The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-11-27
viii the Republican Party Die7

VIII the Republican party die? 1t
was thought by many that its mission
was ended with the adjustment of
slavery and the close of the war. 1t
has lived some time for the most part on
false pretenSe, and has achieved success
! by purchase and through schemes bad
enough to threaten the destruction of ev-
erything for which party ought to live.
The Star-Route villainy, both as to
the robbery and the trial which followed
1t. had perhaps as much to do with Re-
! publican defeat as any thing else. The
| corruption in the Navy Department, the
whisky and other rings of Grants sec
ond Administration, the Republican
craze for vast wealth and wild specula-
ton and the widespread ruin wrought
by it, the unjust tariff, the heavy taxa
ton. the depression in business as a re-
suit of Republican rule and the suffer-
ing of labor interests in consequence,
afforded evidence enough that the party
deserved to go out of power. and are
perhaps evidence enough that it ought
to 90 to pieces.
will it do? 1t has declared itself against
temperance and is hard at work at this
| moment in denunciation of St. John
and his disciples. 1t will still be the
party of the monopolists, for Democracy
is opposed to monopoly and its success
is built largely upon that opposition;
but four years is long time, and with
in that period monopoly will be robbed
by judicious legislation and Govern
ment Of much of its power. 1t is at its
best sectional party-with every OPP
portunity to establish itself in the South
it failed to do so. and it can look for no
hope there. Neither can it recover its
lost power in the North by creating an
unjust prejudice against the other local
ity. The time for this has gone BY.
The effort in that direction made by
John Sherman Just previous to the late
campaign was wretched failure. The
miserable falsehOod that Democracy
means restoration to slavery which
has brought such terror to Southern
whites and blacks alike will have an eff
feet upon the voters of both the North
and South which will hurt the Repub-
lican party badly. 1t twill strengthen the
Democratic ranks in both sections, for
the lie will be shown to be lie, and the
truth will bring discredit upon most of
the stories of Southern outrage on which
the Republican party throve so long.
lfthe Republican party lives, how
will it manage to get back the indie
pendent Republicans who had so large
an influence upon the late election?
Why should they 90 back on it if the
Administration of the man for whom |
fhnX- Untn1 fn ho GOOD on1 fbo
party at his back proves to be worthy |
of the confidence placed in it? How
can they serve both monopoly and |
labor. or will they repudiate the one
in order to serve the other? VIII they |
come out openly for protection? That |
would be more dangerous than it has |
yet been, for the people have learned, |
and will become more and more familiar |
with the fact, that protection in Re- |
publican hands means protection for |
capital alone and insists that labor |
shall be without protection in every |
market. This tariff question is not the |
bugbear it has been. 1t will be more |
discussed during the next four years
than it has been during the past thirty |
years. Democrats may now have the |
courage of their convictions in favor of |
tariff reform, for they have nothing to
fear; and the people have discovered
that under Republican protection they
have grown poorer until hundreds of
thousands of them are suffering hui
initiation as workers that they have
never suffered before.
How can the Republican party live?
What shall it live for? Who, outside
of the beaten mOnOpolist and the peren-
NAL office-holders, cares whether it
lives or dieS?-N Y Graphic.