Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1884-06-17
GEN. CLARKE.

T am permitted to congratulate the
Democracy of the State upon the acces'
sion to their ranks of a prominent RepuD-
I;can. Init who has foresworn that party
on account Of the corruption every where
evident in the once great party. Inc
gentleman is none other than Gen. X. M
9garke well known all over the State as
a talented lawyer and a man able 20 90
valiant service for the party IN whose
ranks he casts his lot.-Silver State Cor
Cen. Clarke positively denies the truth
of the above. The General is an lnde-
pendent. and has been since 1877. when
he ran as an Elector on the Greeley
ticket. He saws ''both parties are rotten
to the core, and he is waiting for a new
and better party to form. carson
Tribune.
The fact is Gen. Clarke is a natural
INDEPENDENT. He quit training with the
Republicans in the Grant-Greeley cam
paion. He is of the George William
Curtis school, and is unwilling to act
upon mere expediency in politics. In
a~nalyzing the policy of political organi-
cation he looked rather to the evil than
to the good that is in them. In other
words. he is Indifferent to the considera-
ton of party success, except as a means
to the establishment and practice OF
principles in the government that appear
to him wholesome and right. For this
reason, Gen. Clarke, who is a gentleman
of unquestioned integrity and keen In
t%ellect, naturally leans to the Democratic
party, though, we believe, he is not will
ing to get squarely into line with the
host on its march to victory. In tact,
we apprehend that there will never be a
political party in the United States that
will commend itself to Gen. Clarke en-
tirely. While obliged to commend HIM
for his independence, which, without
doubt, is based purely upon his ideas OF
right, it is our belief that the question
of expediency is inseparable from that OF
politics. In all human affairs it is legiti-
mate and necessary to put up with a
smaller duantum of evil for the preser-
walton and promotion Of the greater
auantum of what is unquestionably
good. To be utopian is to be alone. The
duty of such gentlemen as Gen. Clarke
is not to stand aloof kid-gloved, but to
Join whichever party he thinks. on the
whole, is the better calculated practi-
cally to subserve the interests OF the
people. While the Independents are
sometimes able to control the political
situation as a separate organization, by
partially indorsing a third party and to
thus sharply accomplish reform, it is much
o~ftener, that organized or u~norganized,
they merely assert themselves at the
ballot-box as so many ciphers. While
they are. in theory, the best citizens OF
the country, in practice, their valuable
influence. by their refusal to cooperate
with any one of the commanding pohti-
cal organizations, is lost. We commend
Gen. Clarke and all other Independents
to a closer scrutiny of the character and
principles of the Democratic party.
There is no substantial reason why he
and all other such respectable and intelli-
gent Independents should not become
active members of the Democratic party
at once. This is what most of the great
Independent organizations Of the East
are already disposed to do.