The Washington critic., 1890-01-30

scouudrel policy on the other haad a
party of vicious and corrupt anteee ients,
strong IN the drilled obedience OF great
blocks OF illitetate voters sure OF the un-
swerving allegiance of "thc ku-klux and
the criminal, the saloon-keeper and the
ballot-box suffer- and that needs nothing
to put itself into power but to win over q
few thousand conscientious voters, will put
up faithful and upright men as candidates,
and give the country an honest administra-
tion, while all the world looks on and Won
ders why.
An important corollary deducible from
this argument is this rule of practical
politics;
The way to influence your party is to get
outside of 1t.
This Is contrary TO the maxim so earn
estly inculcated upon us by experienced
politicians, with reiteraton to the point of
fatigue, that the duty of good men, in
oider to keep politics sweet and healthy, is
always TO attend the primary meetings, and
to keep their place in the party ranks. We
have just seen that this is the way to have
no influence whatever with either
party. One party has no hopes of
you, and the other has no fesrs.es In
the French idiom, you have simply "effaced
yourself.n But once climb over the party
fence and stand Enthusiastically outside in
the open and IL will be different. Your late
party associates will not like It. They Will
make lamentation over you: "Why will he
throw himself away? ?' They will even Will
roa,n1 vntt nndpr n mama ta1.on from, Elliott a
Indian version of Genesis xxxyi, 10. But
whenever close election comes on they
will do any thing in reason TO meet your
views. You will have far more influence
over the primary meeting by staying away
from it than you ever had by attending It.
\ lively illustration of this way of influ-
encing party Is found by contrasting the
impotent struggle Of Mr.. Curtis and his
friends inside of the Republican party,
against the nomination of Mr.. Blaine, in
the convention of 1884, with the invisible,
inaudible, but none the less supremely
dominant, influence of Mr.. Curtis and his
friends from outside of the party, in the
convention of 1883, after 1t had been found
out by experiment that the Mugwumr
would not merely talk about boiling, but
might sometimes, under adequate provoca
ton, actually bolt. "For behold this self
same thing. what carefulness it wrought IL
them, yea, what clearing of themselves
yea, what indignation, yea what fear, yea
what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea
what revenge" How mems hearts flowed
together in the nomination of man wht
had opposed the pension thieves from hi.
| place in the Senate, who had called Goo
| to witness his hearts devotion to the prin
ciples of civil-service reform, and who's,
| position as Presbyterian elder forbade
the suspicion that he could be false to suol
an obtestation Doubtless the sympathi1
| ers with Mr. Curtis who remained In th,
| Republican ranks felt weakened by the re
| tirement of himself and mis- friends. Thel
| know now that the mere fact of such a de
fection, suggesting possible defections il
| the future, has added n-fold 10 the
strength. by just SO far as the iptelligeu
and patriotic vote has strength of chara'
ter to keep ITSELF in any considerable mum
Der, genuinely independent, free OF mort
gage to either party, it Will hold unde
bond for good behavior not one great part
only, but two.-7he Forum