The Portland daily press., 1888-04-14
MORNING, APRIL A. 1sss--wITH SUPPLEMENT-

lated to each other. Therefore, MS vision Is
undeflected by the cross light OF transltory
circumstance, and his judgment undisturbed
by clamor Of excited and changeful opinion.
Never did two men show more clearly tne
quality of true craftsmanship or render more
precious service to their party and country
than Senators Fessenden and TrumDull
when they dared act Independently OF party
in the impeachment case against President
johnson. They saved us from that creeping
paralysis which is now gradually benumDmg
the political energies Of France.
In speaking of the two great parties of the
country, Mr.. Lowell said that both were
equally guilty in eyading, as successfully as
they could, the living questions OF the day.
But, while he made no distinction between
the two parties, he said he must be allowed
to make one exception. II mean the attempt
by a portion of the Republicans to utilize
passions which every true lover Of his coun-
try should do his best to allay, by provoking
into violence again the happily quieScent an
imosities of our civil war. In saying this,
do not forget that the Democratic party was
quite as efficient in bringing the war upsn us
as the seeding States themselves. But let
bygones be bygones The dangers and
temptations of parties being great, 1t Is for
the interest of the best men OF both parties
to form a neutral body; not party by them
selves, for there they would lose their power.
but a body large enough to moderate between
both parties and so make them more careful
in their choice of candidates and their con-
nivance with evil practices. 1t bas been
proved that the old parties cannot be re-
formed from within, so the attempt must be
made from without, by the independents
''The first aim should be, as 1t has been,
the reform of the civil service, the fruitful
mother of all our ills. If we have not got all
we hoped from the present administration,
we have perhaps got more than we had rea-
son to expect. Considering how widely
spread are the roots of the evil and what an
inconvenient habit they have Of sending up
suckers in the most unexpected places To
cut off these, does not extirpate them. 1t is
the parent tree that must go. 1t Is much
that we have compelled the discussion OF
this question from one end of the country to
the other, for it cannot bear discussion and
/, for one. have so much faith in the good
sense of the American people as to feel sure
that discussion means victory. That the in
dependents are so heartily denounced by
those who support and are supported by this
system, gradually perfected in the last fifty
years, is an excellent symptom"
1.-TWO great questions have been opened
anew by the President which really resolve
themselves into 0ne-that of the war tariff.
| say Of the war tariff because it Is mere
electi0neering device to call it question Of
protection or free trade, pure and simple
All that reasonable men contend for now Is
the reduction of the tariff in such a way as
shall be least hurtful to existing interests
and most helpful to the consumer and, above
all, as shall practically test the question
whether we are better off when we get our
raw material at the lowest possible prices.
think the advocates of protection have
been unwise and are beginning to see that
they are unwise in shifting the ground Of
debate. They have set many people asking
whether robbing Peter to pay Paul is a
method equally economical for both par
ties, and whether the bad policy of it be not
all the more hagrant in proportion as the
Peters are many and the Pauls few"
In conclusion, Mr.. Lowell said: sour poll
tieians are so busy studying the local eddies
of prejudice and interest that they allow the
main channels of our national energies to be
obstructed by dams for grinding private grist.
Our leaders no longer lead but are as skillful
as Indians in following the faintest trail Of
public opinion. l find it generally admitted
that our moral standard in politics has been
lowered and is every day going lower. Some
attribute this to our want OF a leisure
class. | believe it was the cynical
pessimist who wrote the book Of Ec-
clesiastices to whom we are indebted
for the invention of the man of leisure.
But leisure class, without definite object
in life, and without generous aims, is bane
rather than a blessing, and would end as
Ecclesiastces ended, without leaving us the
gift which his genius left. What we want Is
an active class, who shall insist, in season
and out of season, that we shall have coun-
try, whose greatness is measured not only by
its square miles, number of yards woven,
hogs packed and bushels Of wheat raised,
not only by its skill to feed and clothe the
body, but also by its power to feed and
clothe the soul. A country which shall be as
great in morals as it is materially.