The Brookhaven leader., 1890-02-27

REPUBLICAN, SCHEMES.
The Desperate Means by which the q. o.
r. Hopes to Remain In Power.

them by his party, are well calculated 70
awaken Indignation among Democrats
and all others whose eyes have not
been blinded by party spirit to the enor.
mites of which irresponsible partisan
ship is capable. This Indignation is
wholesome. In it we find the best guar
anty of the permanence Of republican
institutions. In any government in
which the appeal is not Immediately to
force, public opinion is the arbiter. Ef-
forts to divide public opinion, as divis-
ions are made often in Congress, by
strict party lines, are successful in all
but extreme cases. In such cases pub
lie opinion breaks down the barriers of
party; not altogether, 1t is true, but to
an extent sufficient to shift the balance
of power from one side to the other. 1t
has become a sort of political axiom
that when things are simply bad they
will probably 60 on as they are, but
when they become very bad change
may be speedily expected.
The course of the majority in the
House is an evidence of their despera-
tion. They know perfectly well that
they do not represent majority of the
people of the United States; that the
slender majority which is theirs was OBJ
tanned by a combination of accident,
false pretense and corruption. Their
numerical superiority, apart from the
means by which it was obtained, is too
small to enable them to carry out the
purpose which they have in view.
| Hence their determination to increase
it without any reference to the merits
of the cases in contest. Having resolved
on one crime against popular suffrage,
they feel they have resolved on all
others necessary to the perpetration Of
| the first. To ignore the will of the SOW
ereign people expressed in the choice of
their representatives is the greatest Of
fense possible in a republic; compared
with this, rulings as to points of parlia-
mentary law are insignificant. Most of
| the contested election cases have al
ready been decided in advance of a
hearing, on the simple ground that Re-
publican interests will be subserved by
depriving the contestees of the seats to
which they were elected. Having re-
solved to do this grievous and irrepar-
able wrong, they can not be expected to
harbor scruples as to mere parliament
ary questions.
The methods by which, in the cleo
tions of 1883, the Republican party Sc
cured not only the Presidency but
slender majority in the House are we'll
remembered; and they account for the
desperation which prompts their present
proceedings, In that canvass they were
| 10 ro1u tho iGGnp tom
dered. They appealed boldly to the
protected interests for corruption
fund on the ground that those interests
were the chief beneficiaries of the tariff
| laws But in localities where protected
| interests were not dominant, they re-
fused to discuss tariff reform upon its
merits. They appealed from that issue
to the prejudices following struggle
that had been ended for nearly quar-
ter of century. They told the people
to whom the Mills bi II would have been
worth millions that they must not ac-
cept it because it had been framed by
committee Of which Southern men
formed part; that there were among
them rebel brigadiers that sought to
kill by tariff bill the country which
they had vainly assailed with cannon
and rifles. They rallied to their sup
port all the robust mendicants in the
country who were offended because their
demands to be supported in idleness at
the expense of the taxpayers had not
been instantly granted. With all this
obscuring of the real issue they won by
a narrow margin, and the popular ma
iority was against them. Thus, while
restored to power, they took it, coupled
with vote of want of confidence from
the country. The men to whom the
party was mortgaged for this means of
corruption have marked the situation
and realized that now is the time to
foreclose. After another election the
party may be bankrupt. The lien must
be enforced while there are assets in
sight. Hence, the desperation with
which measures are pushed to enlarge
the Republican majority to working
basis, that the monopolists may get the
legislation for which they paid their
money eighteen months ago.
There is material for encouragement
in the suggestion that the outrageous
character of these measures indicates
that power is slipping from their au-
thors. When things are at their worst
they begin to mend. But we should not
overlook the fact that, nevertheless, the
country must pay for its mistakes. The
stupendous mistake of restoring the Re-
publican party to power in 1888 is sure
to be costly one. The party is going
to make the best of its opportunities. 1t
will make the burdens of the people
heavier, instead of lighter, and these
burdens can not be speedily removed,
no matter how great the reaction may
prove. If the Republicans are repudi-
ated at the Congressional elections next
fall, 1t will be nearly two years, dating
from the present, before another Con-
gress will meet The Harrison Admin
istration will last more than three years,
no matter what may be the result of the
next Presidential election. The Senate
is now largely Republican, and changes
in that body are comparatively slow.
The mischief which the present Congress
will do will live after it.
These considerations warrant the con-
clusion that, though the Republicans in
Congress are playing a desperate game,
there is sort of method in their mad
ness. Despairing of success in the fut-
ure by any appeal to the reason of the
people, they are obliged to bid for the
continued favor of the monopolies by
satisfying their demands, at whatever
sacrifice of even the pretense Of fairness