St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-06-18
The Independent Position.

There has been outside of Philadcl =
phia an aim to make Il distinction be-
tween ''independent citizens" aud ode
llberate mugwumpS,' but nowhere has
it been so strenuouSly insisted on as
10y the former Blaine organ of that city.
According to this authority, there is
for the former class IL cordial welcome
in the ranks of the republican party,
but for the latter neither sympathy non
forgiveness. This will interest Brook
lyn independents, who have noticed
with some amusement II similar at
tempt to discriminate between "citi-
zens who listened to false counSelS last
fall, and those who voted for Cleve-
land in the full knowledge of what
they were doing. The Independent
republicans of this city have, 81 far,
shown no disposition to plead the baby
act. They claim to be intelligent,
wellinfOrmed men, who did not OPP
pose the presidential candidates of
their party without due consideration
and IL full knowledge of the conse-
quences of their act. If the voting had
to be done over again, they would he
found precisely where they were, no
less united and resnlute, and they
would probably find their ranks very
largely reinforced.
In fact, so far as false cOunSels"
were operative last fall, they were
chiefly on the side of Mr. Blaine, and
it is very short sighted policy to over
look the fact that thousands of republic
cans who were honestly afraid of the
ruinOus aud revolutionary cOnse-
qnences of the election of democratic
are now ready to admit
that they were grossly mistaken. The
presidents course may or may not have
him with his own party,
but it has certainly procured for him
respect and confidence from very
large number of voters whom even
Blaine's candidacy could not induce to
desert the republican party. The man
ayers of both parties are perfectly well
aware that III any contest over the APP
plicatiou of business, as distinguished
from political, methods to the conduct
of the national administration, the
president has II large majority of the
American people ut his back, and the
one party can rs little afford to force
such an issue rs the other. The mo-
ment that the president develops il
fixed policy to cOnciliate the party
workers" rather than to do his entire
duty to the people, the republicans
who voted for him last fall, equally
with those who have since felt con
strained to admit his honesty aud tidel-
ity To public trust, will be found among
his opponents. independents of all
shades have this common bond of
union they desire the reform of the
methods of public business, and they
believe that this can be most surely
attained by the absolute divorce of po-
ltical partisanship from the holding of
all subordinate public offices. They
have been disappointed at the Occa
siOnal failures of the Cleveland admin
istTatiOn to live up to their standard,
but they cheerfully admit that it has,
up To the present time, come nearer to
it than any of it's immediate pTedeces-
sors. Their criticism of the president
has nothing in it that is either captions
or unreasonable. They recognize the
enormous difficulties of the task which
he has undertaken, and they are per
fectly aware that every advance in the
direction of IA complete separation be-
tween partisan activity aud the hold
ing of place under the government is
great gain. They are prepared to
hold the president up to his pledges,
while making every allowance for the
strength of the forces that are press
ing on him to give these such an inter
probation rs his party managers would
approve. AS their cause happ ms to
be that of the people-to I've, in fact,
the only issue that has any vitality in
contemporary politics they can get
along good deal more easily without
consulting either OF the two great pO-
litical organizations, than either OF
these can get along without them
Brooklyn On. W Union.