The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-02-17
No Room for a Third Party.


If President Cleveland has ever con-
templated a policy that would lead to
reconstruction of the great parties, or
to the formation of a new party, he is
probably satisfied by this time that it is
not such an easy matter to organize q
new political party, inspire it and set it
in operation. The Washington cor
respondent of the Boston Traveller says
that if he could Mr.. Cleveland would
like to be at the head of " non-partisan
partisan government" whatever that
may mean; fill the offices within his gift
with men who are entirely and heartily
in support of his views on various ques-
tons; and he had hoped to annex a con-
siderable portion of the republican vote
to that portion of his own party that
would support his policy. There is lit
tie doubt that for time the mugwump
supporters of Mr.. Cleveland had hopes
that he would so conduct his admins
tration as to attract the support of what
they are pleased to term the Z" better
elements of both parties" and thus
bring about the disintegration of the
old parties, and, practically, the forma-
ton of new party upon the peculiar
mugwumpian doctrines and theories.
But, as the matter stands to-day, the
President has drawn no support from
the republican party; he has yielded to
the demands of an influential faction of
his own party to such an extent that he
has lost ground with the mugwumps,
while his failure to respond to the
wishes of the majority of his party for
clean sweep of all republicans from
the federal offices has virtually divided
the democracy. The faction whose
claims he has measurably satisfied are
well enough content with the admins
tration, but the larger faction, to whom
he has as yet given nothing of any ac-
count, are disguised, dispirited and
thoroughly angry, though they give lit
tie outward manifestation of their feel
ings. If the mugwumps are not salts
fed with the Presidents course, it is
evident that the democrats are even
more dissatisfied. So it is safe to say
that there will be no new party with
the President at its head; and unless
he is prepared to assert his loyalty to
the democratic party in the strongest
manner, and henceforth distribute the
"spoils" to those who have rendered
him the best partisan service, the num-
Der of his active supporters will dwin-
die to small proportions long before the
close of his term.
AS a rule, new parties are the prod
ucts of great exigencies in national af-
fairs, and no one but a mugwump or a
political prohibitionist is able to dis
cover urgent reasons for the existence
of new party organization. 1t would
seem that the great mass of voters
of the country are of the contrary opin-
ion. 1t is not true, as often alleged,
that there is no difference between the
democratic and republican parties in
their expressed principles and policies.
On the contrary, there is enough to
sharply decide party affiliations for any
honest citizen who grasps the history
as well as the tendencies of the parties.
II thus follows that the republican
party is still able to command the fealty
of the vast majority of voters who have
sustained it hitherto. Nor are there
any present signs of breakup of the
democratic party. The great bulk of
that organization may be dissatisfied
with the course of the President, but
the party will hold together long enough
to make an effort to elect another presi-
dent whose aims, purposes and policies
will be more to its liking. Until the
old issues which now divide the great
parties are well settled there will be
little chance for the success of any
third party movement. There will be
many attempts to form new national
party, as the political prohibitionists
are already making, but until one or
both of the great parties show more
signs of decay than they do at the pres
ent time, the proposed new parties
must remain hopelessly small and their
hope of attaining to supremacy in ma
tional affairs will prove delusive.