The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-03-28
A WORD IN SEASON.

TIE SENTINEL has no desire to assume
Ire role of boss. It has no candidate. for
a, office, from the highest to the .lowes',
4 1ghout the length and breadth of this
g. and growing state. Not only thai,
It utterly and irrevocably opposed 10
n nds and manner Of bossism. The
p pies for which the democratic party
COZ nds are with Us the governing IL
II oe. The nomination and election of
N to Office sre mere incidents in the
"a erance of these principles. Our po-
s. is that the democratic party owes
n ng to individuals 1t has en- IN
d. ted right to select its own ls.andar1-
b RS in its own way aud where
a when is pleases, without
Ie' renee to the personal claims
Q any particular. democrat. Loyalty
T. party principles and intelligent ad-
T.cscy Of them, when coupled with per
sorsl honesty and fitness for the position
to hich man aspires are good and valid
clans to party preferment, but these are
no. 90 scarce in the democratic party q. to
give any one man, even in scantily set
tied neighborhood, 3 monopoly Of them.
a nan may be good man and good
de 1ocrat and yet, for good and sufficient
reasons not be q good candidate. The
man whom the people want is the one for
whom they will vote. 1t sometimes hap
Psns, too, that the people will call very
loudly for particular candidate one year
and not want him at all the next. This is
q matter which the people entirely control,
and he who would undertake to control it
for them, either in his own behalf or for
another, is certain to meet with political
shipwreck.
The coming contest in Indiana will be,
In our judgment, ths hardest fought pol
itical battle which has ever occurred in
the state. When we are asked, can the
democrats win, We answer, without hesita-
ton and with emphasis, they mos. Ger.
tainly can. When asked, ,rH the demo-
Gratis win, We reply with equal emphasis,
that depends entirely upon themse yes.
The success OF the democratic party in
Indiana will depend, first, upon q proper
and thorough organization and, secondly,
upon the wisdom and absolute fairness OF
the nominations TO be made for the sew
eral offices to be filed at the Nov, mber
election. When we speak OF nominations,
We mean all nominations, local and gen.
eral, from governor to coroner. The thing
70 d. is to nominate the best men. Pri-
vate ambitions should be trampled under
foot wherever they are found to run coun-
ter to the public desire. Because man was
nominated once and defeated is no good
reason Why he should be nominated again.
We grant that, If the people want him, his
former candidacy should be no bar TO
second race, but oar position is that it
gives him 10 claim upon e second aomina-
ton. There are men, and democrats, too,
we regret to say, who seem impressed with
the belief that, having once been honored
with a nomination or an Office, the party
Is under obligations to carry them during
their natural lives and see to it that they
are decently buried when they die. This
Is all wrong. No man IS decsatly IT for Office
,rlo cannot MAKE firing ont Of Office. Ling
service in public place is honorable and
creditable to a man when he has held il
with the hearty Endorsement Of his constit.
uency, but repeated attempts to thrust him.
self upon the people by one whom they
have notified in some emphatic way that
they do not care to employ, are reprehensi-
be.
Let as, then, try to make good nomina-
iions. The party wagon must not be loaded
down with dead freight. The man who,
conscious Of his own inherent weakness,
wants nomination this year, hoping tc
float In on the tide, must be killed of early
in the season. The organization must mol
be expected to give OF its strength and sub
stance to individuals who ought to be fol
it s;reDgth-makers, instead OF strength
takers. We repeat, that ell nominees 10,
county, Judicial, legislative, congressional
and state offices should be the best mer
for the respective places to which they
aspire, ard the men most likely to get tn,
full party vote Of their respective constit
usncies.
TIE Detroit Tribune, The leading repub
lican ngvspaper of Michigan. observes tina