Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1888-08-31
4 Little Palmer Still.

luo To- fanatiClsm. Its success to accl T
lent, its perpctuation to the cohesive $
power oi public plumber, and its defeat 9
Mas Il natural result OF a popular ava /
aning t. - sense 81 its unworthiness' +
The exceptions amount 10 broad de-
NAL of each assertion and a statement ,
OF conditions, situations and results |
As seen from its own standpoint. 1t ,
says: The conception that made ,
the Republican party was purpose i
TO prevent the naturalization Of that
very gross and wicked form ri barbar-
ism to which the Democratic party
was devoted-slavery. The Repub-
lican party, We believe the Oregonidn
will admit, was made" by the sue
cessful issue OF the contest of 1850.
There were then four tickets in the
field. The regular Democratic Con-
vention, at Charleston, nominated
Breckenridge and Lane for President
and Vice President. The Douglas
Democrats withdrew from the Con-
vention and nominated the Little
Giant and II. V. Johnson on pop |
ular sovereignty platform; the Amer !
lean or Know Nothing party placed in
the field Bell and Everett, and the
Republicans Lincoln and Hamlin.
The popular vote cast for the Repub
lican ticket aggregated 1,S66,35O, and
for the other tick, is combined $780,
sol. Thus it will be seen that the
"protest against naturalization OF
slavery" if that was the one issue, as
is assumed Nv the Oregonian, was
nearly q million less votes than a
majority, or to he precise, just 944,-
| 15l, and had not the Democrats split
at Charleston, which resulted in the
accidental success, or the making,
Of the Republican party, there would
doubtless have been an overwhelming
majority for their candidates, who diff
fered only as the constitutional limits
Of slavery in the Territories. Ii an
opposition which embraced men who
denounced the Constitution as a
League with HELL" and those who
denied all foreigners the rights of
naturalization and citizenship, was
not fsnaticism, then our structures fall,
but even at this day OF advanced pro-
gress, reason, when applied to the sit
uation as it then existed, will not
be at loss to adopt it as the mildest
expression applicable to the varied in
terests which conspired to defeat the
Democratic party.
As the Oregonian intimates, the
concluding part of the sentence which
it criticises is natural and logical
sequence to the conditions existing at
that time. Ii there ever was party
held together solely by the cohesive
power of public plumber" it has been
the Republican party. The war af-
forded an opportunity for the Wall
street patriots to fasten themselves like
barnacles to the ship of state. Taking
advantage of public necessity, they
dictated terms whereby gold dollar
worth one hundred cents was to pay
interest on bonds, and made to pre-
cisely balance the paper dollar valued
at forty cents doled out to the soldier
in the field. The Dorseys were MAIN
tanned where they could manage the
caldron Of "soap," and the Babcocks
where they could regulate the stills,
and all were united under the mighty
law of self-preservation to keep the
party in power which afforded album
dant opportunity for the rapid acquisi-
ton of wealth. Simple millionaires
were few at the beginning of the war
and now we have AN army Of capitalists
whose holdings aggregate from one to
fifty millions, who owe their rapid &C
QUESTION of wealth mainly to the policy
pursued by the Republican party.
An awakening" of the masses was
observed in 1876, when a majority of
25O,OC0 of American voters declared
against this extravagant and ruinous
policy, and it was the " cohesive power
of public plumber" that then enabled
those holding the reins of power to
swindle the people out Of their choice
of Chief Magistrate. The apparent
danger to the conspirators, as shown
by the vote of that year, intensified
their efforts and defeated the gallant
Hancock four years afterwards. But
the spell was broken in 1884, when a
majority of 81 in the electoral college
ard y plurality OF $4,000 of the popu-
lar vote placed the severely just and
eminently conscientious Grover Cleve-
land at the head of the nation. This
is the awakening" which let to the
defeat OF the Republican party-an
awakening to true sense OF the neces-
sity for vigilance and determined ef-
fort. That tho people should remain
awake until the present crisis 10 past
is shown by the desperate means
which monopoly newspapers and other
instruments of corporate power are
making for another pull at the spigot.
The party is virtually dead, but as long
as the well-filled "bar'ls" remain, the
means will not be wanting to galvan-
ize the corpse into something like its
well known activity under the man.
agement of its experienced bosses.
The project for establishing the
Washingtonian has been abandoned
and the money paid for stock has been
returned to the subscribers. 1t is an
nounced, however, that Mr.. Willis, of
the Chehalis Nugget, will begin the
publication Of morning Democratic
paper at Seattle, in few days, and
the Oregonian is moved to remark
that " If Mr.. Willis does that he will