The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1888-11-29
"Let it Die"

NliAl LIE NllltN'o HINES SAID OF llii
DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND IT WAS SAID
EIGHT YEARS AGO. IN ITS PAIAIIESr DAYS
THE INNI\CIRIIIrG OF REPI BIIEtNI>M AIl-
MITTED. AND REASONS WHY II SHOULD BE
In 1880 the Chicago Times, then under the
control Of MIR. Storey and in the zenith of its
power and prosperity. espou>ed the cause Of
the Democracy and General Hancock. 1t
wearicd of the position it had assumed long
before the campaign was over. After the
close of the campaign Hancock was beaten
that on Sunday, Nov. :. 1850. the Times pub
lished the remarkable editorial printed below.
1t was the leading article of the issue and at
tracted very wide attention all over the coun-
try, both on account of its dction and the idea
ii intended to convey. 1t is good reading at the
present time and the journal therefore repro
duceS it:
The recent presidential election has shown
that there is an invincibe reason why the
Democratic party can never wiz national
victory. 1t is that the youth of this repihlic is
not Democratic. The sons of Democratic faith
ers have grown up Republican.
So long as slavery and the war inger within
the memory of Americans, the youth Of the re-
public will continue to grow up Republicans;
and slavery and the war will be remembered
as long as the public school system exists. The
public schools have SLAIN the Democrats party
with the textbook.
1t is vain for statesmen to declare that there
We're as many Democrats As Republicans in
the Union army. 1t is vain to affirm that the
war for the preservation of the mon could
not have been carried to a successful close
without the assistance of the Democratic par
ty. 1t is idle for philanthropy to suggest thai
the attitude of that party toward the war in
the beginning was humane one: that it was
inspired by the higher and better wish that
the cause of the conflict should be peaceahiy
removed, and the spilIing of brothers blood by
brothers hands avoided. The Democratic par
ty has been ideally identified with slavery and
slaveholding. The Republican party is ideally
identified with emancipation and the war.
Therefore is the youth of the country incap-
able of being Democratic Therefore the
Democratic party can never win = national
victory. Its old men are dying away. The
boys who catch the ballots that fall from their
stitlened hands are Republican,.
This fact cannot be denied 1t will do no
good to quarrel with it. All other causes
which have operated to diminish the number
Of Democrats and increase the number of Re
publcans are insignificant beside this one ire
mendous and invincible fact The curse of
slavery has poisoned the blood and rotted the
bone of the Democratic party. The maedie-
ton of the war has palSied its brain.
The young wife who held the babe up to kiss
the father as he hurried to the tap Of his de
parting regiment has not Sucl.led Democrat.
The weary foot of the gray grandmother who
watched the children while the wife was busy.
has not rocked the cradle of Democrats. The
chair that the soldier father never came back
to fill has not been climbed upon by Democrats.
The old blue coat that his comrades carried
back was cut up for little jackets, but not one
inclosed the heart of Democrat. The ratified
musket that fell from him with his last shot
| became the thoughtless TOY of his boys. but not
a hand that played with it was the hand Of
Democrat. The babe he kissed crowed and
crowed for his return. and its unwilling and
unanswered notes were not from the throat of
Democrat. The tear-soed camp letters
| which the mother read aloud in the long. bit
| ter evenings while the boys clustered at her
| knees did not fall upon Democratic ears. The
| girls sobs, blending with mothers weeping.
| did not make Democrats of their brothers.
| Perhaps the father had been Il Democrat all his
| life
The children go to school. There is not Il
| Democrat on its benches.
| The first reader contains the portrait of
| Abraham Lncoln--that kind and sturdy face
never made Democrat. On its simple pages,
| in words of two or three >yllable>, is told the
| story of bis birth and death. That story never
made Democrat. In the pranks of the play
| ground the name silences the frOlicSome and
makes the joiest grave That name never
| made a Democrat. In the pictures that light
| up the Geography are the firing on Fort SUM
| ter and the death of Ellsworth. Those pictures
make no Democrats. The first page of the
| History contains representation of the sur
render of Lee at AppomattoX. No boy gaze>
| on that and ever after ayows himself "A Demu-
| crat.
| In the higher grades the same subtle and un-
| resisted influence is at work. The textbooks
| contain extracts from patriots speeches during
| the war. Those speeches make no Democrats.
| The great battles are briefly described; the
! narrative has no Democratic listeners. The
| strain of martial music runs through the
| readers, and that music makes no Democrats.
Sketches of the great generals are given; their
| brave deeds arouse the enthusiasm of the lads,
| but there is no Democrat among them The
| horrors and sufferings of the slaves are told
the maddened blood that mounts the boys
cheek is not Democratic blood. The curse of
slavery has pursued the Democratic party. and
has bounded it to its death. Therefore, let il
die; and no lips will be found to say a prayer
over the grass on its grave.
The late defeat need not be attributed to any
other cause. Other causes were at work
but they were incidental. The tariff is one
Sectonalsm was the second. "Let well enough
alone" was a third. The October failure in In
diana was a fourth. But all these were trivia
and together could not have accomplished .h,
result. The result was accomplished becaus,
the youth of the Republic is not Democratic
That party is, therefore, without future ant
without hope. The malediction of the wal
has palsied its brain. The curse Of slavery ha
poisoned its blood and rotted its bones. Let i
die.