The Red Cloud chief., 1884-05-30
Democratic Campaign Material.

Democratic Campaign Material.
The question rs to what the Demo-
. cratic party exists for, save for the mere
purpose OF putting a certain number of
men in Office. has been a standing prob
lem so long that people occasionally for
get that it remains unsolved, just as
any mystery tina; is constantly before
ones YES ceases after awhile to COM
mand the attention. If the Democracy
should take a position as the champion
OF something of q definite character.
the novelty would cause 4 considerable
sensation. 1t is wise to keep the fact in
mind that the party which is ST., king to
supplant the Republ cans in the admin
lStraiion of executive affairs ut present
has no governmental policy whatever,
and moreover. that it is composed of
such elements that it is incapable of
uniting on any. Ii has just come pretty
near committing itselfo on the tariff CUES
ton In SD Tar rs = legislative act could
commit it. and possibly when its on
ventiOn meets it Will promulgate a plat
form expressing something like 4 clear
and concise idea on the same issue.
But that remains to be Seen. If it
does so it will be ut the expense of GER
tainly alternating more vo:es than the
average Democratic mind can contem-
plate the loss of with f:rmness. And
even if the party in convention should
show self capable of an act o; such
unusual decision, how much confidence
will be placed in tae u~tterance? The de-
. feat of General Hancock did more per-
haps than anything else TO unnerve the
4. Democracy in the matter of tariff pro-
LESSONS. Previous to that the subject
OF the reduction of taxes was consp,cu-
Dusty dweit on-in words. The phrase,
"Tariif Tor Ven only" was plen.
tifuily used in Democratic platforms.
That it me; mt nothing was sufficiently
shown by the tact that, although the
Republicans lost control of the House
OF Representatives in 1875 ana did not
regain i, until 1881, the Democrats.
during all those SIX years of undis-
puted sway, left the tariff severely
alone. except in one or two unimpor-
tant particulars. 1t was reserved Tor
the Republican Congress VII CHI con-
vened in 1881 to enter upon a general
scheme o. mod fying the custom du-
ties. which certainly needed regulating.
The came into power again
in 1888, and. though an attempt has
been made by them to reduce duties.
they have failed in passing the act, in
the branch of Congress which was in
their hands. because of lax of unity
among themselves. II is true The Re-
pubilcans. for good reasons. voted
against the bill, but that does not alter
the fact tia, 4 paralyzing discussion
prevented the Democracy from doing
ANYTHING.
In tn 5 connection i: is clerr that the
only chance Of keeping the Democracy
whole les in IFS refraining from taking
any decided stand. Should tile free
traders prevail in the National Conven-
ton and force the party to embrace the
issue. the cOnst ~tuencies which support
the Randall wing would refuse to
acquiesce. And the tariff is the thing
upon which the Democrats approach
nearer to unity than they do on any,
thing else that can be construed as a
partisan issue. The supreme need of
the country ut present is financial legis-
lat'On TO correct errors in previous acts
OF Congress VIII h are now man Testing
their evil results, and for which, be It
said parenthetically the Democrats are
mainly responsible. Yet what kind of
unity is there in the party with respe t
to the currency! Intelligent men like
Bayarh. rayne. Tilden and Randall
know very well what ought to be done,
but they know equally well that any
serious agitation OF the question would
disrupt the Demo IA to a greater ex-
tent than the tariff does. At one time
it looked a little as if the Democracy
could make some capital out of Civil
service Reform, but since it killed PEN
for his active services in that d.
probably no member of the
party will have the hardihood to revive
The uncomfortable topic.
\ party without principles would not
altogether without if it had
God record IN fall back on. But
e the Democracy is particularly I'M
tunate. 1t . nOt prOtitably refer
IS glorious conduct in the North in
barrassing the prosecution of the
+, while fighting in the S nth to
ak up the Union: o to its hOnora-
efforts to induce the Government to
udiate Its obligations by paying its
Is in irredeemable paper; nor to
thing 1t has done, or tried to do, in
for the last quarter of n century.
Their. going still farther back. can it
ken any great amount of enthusiasm
its efforts to spread slavery in tho
r~itOrieS. Under the circumstances
els itself forced to 60 clear back to
days of Jefferson to find a part of
ecOrd which it is deemed safe to
OH. Even jackson has become
ewhat shaky as 4 tutelary saint from
fact that he is credited with having
bgurated the spOils system and un-
ingly made probably as bad a Pres
It in many respects as the country
had. Tire Democracy is abou. as
l up for campag on material as it is
feivable for 4 party to be. All it
is the cry for reform, and this has
wn SO tiresome in its endless repeti-
and insincerity that it is worthless
{. Louis Globe Democrat