The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1888-02-02
THE COMING FUNERAL
Few Kind and Considerate Words fol-
the Republican Corpse.

1
| Few Kind and Considerate Words for
the Republican Corpse.
The Republican party. evidently. has
not long to live. Extraordinary eff
forts are being made to galranize it
into something like vitality, but it is no
go. Its best friends recognize that it
is in dying condition. 1t is without
an issue. A party without an issue is
in condition as deplorable as a sick
cow that has no cud to chew. The
party's second stomach has given out
The quid recommended by Blaine
don't answer for q cud-for an issue.
As for the bloody shirt, it is no longer
an issue; it is effete. barren. exhausted,
worn out The free-trade nonsense is,
if possible, more dilapidated than the
bloody-shirt foolishness. The Presi-
! dents message has taken the country
by storm. 1t has given all honest men
straight-out, sharply-defined issue.
The Government has been robbing the
people, compelling them to surrender
their money when the Government had
no use for it. Mr.. Cleveland and the
Democratic party, and the honest ele-
ment of the Republican party, approve
the issue, indorse the policy. They
say the time has come to inaugurate
an era OF honesty; that stealing the
peoples money under cover of law is
a monstrous iniquity, and that sophis-
try, chicanery and legal legerdemain
must no longer be permitted to in
tluence the policy of the Government.
The Republican party, it will be
seen at Il glance, is in a preparatory
condition to hand in its checks. 1t has
no issue. We challenge the Indian
apOlis Journal to state the issue upon
which the Republican party proposes
to go before the American people in
the campaign of 1888. The tobacco
quid issue will not do, nor will the
free whisky issue. John Sherman's S
effort to make the robbing of the peo-
pie of 500, 900, 900 q year can't be
made to work Chandler's Southern
election issue is already dead, and
issue 1t is seen that the Republican
party is without ali issue. To make
the antagonizing of the Democratic
party an issue would result disastrous
ly. since honest Republicans indorse
the Democratic policy. The conclu-
sion is therefore inevitable that all
that is left for the Republican party
is to die. 1t is said of Indians that
"the good Indian is the dead Indian"
Possibly that can be said Of the Re-
publican party when gone; at any
rate, it is well enough 10 contemplate
the demise Of the party and be
proposed to speak kindly of it
when stretched out en- a cooling
board, or lying Geld and stiff in
its winding sheet. And in this connec-
ton we are reminded of n beautiful
trait in the character of a man in
Illinois who always had something
kind 10 say of the dead. 1t came to
pass at last that notorious reprobate
died. man OF such notoriously bad
character that those who knew him
best could think of nothing to say of
him in the way of commendation. and
yet it was believed that the man who
was in the habit of saying kind words
of the dead would manage in this, rs
in every other case, to find something
worthy of praise, and bet was made
that such would be the case. On the
day of the funeral the eulogist of the
dead, with others. took q farewell look
at the corpse. He came up solemnly,
slowly, and with benevolent look
on his features. He leaned over the
coffin and looked long and anxiously
at the features of the dead, reprobate.
At last he raised his head, looked
around upon his friends, and whis-
pered with sigh:
"Well, he had good teeth" That
was all-"He had good teeth" " We
suggest that that much could be said
of the Republican party-"lt had good
teeth. ."-I'ldidnapoLis Sentinel.