Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1885-03-26
! EP0RTE
urrIcIaL PAPER OF DAY COUNTY
IT STILL V

Defeated but not dishonored. the re-
publican party resigns the administrative
control Of the nation 10 It's opponent. We
have no disposition at this time To quar-
rel with the circumstances which have
lead to what we believe TO be only a tenn
poraTy abdication from power. The re-
publican party has no occasion 10 apollo
gize for the record which II has made.
In reviewing what the republican
party has accomplished there II no need
TO dwell upon the material progress in
population, IN wealth and in the resouI-
co.'s Of production has been little snort Of
marvellous. During the quarter of a ecu
fury in which the republican party has
directed the national policy this nation
has iisen TO the front rank among the
great powers of the globe. But that is
not the proudest part OF tile record.
The republican party will 10 down to
history, not simply because il managed
the material interests OF the country
with unparalleled success, but rather be-
caBse il raised aloit the banner of human
rights. From the first il has been a par.
~ Of principle and Of moral forces. Slav-
ery was a curse-the legacy OF the con-
federation The republican marty de-
teTmined to treat IL as Gn evil to be
protected within its constitutional guaran-
tees, but no further, Then came the
irrepEesible conflict between truth and
| error, which could have but one result.
What a step is Implied in The abolition
OF human slayeTyl Even the free man
draws his breath more freely and proud.
ly now that the dark curse is blotted out.
II means q better conscience and a high
er life for every man, woman and child
in the land. now that the hateful IelIc Of
barbarism ls no more,
But the republican party did not end
its mission with the emancipation Of the
slave. The great moral principles upon
which it was founded included the
championship Of right for the sake Of
right. II has never asked the question,
twill this or that policy VIM" but us it
rigbt?" Under tie inspiration Of thai
principle it hes fought for the purity and
inyiolability OF the ballot. II has de-
manded the protection Of tie humblest
citizens in tie exercise of his political
aud personal rights. II has resolutely
defended the integrity of the national
faith until the obligations which this
government assumes are accepted at
home and abroad with implicit conf
dence and trust.
II has enlarged the dignity Of the
nation. Every man to-day feels that he
has a right to be proud Of his citizenship
in this great republic. We are not SIM
ply a confederation bound together by
temporary ties, ready to split into frag-
ments under the slightest arrangement
OF our internal relations. The national
power IN respected throughout the entire
breadth OF the land. In 1860 the general
government doubted whether 1t had the
power TO coeTce q state in armed rebel
H.. n ..Ya.. llNIln1 KUhaflAaR IL 8gataKht
project its own property against the de-
mands OF local instruction. To-Gay no
such doubt exists. One flag floats over
all, the symbol of a proud sovereignty
which seeks not oppression, hut rather
offers the largest liberty Of individual
and local action consistent with the in
tegTity Of the Uuicn.
1t is not simply that the republican
party e%ntertains these principles; IN the
establishment Of them II has commended
against active and unfemittiEg opposi-
ton. The moral principles for the es-
adjustment of which the republican
party has SO gloriously commended are
accepted now. not because they we're
never in dispute, but because they have
against the seliish interests
arraysd against them IL seems inered-
ible now that we ever should have
tolerated slavery; but the time is not so
far distant when slavery was quietly &C.
As a necessary evil.
II 10 a glorious record which the re-
publican party looks back upon to-day.
Nor is it's mission complete. What the
has in store for It no man can tell.
But 50 long as oppression raises It's bale,
FIJI head, so long AS the weak need to be
against the strong, so long there
is work for the republican party.