New-York tribune., 1884-11-27
LEI ETERYRODY BE TUINKFUL.


This Is the National feast, and everybody is
called upon TO be thankful, even Tor thc
political situation. Once in four years Thanks
giving Day comes at time when IT is not easy
for all Americans to take II cheerful ana com
forting view of the politics of the country. II II
were 10 occur the week before the Presidential
election. everybody would be happy in the hope
of mpcndng triumph and grateful for the close
of mn exciting canvass. Following closely, as it
does. a political conflict in which the victory OF
one of the great parties involves the defeat OF
the other the calcsan ale cof partisan iubilaiion
AMI the bitter herbs Of philosophical reflection
are uiirquay shared at the Thanksgiving
table. Yet we think IL is possible for every
body to be thankful to-day, not only for year
of unbrokcn peace and bouniifnl hnrvcSts, ana
for innumpiablc family comforts ana private
blrssingl but likewise Tor the politics Of the
cuuutiy.
Uui Democratic Iiirnls. Of rortst, nie IN holi-
lav ii6Si Fbf riti-ani-twrnty trris thrt
hatr hrrn Hantiiin- ~ tht tNbls rnns'anilt
hankriire aitrf iit lrsh-pu's ~ Ertri anl
NiilH HpainiNe ~ Etef nathirr tht fi0'iiiotN
iaNi: Ami N0Ni tr4 trr4 aNi VIA lhi'eitl
vim mouths Waiairr i0f mlh a"t iWNt1 aNn
ppsoluil aiaN lpg NNaAeh Whlshe4 ihtf stand
m thp ha,defa ~ theig ppiiieai tanaall i'aailNs
their eyes on the lanrss nl lhe iani and The
g0ndlY number al p0,t-nltcoS and clchshlps a.
their disposal. What pleasant vista stretches
before their vision 40 they emerge from u
guartor-cenluly of baned effort and continuous
defeat! The Democrats may be depended upon
to eat their THANKSGIVING dinner with a relish
which they have not known since they elected
Buchanan.
There will be Tcjoicings i'll the Democratic
household ; and the independents will gather
up the fragments of the feast. Even if their
candidate for the Presidency had been defeated,
they might still have derived consolation from
the ethical consideration that they are not as
other men are. But they now have the pleasing
consciousness of having contributed, along with
Prohibition, factional resentment and allitcra-
tive folly to the defeat of the Republican
leader. Let the Independents enjoy their first
THANKSGIVING dinner after the election Of a
Democratic President Let them make the
most of to-day's banquet, for another year they
MAY have an impaired digestion for similar
festivities. This year the hungry and thirsty
Democracy may not take away their appetite.
Another time they may prefer Barmecidc
feast apart from their present political COM
panions.
But how are Republicans to keep the feast
Certainly not with light hearts and hypocritical
testing. They have been defeated in a cam
paign wherein they had enlisted with Old-timc
ardor and fought with skill and courage under
every disadvantage, and in the end they have
had the modification Of seeing tho victory
snatched away from them by II series of acci.
dents which could not have been forcseen.
They have never swerved from the conviction
that the canvass was fraught with momentous
issues for the country, and now that the battle
has been lost they cannot help regarding the
consequences of defeat as Ominous of evil.
They revert with poignant regrets and not with
ouj bitterness of heart to the closing week OF
the struggle and seem to lose faith for once in
an orderly Providence ruling the affairs of
Nations. Indeed, in their sober second thought
the election seems TO resolve itself in its final
phase into the fantastic lottery of a blind and
capricious chance, from which an allitcrativc
clergyman suddenly drew q blank, thereby
changing the course of Empire. This sounds
like cynicism and comes with poor grace before
the Thanksgiving dinner
1t is indeed true that loyal Republicans, for
whom The future of the country is a matter Of
anxious thought and deep soictude. can only
ioin in the National festival with grim plcasan-
tries, keen regrets, and prcmonitiOns of evil
But while they are not lght-hcarted, they can
find many things for which to be profoundly
grateful even in the politics of what has been
for them IN unlucky rather than n disastrous
year. They are thankful, first Of all, that in
their National Convention there WAS neither
unit rule nor any form of political coercion or
suppression. and that their candidates were
named by the free and unrammcllcd choice of
the representatives of the great mass of Rcpub-
ican voters. They are thankful that the party
which was responsible Tor the Civil Service act,
adopted that progressive principle as plank III
It's platform. and that the candidates gave 10 II
their uueQuivoca and emphatic assent. They
are thankful that their leaders did not shrk any
matter of principle during the canvass, but
from beginning 10 end were bold, incsivc, out
spoken aud eloquent in their defence of the
American economic system and of the rights of
American workinginen. They arc thankful
that the campaign on their side was fought on
the high ground of public policy and patriotic
principle, and that while the Presidency was
lost by the narrowest of chances, material gains
have been made in both Houses of Congress.
They are thankful that their noble leader
emerges from a canvass of defamation with
honor and commanding authority,
having strengthened the Republican cause
wherever he has pleaded for it, and that the
party. while defeated for the first time in
quarter century, shows no signs of weakness
and decentralization. They are thankful that
they cannot be held responsible for the next
four years OF Democratic administration, and
that there is still a Republican party with un
broken ranks, magnificent resources, and un-