National Republican., 1884-09-15
soHunz.AND THE DEMOCRACY.


ment Of the republican party and Its prcsi-
DENTAL candidate, the general public may be
Interested to know what Mr. schurz thought
Of that party and democratic ideas of civil
service reform in 1850. II is true four years
have elapsed, but as the leopard cannot
change his spots, the principles, idcas, and
desires of the democratic pnrty are to-day very
much what they were July 20, 1880 when the
speech was delivered from which quote;
ITO speak In all candor II appears to me
that the democratic party labors under his
toric rs well as constitutional difficulties
Since the downfall and disappearance Of the
slave power as n compact political interest,
that party has been foundering about, always
looking for something to turn up, and when
something did turn up sDolling IT,
" In 1864, the fourth year after the
civil war, we find the party, In national con.
vcntion, solcmnly declaring that1he war was
failure and must bo abahduned. A few
months aflerward tho trphnph of our arms
was decided, and the ga6niederacy collapsed.
Had the democratic Dd1icy becn then adopted,
the war would hay6 indeed become failure
and the unlagyh have gone to wreck and ruin
when slavery brcathcd Its last, the demo-
erode party declared that the abolition of
rtiavery would be the ruin of tho country, and
must by all means be averted
"Whcn as measures of settlement the thir.
tconth, fourteenth, aud fifteenth amendments
were passed the democratic party declared
them void and entitled to no respect.
"whcn the republicans in congress had passed
the resumption act in 1870 and the fruit of the
restoration of specie payments was almost
ripe to be plucked the democratic party in its
national convention of 1876 thought II II smart
thing to declare that the very act passed for
bringing specie payments was an impediment
in Its way and must be repealed"
Mr.. schurz's views of what is required of q
president and what should have been his ex-
perienco in order that he may be qualified to
properly discharge his important duties, arc
as true now as they were four years ago.
While not very complimentary to his candi-
date, Mr.. Cleveland, they apply with peculiar
force to Mr.. Blaine.
at isamnttcr of long and varied experience
that unless the president himself has a sulii-
clcnt knowledge of affairs, clear eye to sec
through arguments and notions, he
will inevitably be run over and lamen.
tably fail. No man who has not
witnessed It has an adequate conception of the
furious pressure the president Is subjected to,
especially during the first period of his ad-
ministration, aud that first period is apt to
determine the character of the whole
at is Of inestimable benefit to an admins
tration tina. the president himself should have
had the experience Of active work IN lcgis.
lative bodies, and especially in the congress of
the United States"
Referring to the repudiating tendency, he
said:
"Nearly all, If not all, tho states that have
repudiated or speak of ropudlating, their own
debts are democratic states, with heavy demo.
cratic majorities, furnishing democratic elec.
toral votes and congressman Who will tell mo
that it Is certain they will b. more consci.
entlous with regard to the national debt than
they showed themselves with regard to their
own? Have we right to expect sound
| financial policy?
'In fact, we do not know whether
the advocates of the public faith or the repu-
diationists, whether the hard money men or
the inilationsts, are the strongest element in
the democratic party throughout the country,
and which ofthose elements will control its
policy, appeal to you, business men, am
going too far in saying that all this is dark,
and that in voting the democratic ticket you
will take gambling chance, and that chance
being rather against you? Are you prepared
taxpayers of the country, to take that gam
bling chance under such circumstances"
VIII the taxpayers .and the business men
of the country to-day say that Carl schur2
| over-colored the different elements in and
tendencies OF the democratic party In 1880,
and that the dangers are not as great, and
that gambling chance" as small if that
party succeeds next November? But as /
conceive 1t in the light of to-day, when schurz
Il pneipfr IN ait .,r I,n
the immaculate exponant of civil service re.
form, the most important part of his speech is
that which gives his ideas of the kind of re.
form the country may expect If democracy
gets control of the govern ment, especially
with president who never had an hours ex.
perience of "actiyo work in legislative bodies"
lie said:
"But one thing is certain that the demo.
cratic party, in its fashion, will reform the
civil service That 1t will certainly do; it will
do 1t according to an old democratic principle,
to the yictors belong the spoils That prin.
ciple is Of democratic origin, and the demo
cratic party has adhered to 1t with fidelity
worthy ofthe best cause If there ever was a
democrat, either ut the head of the organlza
ton or in the ranks, who has proved recrean
to that great doctrine, and made proclamation
Va AllA OIIuoltIOll W W llOL huOW LIS
II is so closely interviewer with the tradition.
of that party that | doubt very much whether
1t could be abandoned without destroying the
partys existence And, indeed, when We
look at its heterogeneous elements to-day, 1t Is
not easy to imagine any other cohesive power
which could hold them together. .
When the democracy, therefore, speaks OF
reform of the civil service the meaning of thai
term, iu the light of history and of the tenden
cies at present prevailing, can be nothing els
than that the reform shall consist in puttinl
out all the republicans and putting all demo
Gratis in their places, What a reform tina
would bel How the north and south would
shake hands over the bloody chasm filled will
such good thingsl Itissaid that ut the presen
moment, when the democracy feels san
guine Of success, as 1t always does the mos
popular work of literature with democrats