to profit by the les
sons Of the election and the indepen.
dent spirit has gained new strength
from Its successes.
II one turn to the democratic party,
the same state Of affairs, In Q less de-
gree only, Is seen to be existing. The
ensuing session of congress is full Of
dreadful possibilities to the democrat.
10 statesmen. The party Is only uni.
ted upon n question and that Ia
q unanimous desire to get control OF
the Presidency a. q means for procur'
Ing plumber and patronage. The Is
sue Of q strict or liberal construction
of the constitution has disappeared
under . friendly covering of moss
Capitalization or decentralization Il
no longer q rallying cry. On the Is
sue Of the tariff Democracy is more
badly split up than the Republicans
The next congress must be used {
m%anufactury for campaign material
but the Democratic party is brought
face to face with the dreadful certain
ty that 1t will be compelled to initial,
legislative measures of reform In tn,
very shadow of q presidential cleo
ton with Henry Watterson at the heat
of one section frantically urging fret
trade, and another section In Ne,
York, headed by Abe Hewitt, declar
Ing that renewed agitation Of the tarii
question at this junoture will be poiit
icAl suicide, the prospect for part;
harmony never looked worse, and tn
chances Of drawing any large mum
Der Of political proselytss frou
the republican ranks Is not enoouraR
ing.
But while In both Of the politics
parties the leaders are schemin
to hold together their organize
lions among new partisans, tn
opinion Is steadily gaining groundtha
the republican and democratic parties
ara both ton hadlv damorali1ad 4