Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-11-12
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS UPON LAST
WEEKS ELECTIONS.


nized as the administration organ
says:
at wonld be idle to deny tina
the discomfort Of disappointed Of
fice.seekers has played aprominen
part in the contest Just closed
Many democrats, long excluded
from positions of trust and homo
under the federal government, feel
that they had fairly won such rec
ignition at the hands OF demo
cratic president. Two things stool
in the way of gratifying such de
sire. One was the civil-Service pol
icy of the president. Hence the
disappointed bitterly denounced
that system, and did their best tC
array other democrats against it,
Next came the fact that there werC
not enough Offices to satisfy all The
applicants. Consequently every
Congressman who did manage tC
secure appointments for some OF
his constituents pleased only one
man and angered several others. -
To this cause is chiefly due the de.
feat of many democratic Congress-
men for denomination by their con-
stituents. The question TO be set.
tied at the congressional election
Of last Tuesday was whether or not
the dissatisfaction that inevitably
follows the accession of new party
to power would be strong enough
to cause the democrats to lose con.
troll of the House. The republicans
hoped that such would be the case,
and they have industriously sought
to stimulate the dissatisfaction of
all malcontents within the demo-
cratic party, though at the same
time they tried to weaken the pres
ident with other classes of voters
by accusing him of failure to obey
the civil service law
The New York World, a demo-
cratic organ of national repute and
popularity says:
"No doubt the disposition of the
federal offices and quarrels and dis
appointments over the Offices have
contributed to the defeat of several
democratic members. But the real
reason for the losses, in majority
of cases, lies deeper than that
There il no Disgusting the fact that
the country has been greatly dis
appointed at the comparative fail
ure of the last aud the present
Congress to do what was expected
of 1t. The taxes have not been re-
duced. Needed reforms have not
been advanced. Long delayed leg
islation required for the welfare Of
the country has persisted on the
files. The people hoped for better
things when a democratic admins
tration reinforced a democratic
House. But instead of this the
paralysis and the inaction have
continued. The president estab.
lished no helpful relations with the
leaders of his party in the House.
Indeed, he caused it to be known
that he had no concern in what was
done by the legislative branch
What more natural than that the
voters should rebuke this inactiOn
and initiate the non-concern of the
head of their partyl
"Another powerful contributory
infiuence-perhaps the strongest of
all-is the example Of independence
of and indifference to party obliga-
tons set by the president. Mr..
Cleveland has not recognized party
ties. He has listened to mugwumps
more than to democrats in several
states, and has hOnOred half demo-
Gratis more than whole ones. Is it
strange that so illustrious an exam
pie Of independence of party fcalty
should have found followers In
dependent and labor candidates
have found support which they
could not have secured four years
or even two years ago. Democrats
have been defeated by democratic
voters. The Indifference in high
places have been copied in low
ones.
"The World, in another article,
on the labor movement, says: 'Mr.
George afiirms, what must have
been apparent to all intelligent ob-
servers, that 1t was not the mayor
ality, for itself, that he and his fol. |
lowers sought. Their ideal ann
was 'to bring principle INTO Ameri-
can politics. Their practical oh.
ject, as defined by Mr.. George, was
to demonstrate the political power |
of labor The principle is vague
and visionary. 1t would puzzle Mr.. |
George himself to formulate it in
practical terms. 1t was not free
trade, for the majority Of his sup
porters are prOtectiOnists. It was
not land coniiscation, fora MAORI
to of worklngmen are or may easily
become land owners. The labor
movement, as we have frequently
was more of protest
against existing wrongs and abuses
than the embodiment of principle
for rectifying them. AS a protest it
was "a shot heard round the world
AS a demonstration of the politl-
cal power of labor in the closely
balanced pivotal state of the Uniod
It was success
The New York Tribune the lead
ng republican newspaper of the
country and an Earnest friend of
Mr.. Blaine, says:
"One must be more blind than
most men are if he does not see that
he late elections express the YER
lict of the people against President
cleveland and the democratic par.
y. Republican Indifference has
,iven the democrats most of their
canty gains this year, and the
est they owe, as they owe the cleo.
ion Of Mr.. Hewitt, to the mistaken
'ver shrewdness of republican
roters, who kindly helped their op.
out of a hole, perhaps with
preference for fight on
airer terms hereafter. 1t is not u
cheering reflection for democratic
Ioters that the first half of their
irst term OF power for a quarter of $
! centery has sufliced to wipe out |
he congressional majority with ,
which they began, to bring them I