The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-11-20
WAS IT I%GNORANCE7

WAS IT IGNORANCE7
Several Democratic doctors who have held
a post-mortem on the remains Of the party
since the late election, have stated that it
died Of want of intelligence on the part of the
people. If they had said want of intelligence
in the party We should have accepted the
finding without question. but that is not their
verdic.. They aver that the party was de-
feated because there was not sufficient time
to educate the people on the tariff question;
that the educational process was only
partially completed, and that if it could have
been continued a few weeks longer the peo-
pie would have become sufficiently well in
formed to have repudiated the doctrine of
protection to American industries advocated
by the Republican party and 20 have in
dorsed the Democratic doctrine of progressive
free trade or a tariff for revenue only.
Among the eminent Democratic doctors who
have confidently asserted theis view of the
case are DR.. Brice. chairman of the national
committee, and DR.. Daniel Voorhees,.
They are quite confident that the
Democracy were defeated through the
ignorance Of the people of the
benefits of free trade, and in support of this
view they point to the large Democratic vote
in some of tie cities. 'In the cities" they
say, where the quick intelligence of the peo-
pie grasped the true issues of the campaign
and where the work of educating the people
made rapid progress, the Democracy made
large gains, but among the slow-thinking
country people, who are hard to convince and
ill harder to instruct, We lost. We were
defeated by the rural vote" This lie the sub
stance of what has been said by post-mortem
Democratic doctors of the Brice-V Voorhees,
school.
This theory Is absurd, and finds no support
whatever in the facts or circumstances Of the
case, or in the result of the election. The
assumption that the tariff discussion was
working or did work 10 favor of the Democ-
racy is not sustained by a particle of evidence.
They did indeed make gains in some of the
large cities and manufacturing ~centers, but
there is no evidence nor reason to believe that
| these gains were made on the tariff issue or
were among intelligent and thinking voters.
On the contrary, the Republicans have
abundant proof that the tariff issue
| 1porofoA ofronO1u ~ fbotr founr fkia
class in the cities as well as in the country,
aud they are entirely satisfied with the re-
suits of the educational process. The gains
made by the Democracy in the large cities
simply show that they got the entire floating
and purchasable vote. They did indeed get
q large number of votes among workingmen
of q class who are inaccessible to reason and
governed wholly by prejudice and passion.
but these are always Democrats. The Dem
ocratic gains were made mainly among the
rabble of the cities. The Republicans made
healthy gains in the cities, but their largest
and steadiest gains were in the country. The
Democratic doctors assume that the farmers
voted for a protective tariff policy because
they were not sufficiently we'll informed on
the subject. 1t is precisely because they
were well informed that they refused to vote
for free trade. The rural districts and the
farmer vote contributed in a large degree to
the defeat of the Democracy, and all honor to
them for it. The assumption that
they are lacking in intelligence is
unwarranted. The assumption that there
is more voting intelligence in the cities than
in the country is wide of the mark. The
farmers may not shout, and march, and paint
things red rs much as city people. but they
think and reason things out in their own way
and are much less apt to be swayed by preju-
dice and passion. In the recent campaign no
class of people were better posted on the
merits of the tariff question or more fully
abreast with the discussion than the farmers.
In their patient, careful way they thought
the question clear out, and reached the con.
clusion that protection to American industry
was the best policy for the farmer as we'll as
the manufacturer, the best for all classes, and
enough of them voted that way to make the
Democratic defeat decisive.
AS for an educated ballot, the largest Re.
publican maiorities in the recent election
were in the States where the highest standard
of education and intelligence prevails. Place
Vermont with her "a. 600 Republican major
ity, Iowa with her 10000, Kansas with ne,
$1,000, or Pennsylvania with her so. 900,
against Mississippi with her SO, 900 Demo
cratic majority, South Carolina will her so,
900, Alabama with her 80, 900, or Texas with
her 12O, 900. Where are the intelligence anG
the educated BALLOT We do not find any
vindication of free trade in these majorities
THE impression that, because of their owl
certain and immense majority, Pennsylvani,
Republicans do not grow excited over part,