The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-02-25
THIRD-PARTYlSM.
Its Bearing Upon the Cause Of Temper
ance Reform.

was held in the Brooklyn academy
of music on Thursday evening, Feb.
ruary 2. The chosen advocate of the
Prohibitionists was Gen. Clinton B.
Fisk. lately their candidate for gov
ernor of New Jersey. The other
side of the question was supported
by DR.. II. X. Carroll, of the hide
pendent. After referring to the mag
nitude of the task of overthrowing
the saloon, he said;
But, gentlemen of the Prohibition
party, you have not hesitated to plan
for yourselves additional or prelimi-
nary tasks which to everybody but
you, must seem hopeless-I mean the
destruction, practically, of the two
old parties. You cannot grapple with
the saloon until you have political
power; you cannot haye political
power until you can wrest it from
the old parties. To be the first. in
stead of the third party, you must
practically destroy the Republican
party in the north and thu Demo-
cratic party of the south. Applause.
Let me remind you that old-estab-
lished parties, like the Democratic
and Republican, are not often or
easily killed, You all remember at
the close of the civil war the feeling
was quite general that the Demo-
cratic party had reached the end of
its history. 1t had espoused the cause
of slavery, it had waged a bitter and
bloody war against the Union and
the constitution and, when the re-
bellion was put down, men said that
the Democratic party fell with the
confederacy, and that its name and
organization and principles must
never be resurrected. That was less
than twenty-five years ago. Where
is that party to-day-lost in the his
tory of the acknowledging past ?
Nay; but in the full vigor of life and
power, holding the reins of the ma
tional government. If slavery and
treason and rebellion will not kill a
party, what have you, gentlemen,
that is more effectual? Applause. I
But you say the Republican party
is doomed, also. The grand old party
must 60. 1t has done glorious things !;
its record is without faint of treason (;
it saved the country it broke forever
the bonds of the slave; it restored
the Union; it brought back peace
and prosperity to our distracted ma
ton; it is the party of Lincoln and
Summer ana Grant and Garfield.
Applause Do you think that if
wickedness could not kill the Demo-
cratic. virtue will make the Republic
can party an easy prey? Applause.
You expect to succeed by detaching
the better element from these old
parties and attaching it to your own.
You must wreck and rob these old
parties, so to speak, in order to equip
your own. You assume that it will
never occur to the veterans who man
the old ship to protect themselves
from the attacks of your little canoe.
1t does not seem to occur to you that
the Republican party in the north
may be wise enough and strong
enough to circumvent your plans and
resist your attacks. Ii does not seem
to occur to you that both of these old
parties must be credited at least with
the instinct of self-preservation. And
is 1t not perfectly plain that, possess
sing this instinct, which belongs to
everything that has life. both the old
parties will know how to protect
themselves when the danger becomes
manifest.
The temperance movement was
not born with your organization.
There was prohibition in force before
YOU named your first presidential
candidate; and all the recent mag
nificent advance in temperance legis.
lation was not only not due to your
influence it was. in some cases, de.
spite your influence. What reason
able prospect have you that you will
come into political power by fighting
and destroying the old parties ? Not
the slightest. Applause.
But you say you have strong
hope grounded in the history of po-
titical anti-slavery and that as
slavery was abolished by a special
party, growing out of the little Lib
erty of1S40 to the mighty Republican
party of 1860. so prohibition will
triumph by your party. But, unfor-
tunately for you, the analogy breaks
down at the citical points. Neither
of the two political parties of those
days was willing to do anything to
oppose or restrict slavery. In no
state did either the Wing or Demo-
cratic party make any attempt to
abolish slavery, The relation of the
old parties to prohibition is as differ