The Louisiana Democrat., 1889-01-09
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
Why 1t Will Live Long After It's Repub
ican Opponent Is Forgotten.

| ulVfe.
The Democratic party has had but
three straight reverses since it came
into power at the beginning of this
century. This is pretty fair showing
for life of eighty-eight years. The
last reverse has lately occurred in the
defeat of Mr.. Cleveland, and perhaps
this is interpreted by the blind pro-
phets who are asserting that it will
never come into power again to mean
a drowning party going down for the
third and last time.
Such prophecies either argue a la
| mentable ignorance of the chistory of
| the parties in this and other rep
resentative countries or are in
tended merely as species OF "bluff"
inspired by the bracing morning air of
| party triumph. The Democratic party
is a good swimmer and has never gone
down at all yet, but has simply had an
average reverse of once in about thirty
years. 1t is the only party that has
lived through the entire history of our
country and still survives in it's origi-
nal vigor.
The party which overthrow Federal
ism under the powerful prestige of
Washington and John Adams and came
into power at the beginning of the
century under Thomas Jefferson re-
tanned that power and the respect of
the whole people for forty successive
years. But, to show how utterly un-
forseen is the destiny of any party. the
Wings in 1910 carried General Harri-
son into the Presidency with swoop
that was as surprising to themselves
as to their amazed and bewildered ad-
versaries.
And curiously enough the party that
performed this feat was only four
years old. 1t had no principles and
made no pretensions to any, save op-
position to the administration of the
day. Its candidate was seventy years
old and had no especial qualifications
or claims for the Office. It was simply
a sort of fright and spasmodic reac-
tion of the people, following the severe
panic of 1887, which was supposed to
have been brought about by Jackson's s
warfare upon the United States Bank
and Van Buren's fidelity to his prede-
cessor's policy. About the only logic
in the whole Wing craze is expressed
in the familiar party lines:
Farewell, dear Van,
You're not our man;
To guide our ship,
Well try old Tip;
Or in those still sillier ones:
For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too-Tippecanoe
and Tyler, too;
And with them we'll beat little Van, Van
Van is used up man;
And with them we'll beat little Van.
But the hollow craze of Whiggery
subsided almost as quickly as it came.
In 1914 the Democracy reunited under
James X. Polk, the first "dark horse"
in American politics. Once moro the
Whig party lifted it's head in 1S4S, and
elected Zachary Taylor, after which it
vanished forever. From 1852 to 1860
the Democracy held the reins of
power, when the long-developing free
soil issue eliminated in the birth Of
the Republican party.
In these great political changes the
mere election returns offer no in
telligent basis for determining the fort
unes of a party. In 1886 the popular
vote for Van Buren, in the 26 States
that took part was 76l,549, as against
the combined Whig vote of 736,656.
Van Buren had 10 electoral votes out
of 294, against four Whig competitors.
But only four years later Harrison's
popular vote nearly doubled, and the
entire Democratic combination got but
60 electoral votes out of the 294. Four
years later the scales tipped back
again, only to be reversed once more
and then swing back again to Democ-
racy.
If the reader will examine the his
tory of these times he will see how
sensitive is the popular pulse to the
:merest accidents of political admins
tration. Yet, on the whole, the average
vitality of the Democratic party has
remained constant for lightweight
years.
A more astonishing havoc in election
figures than the Harrison ''hard CIDER"
"log cabin upheaval is seen in the
way in which Grant swept the board
in 1868 and 1872 In 1868 Horatio Sey-
mour got but so electoral votes out of
SIT, in thirty-seven States, Grant
capturing solid Democratic States right
and left. In 1872 the slaughter was
still more terrific, and the entire CON-
bination of Hendricks, Brown, Gree
ley, Jenkins and Davis pitted against
Grant only secured 63 electoral votes
against his 2S6. The Democracy only
got AZ electoral votes this trip; vet,
four years later, Samuel j. Tilden had
a popular vote of 4,2S4,SS5, against
4,0S3,950 for Hayes. No honest man
need hesitate to say, too, that he had
majority OF the electoral college, and
was fairly elected President of the
United States.
The real Democratic sentiment has
been at its average pressure since Til
den was cheated out of his seat. 1t
has been merely some unforeseen ele-
ment that decided the issue in the con-
test between Garfield and Hancock,
and of Cleveland against Harrison.
The real sentiment of the country is as
STRONGLY Democratic to.dav whom