Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1885-02-06
1peMocRAcy,s BALANCE.
what the ;Ante-Eiectlon Huc and Cry n

What the .Ante-Election Hue and Cry Has
ei' Amounted To.
Year rafter year the ears Of the people
in general, and the Republicans in par
.!6nlnr, have been salucd with the cry:
" "IamIhe rascals outl fhe Demo-
crats have howlfd reform" " until the
word ihnsl6stall Of its original meaning
as given by Webster; indeed the source
from whence sprang the cry was enough
to rob;it ofiits value. But il was kept
up, nevertheless, and made an argu-
ment against the continued existence of
tho Republican party in power. The
claim was made and constantly reitera-
tcd'that the entrance of the Democratic
party into power would witness the be-
ginning Of a radical reformation of all
the evils, real and even imaginary, that
had found their way into the Govern
ment since 1860. This, too, in the face
of the fact that, although Democratic
House of Representatives had had a
voice in the control of the Government
for eight out of ten years, during which
term the blunders and omissions made
by it ought to have relegated the party
to deserved oblivion.
Well, the change has been made. To
be sure the Democratic Prcsident-elcct
has not assumed his duties. The 'sras-
Gals" have not yet been turned out.
But.suficient time has elapsed for the
Democratic party to outline and declare
itssp0licy and give the country an idea
of what the -practlcal workings of its
administration will be. The outlook is
not an encouraging one. ITO the vic
tors belong the spoils' has become the
inspiration of Democracy. Take the
Cabinet. The country does not know
the intentions of the President-ele
but if the able statesmen who head the
party. could have their way, fitness for
the position would enter into the quail
fications of not more than one or two
of the coming Cabinet. There is Payne.
Heywants n Cabinet officer made out of
Whitney, his son-in-law, because the
Payne family contributed one hundred
and seventy thousand dollars to the
Democratic campaign fund! A valu-
able qualification surely; and so one
might 60 through the whole list of
moss-backs, ex-Confederates, money
bags. and aspiring young politicians
smells or acts like reform"
With ofiice-seeking in general the
situation is even worse. What a howl
arose from the famine -shapened and
voracious ollice-seekers of the Demo-
cratic party when Cleveland's Civil
Service letter was construed to mean
that Civil-Service reform would with
him be reality, and not name, an
empty sound! The Democrats were
frightened at their own shadows for n
time, and have constructed hog Latin
dialect of their own by which the letter
is construed to 1.-THE Queens taste"
The cry of "Turn the rascals out'' has
even swceter sound than of yore, for
it means something, but reform" has
hollow, mocking sound, for it means
nothing. The two expressions are
estranged now.
The Democrats were loud in their
protestatinns that the election of Cleve-
land and Hendricks had healed over all
theiwounls that had festered since the
civil war, that Democratic Admistra-
ton, would restore perfect fellowship
and good will between the North and
the South; that all the ties that had
bound the two sections together were
again united and indissoluable. The
Republicans who had protested against
Southern outrages, perpetrated for the
sake of perp tuating Democratic evils,
were called fault-Iinders, agitators and
even worse. The Nation was asked to
close, its eyes to the facts and dream of
peace and patriotism. But the awaken
ing has been rather rude. 1t is evil
dent that perfect harmony can never
prevail. until :he name of JEFF Davis is
landed as that of a patriot and future
saint. The South again feels that she
is the mistress, and that the Demo-
cratic party is but servant, nay, a
slave.
This is the future that lies before the
eyes of the people of this country upon
the eve of the entrance of the Demo-
cratic party into power. 1t is not
tlattering picture, but it is hardly over
drawn. If this is the promise, what
shall be the execution?-Barlington
-Ha,okege.