St. Paul daily globe., 1891-04-18
DANGER an THIS END.

There are two forms OF partlSanShlp,
one of which is a credit to the man who
cherishes it, and the other shame and
wrong. The honest devotion to po-
litical creed, however mistaken it may
be, ennobles the champion. if he fights
fairly and yields graciously when
higher reason forces him to surrender.
But there is partiSanship which re-
CARDS the end of all political action
party victory, no matter what its cost,
and which views public measures from
no other standpoint than their probable
effect on an ultimate distribution of
spoilS. The present or future welfare
of the state, the happiness and pros
perity of its citizens. the sanctity OF the
eternal principles of law and constitu-
tiOnal liberty, have no claims on the
consideration OF persons who are inocu-
lated with this sort of poison. They
trample on the rights of men and tear
the charter OF freedom in shreds. if it
Will help them in their mad scramble
for a triumph the attainment of which
means the establishment of no political
truths, and promises no fruition in the
shape of better laws or administration.
The GLOBE as party newspaper re-
pudiates entirely this form of partisan
ship. whether in Democrat or Republi-
can, because it is debaSing, unpatrlotic
and fraught with danger to the COM
monWealth. The conversion of the
great body of voters into hostile camps.
warning on each other with no loftier
purpose IN view than to gain admission
to the public crib, on the richness of
which their members may batten, is as
fatal to national prosperity as an inva-
sion Of Huns and Vandals or the car
mage of civil war.
All right-thinlling men stand side by
side with the GLOBE in this opinion,
andwill JOIN in its denunciation of style
ofpartywarfare animated bysuch objects.
They will join it as it pillories with
expressions OF uncompromising denun-
citation the assaults on the right of
suffrage which the Republican members
of our state legislature have just per-
petrated, with the assistance of score
OF traitors drawn from the ranks of the
Alliance. If there is any institution
which must be preserved in its integ-
rity and universally, it is this same
right of the ballot. Our constitution
puts it into the hands of everybody, no
matter what his color, his intelligence
or his fortunes. 1t is at once privilege
and duty. We give it even to the un
fit, because we believe that its proper
use can be learned only by experience.
and that there is no other preparation
for liberty except liberty itself.
There is not the slightest pretension
that the recent amendment to the cleo
tion law which makes it necessary for
every voter to mark on his ballot the
name of every candidate tor whom he
wants his vote to count is demanded to
insure the purity of elections. If it
were, the GLOBE would be for it. But
it is nothing more nor less than dago'S
thrust at the universally of the right of
suffrage. The Republican party, under
the leadership Of JOHN DAY SMITH, the
first elder i'll the church of whining
hypOcrites, has put on the garb OF polit-
ical sanctity to disfranchise half a hun
dred Thousand people in this common
wealth. This amendment is made to
rob the ignorant of the ballot and to
add to the compleXitY of elections, so
that in the crowded precincts of our
large cities, where the Democratic
strength lies, full and fair expression
of opinion Oh election day will not be
possible.
The accomplishment of SO fonl trick
was made possible in the senate by
UIn
ably made and trustingly relied on.
The same JOHN DAY SMITH who
votes to cut down the salary of an honest
/ employe in the interests of economy,
and is foremost in the exemption Of cor
porations from their legitimate contri-
buttons to the support of the state, rubs
his clammy hand and rolls his white
| eyeballs plously to heaven, when the
| senator from Meeker county scores his
breach of honor and decency in the
terms it deserves. In the house
the scheme has been carried to
a successful consummation because
JUDAS IsCARIoT has spawned his spirit
into the petty souls of enough Alliance
representatives to give the enemies of
the ballot a majority. 1t is crying
shame that the leadership of a great
movement like that of the farmers OF
this state should have fallen into the
hands of creatures like these men
BJoRGE, CURRIER, KNUDSON. GILDEA
and COLE. Without intelligence or char
acter sufficient to secure them a hearing,
they have bungled the important meas
! urac for tho apactmant of which thay