Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-20
TUE STATUTE OF LAMENTATIONS.

The political correspondent who has
been enlightening the world at large
Through the columns of the New York
.~rp on the Democratic situation 4 in this
S-2te is enc Of those rare geniuses hard to
s@,iy. In his first letter he dwelt upon
the difficulty of accounting for the vote in
favor Of the Republican party in Pennsyl.
vania with the Bardsley and State Treas.
uTy disclosures before them. This diff
Guilty was so great that the correspondent
would have deemed it impossible if the
fact did not make itself manifest But
after several days more deliberation he
fndS this explanation
Til Democrats in PENNSYLVANIA were
defctscd by "the blunders of our leaders,
ara ''the Mugwumpian tendency of the
Democrats in power now,'' as in 1884 they
were defeated by ''an extra session, the re-
fusai 10 recognize Stewart and his follow
cTS and the abandonment of the State -
rst-ison is to blame for il ALL He toler-
as and even asnires to the "encomiums
O ;apers like the Philadelphia Ledger,
THE PITTsBURG DISPATCH, the New
Yak Ecsning Post and the New York
Tines" Both extra sessions called by
him were "gross political blunders" which
cost the Democracy thousands of votes,
anG, worse than all, che retains Repub-
lican officials in their places"
This view of the political situation be-
comes extremely amusing under analysis.
To ne told that any Democratic leader had
il in lis power TO ruin the Democratic
chances for success in this State in 1884 is
20 challenge our admiration for their
aoiilty to spoil added eggs. But this is not
so delicious as the close conjunction of the
assertions that Pattisoni is too Mugwumpian
now in his desire to gain independent sup
port, but that he spoiled things in 1884 by
"hiS refusal to recognize Stewart and his
followers The genius that can condemn
a man for his friendship to independents
in one breath, and in the next perform the
execution on him fer having failed to
recognize the independents sufficiently, is
a rare and delicious spirit The fact is, as
everyone knows, that Governor Pattison
has been affected by the grumblings of
those hide-bound Democrats who are ever
afflicted with fears lest his party shall be
too large, to the degree of making this ad-
mini5tration more rigidly Democratic than
his former one. This does not affect the
reliance of the Independent element whose
vote have twice turned the scale in the
Governors favor, in his integrity and
ability; but it is mistake, nevertheless, as
it ignores the fact that the one Democrat
who for generation has been elected
Governor of Pennsylvania gained that
office twice simply because he attracted
the independent element
This fact ventiates the political eructa-
tions of complainants like the one re-
ferred to. The extra session of 1888
was proclaimed to be blunder much more
loudly than is now done for the Senate
session Of 1891; but it is worth while to
note that the next time the Governor was
a candidate the majority of the people
showed their confidence in a man who
does his constitutional duty and leaves
The onus on those who neglect theirs. And
the fact sufficiently explains the Republi-
can victories which seem to this writer to
lie so incomprehensible. Pennsylvania is
very well known TO her own people to be
a solidly Republican State on National
issues. On State issues, the merits of
liberal can idate and the vices of Republi-
can management have sometimes caused
the independent vote TO throw the balance |
on the side of Democratic victory. In the