St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-12
LESSONS OE TIE HOUR.

LESSONS OF THE HOUR.
Now that the smoke as CLEARED away
from the field where the battle OF bal
lots was recently fought in eight of the
states of the Union. the voters of Min
nesota will find it to their profit tn sit
down and carefully study the situation
as it has been revealed to them by the
election returns.
q While the Democrats will find more
for encouragement than their Republic
can brethren, nevertheless there are
many useful lessons tor the latter, if
they are only studied Alright. And it is
to some of the lessons that can DE gath
cred from these elections thai we desire
to direct the attention of Minnesota
politicians, and more particularly those
Of the dominant party.
The first and most useful lesson
to be learned from the result in Ohio
and Iowa is that party is are easily
broken when party attempts to go con-
trary to popular sentiment.
In the second place, big party Ma
iOritY cannot be relied on to elect cam
didates who are personally Objectiona-
bic. or who have secured their nomina-
lions by unfair or corrupt methods.
In the next place. the MASSES of the
people will not submit to having their
consciences trammeled by fanatical
LET
of cranks to assume dictatnrial power in
prescribing the proper standard of
morality.
And last. but not least, is the imDOr-
tant lesson that the producing classes
are studying the tariff question with re-
IatiOn to its bearing on their interests;
and the more they are educated. the
more thoroughly are they convinced of
the necessity for a reform that will re-
duce the revenues TO the actual neees-
sites of the government. and for re-
adjustment of the tariff system so that
1t will impose the heaviest duties upon
the luxuries and to corresponding ex-
tent relieve the necessaries of life from
taxation.
Practically it is but little difference
to the masses what party accomplishes
these objects, just so they are accom-
plished. The recent elections would in
dictate that the voters have more conf
dence in the ability of the Democratic
party to secure these reforms than they
have in the Republicans.
The Fifty-irst congress will soon he
in session, with its Republican majority
in both branches, and Minnesota will be
represented there by solid Republican
delegation. The vote of the Minnesota
representatives will be fairly construed
into an expression of the Republican
sentiment of the state. and thus they
will have an opportunity to outline the
Minnesota Republican platform in adj
vance of the next state campaign.
1t is we'll enough known that the
Democrats of Minnesota will plant
themselves as squarely on the CLEvE-
LAND platform in the next state can
vass as their brethren in Chic and
Iowa and in the other states did in the
last election. Will the Republicans
dare to take issue with them on the
tariff and the liquor questions in view
of recent results in other Republican
stronghOlds? If the Minnesota con-
gTeSSmen are to make record for their
party, how will they vote during the
coming session? The voters of Iowa
pronounced judgment on ALLISON and
his tariff bill. The voters of Ohio rem
dered verdict against FORAKER and
his bloody shirt and pension extrava.
gance record. 1t was only by abandon
ing his party platform and adopting the
Democratic position on the LIQUOR
question that the Republican candidate
for governor in Massachusetts pulled
through.
The Democrats Of Minnesota will
stand in the future, as they have stood
in the past, in defense of personal lib
erty and the advocates of tax reduc-
ton.
But where will the Republicans of
Minnesota stand in the next state can
vass? This is serious question for
them, and in solving it they cannot
avoid studying the results of the late
elections. Will they continue to rely
on their big majority and the power of
boodleism to pack their conventions in
the interests of the monopoIists and to
defy popular sentiment. or will they
right about face and follow the trend of
popular thought and align themselves
with the progressive ideas of the day?
1t all depends on the power of the
machine in Minnesota politics. Hereto
fore the machine has been omnipotent.