The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-11-26
THE PARTIES.
SALT LAKE CRY, Nov. 24th, 1884.

Editors Herald:
For the enlightenment of myself and
other Young men. please answer through
your columns, What IS the difference
between Democracy and republican
ism? and oblige,
JOSEPH WELLER, JR.
fThissarne question has been asked and
answered in these columns two or three
times within the year-that is to say,
answered as well as it may be IN
newspaper article that is necessarily
brief To state all the differences between
the two great political parties would re-
ouire a degree of elaboration that may
not be devoted to it in daily newspa-
ner for the difference is wide and at
taches to every branch of governmental
policy as well as to the public service
itself We would advise our correspon-
dent to study the platforms OF the two
parties, especially those that have
been adopted since 1856, when
the Republican party came
into existence. By a comparison
of these declarations that have been
framed and promulgated every four
wears. he will be able to discover the
marked difference between the two,
both as to aspirations and operations
and for a political illustration OF the
difference he will have to read the his
tory of his country under Democratic
and Republican administrations. We
may, however, aid him by briefly stating
some of the principal points of differ
ance in theory, as well as in practice
and policy. The Democrats believe in
the largest liberty to the individual con-
sistent with safe government and
therefore that the natural rights of the
citizen should be interfered with by the
laws or the authority as little as posi-
BILE. in all matters of domestic economy,
of personal habits and customs,
OF manner of living, of labor,
and, in fact, of everything that relates
to the life and conduct of the person.
The Republicans believe that large lib
crtv to the individual is not conducive
to strong government, the theory being
that with to- much freedom the ten
dency of the man is towards reckless
ness and the disregard of the rules OF
good order, the liability TO disorder,
rioting, and instability of institutions
being increased as the citizen is allowed
wider freedom of personal action. The
Democracy strives for absolute equality
before the law of all citizens, recogniz-
ing no class distinctions, but holding
that one man is as good as another,
whatever MS station in life, so far as the
application of laws and rules are con-
cerned the Republicans are the ineal
descendants of the Federalists, and can
not rid themselves of the idea that there
should ne classes in government and
society, though there are none in ma
ture; they are aristocratic and imperial
istic in thought and sentiment, and
naturally the tendency OF their legisla-
ton is IN the direction of creating social
barriers in the community. The DEM
ocrats hold that the Constitution to
which all the States have assented, con-
fers upon the Federal government all the
power to which the latter is entitled, and
that the assumption of more is unau-
thorized, unjustifable, unlawful and
dangerously presumptive. The States
are supreme within themselves as TO
their internal affairs, and the Federal
government cannot rightly interfere
with them, so long as they maintain a
republican form of government. In
other words, the Democrats hold that
all civil rights not granted and set forth
IN the Constitution are retained by the
States, the idea being that the States are
the power and the Federal government
simply the machinery unitedly agreed
upon for mutual convenience. The Re
7ublicans take the directly opposite
view, assuming that the power and au-
thority are centred in the general gov
eminent, the States being subordinate
and restricted in their functions to the.
narrowest limits. Acting upon this
theory, the Republican party has from
the first been grasping and presumptive
in its legislation and administrator.
reaching out all the time for more
power and steadily dwarfng and subor
dinating the authority of the States. The
tendency of Republican thought and
policy would eventually result in
the obliteration of State lines
and the administration of af-
fairs directly by the central govern
ment, while the tendency of the Demo
cratic thought and policy would restrict
the exercise of the federal power to its
legitimate sphere as defined in the Con-
stitution. The difference between the
two in this respect is aptly expressed
thus: The Republicans say this is
Nation with a big n, and the Demo
Gratis declare these are States with a