Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-02-07
SPIRIT OF AMERICAN POLITICS.
The Two Kinds Of Prejudice by Which
the Masses Are Moved.

From the Atlantic Monthly
After all, the masses are moved not 80 much
by selfishness as by prejudice. This prejudice
is of two kinds, traditional and local Its ira
ditional force is shown by the fact that COM
munities side by side and identical in character
and interest remain for decade after decade
politically opposed. The sons are expected to
follow in the footsteps of the fathers. The
permanence Of party names undoubtedly helps
to prevent the natural division of voters on the
line of principle. Principles are forgotten in
devotion to the party which once represented
them. Loyalty to party becomes passion, and
not so long excuse can be found for re-
manning where he is will the average partisan
desert to the other side. Party distinctions
that stood the shock of the civil war yield to no
mere practical question. The principle at the
root Is not clearly seen. 1t is the old name,
.'the party of jefferson" ''the party of the
Union, not the new cause, that holds. The
multitude, says Macaulay, sis more easily in
most insignificant name than for the most i'm
portant principle"
LOCAL PREJUDICE.
Side by side with this traditional prejudice is
the local prejudice; by which 1 do not mean
local interest, but an apparent inability in the
people to see national, state, and municipal
affairs in their true proportions 1t is, of
course, the spirit Of proyincialism again. The
fact that parties in each state and town are
the same as in the nation at large is sufficient
evidence OF 1t. This prejudice has q double
action. Aided alike BY the tyranny and the
convenience of party organization, it causes
men to divide into parties on the same lines
in the local as in the national election. So the
second effect follows inevitably from the first:
namely, local questions are subOrdinated to ma
tional. or else national questions to local. Com
mon sense occasionally ventures so far as to
declare that it matters not whether the mayor
Of Bigville be q republican or a democrat, but
no one yet dares maintain the rash truth that
the qualifications of a candidate for the COVER
norship are not affected by his opinions of pro-
lection and free-trade. As a rule, too, in
spite OF common sense, Jones is elected mayor
of Bigvile because he is free-trader, Just as
Smith is elected governor of the state because
he is a protectionist. This state of things is
AS MIsoHIEvoUs AS IT Is ABSURD.
1t is impossible to bring local questions to
decision at the polls. And again. with reverse
action, national questions are obscured Men
Join given national party because they ap-
prove of the position of its local representa-
tlves on some comparatively unimportant ques-
ton of city or state. Green votes for protec-
ton because he agrees with the republicans Of
Grand county in favoring high license, and
Gray votes for free trade because the Bigville
democrats oppose an increase of the municipal
debt. Personal arguments abound. "How can
you be democrat when the only saloon in
town is kept by democrat?" How can you
be republican when the republican city treas
urer has just defaulted?" This is not nonsense.
Facts like these influence votes, and must be
considered in
STUDYING THE SPIRIT OF OUR POLITICS.
IL We had taken representative group of
Americans, evenly divided as to party in the
late election, we might have found something
like this: A is a protectionist because he helped
found the party of freedom, and because he
admires the candidate. c is a democrat be-
cause he believes in tariff reform, and d be-
cause he always has been one. A junior is a
republican because his father is and B Junior
is democrat because the political economies
teach free trade. E is protectionist because
democratic ring controls the City Hall, and F
because the campaign orator has convinced him
that democratic success means low wages. His
brother G, again. is a democrat because the
campaign orator has failed to convince him.
and his cousin H because most of the respect
able people he knows are. Y is a protectionist
because the government did not buy his land
for the new post-ofice, and because Congress
has voted to deepen the ditch that drains his
cellar. y is tariff reformer. Scattered here
and there are those who have earnestly tried to
solve the problems presented-have thought,
and studied, and prayed; and more numerous
than any single class are those who swear by
the one newspaper they read.