The Evening critic., 1884-10-03
The Old Struggle,

New York Tribune.
The last month OF the Presidential cam.
paign Is near at hand. In i've weeks viii BIO
cast the ballots on which depend the future
history OF the Nation. That day will decide
whether those who failed to destroy the
turo and rule It In peace. The struggle has
not changed in It's spirit. The narrow preIu.
dice, the savage hatred, tho reckless con.
tempt for tho opinions OF tho civilized world
which marked tho rebellion arc shown In tho
brutal methods and tho shameless falsehoods
OF the campaign. FREQ trade and slave labor
was tho motto OF tho rebellion. Free trade and
degraded lnbor is tho aim OF the party which
prCtends 10 want reforms through Cleveland
and Hubert o. Thompson. Then, as now,
tried 10 stab the Union in the back, and pro-
tended that thelr only objection was TO Mr..
Lincoln or to Mr.. Stanton. But Lincoln and
stanton are Immortal, And james q. Blaine
honor long after those who now doiame thom
have been buried In public contempt.
Since tho election In Maine tho campaign
has moved rapidly. A great change has ap.
peared. In all tho decisive States thore has
been great uprising Of the people. Larger
meetings have never been held; Greater In
vious contest since the war. Tho old spirit rs
abroad. Tho march OF Mr.. Blaine from the
East TO the West has boon like the triumphal
progress OF .conqueror. The speeches OF Con
eral Logan, day after day, have produced a
deep impression. There Is no longer n fear OF
apathy; no longer doubt that the old Repub.
maintain tho principles which have made tho
country so prosperous. Third parties and side
shows are sinking Into insignincance. Gov
ernor Cleveland Ia drifting out OF the mind OF
men, like the small man that he is, ana even
his dishonest refusal to state his position on
the tariff question scarcely excites public no
but tool, and Mr.. Blaine, grand as is his per-
sOnality, is only a leader, and that the strug-
glo is between two great parties, as before;
two hostile ideas which commended four years
with nntil victory riUht n
AppomattoX, and have been contending ever
since. The Union has been restored; Repub-
ilcans helping, Democrats resisting. The pub
Democrats resisting, Tho emancipated labor
Of the South has been enfranchised for It's pro.
lection, Democrats still resisting. Tho en-
tranchised labor has been driven from tho
ballot box by Democratic shotguns. American
citizenship has been protected abroad rs II
never was during nftyyears under Democratic
at homo by Republican enactments, every one
OF which Democrats have resisted.
For twenty.tour years, tho grandest part OF
the history OF the country, every forward step
has boon taken by the Republican party after
striking down Democratic resistance. The
question to-day is still whether the Same OBJ.
stinate, Ignorant, angry resistance TO Justice
and progress and elevation of American citi.
zenship shall prevail. For i've weeks mora
tho argument VIII go on, and In every part OF
the country men Will be challenged to decide
whether the Southern or the Northern idea
shall prevail; whether citizens shall DO do
Tended in their rights at Southern ballot
boxes and In foreign prisons; whether the
splendid development OF industry which the
past twenty years have brought shall hero be
arrested; whether labor, accustomed under the
Republican policy to liberal wages and COM
Portable homes, shall DO forced TO compete on
|slevel terms with the pauperized labor Of other
lands.
There ought to be no doubt of tho result
There would be none II there were free vote
or an honest count In Southern States. There
would be mono, even In spite OF the tremen
dous odds which a solid South gives the Dom
ocratic party, II there were not possible cor
ruption in northern towns, and forgery aud
perjury In that Same Democratic committee
room from which the Morey letter came
Against all these odds tho froe people OF the
Northern States, who know what the Rspubll
can policy Il, and what 1t has done Tor them
| must contend. They can make sure their sue
cess and the continued prosperity OF the coun
try, in ono way only-by swelling their ma
1orities wherever the voting Is free aud hon
| est so greatly that neither fraud nor corrup
tlon nor any form Of crime can overcome them