The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-04-21

quite certain that Lincoln's personality
had little to do with his election. The
moral and economic principles and pur-
poses of the party had rallied the whole
North to the Republican flag, and any re-
spectable man who carried that flag in
1850 would probably have swept the coun-
try.
The moral issue remained with the Re-
publican party through the war and
through the reconstruction period up TO
1876. Then the presidential campaign
began to grow dull and mechanical, like
the fight of 1852. There was nothing in
Hayes personality to excite any enthusi-
asm; there was a natural reaction against
the Republican party. The times were
hard, there was no new issue, the public
were getting weary OF the old music, dis
gusted with the failure of the Republican
party to enforce tranquility in the South,
and the result was spiritless campaign
on the part of the Republicans and
hopeful one on the part of the Tilden
Democracy. In 1880, the popularity OF
Garfield as stump orator, his military
services. and the extraordinary efforts OF
Grant, Conkling, Ingersoll and Arthur
made campaign that began in sluggish
ness and ended in enthusiasm and
victory. In 1884 there was no
moral issue large enough to be
clearly seen of the people. 1t was
Blaine's brilliant individuality pitted
against the Democratic party and handi-
capped by the open hostility of many in
fiuential Republicans of the type of George
+. Edmunds and George William Curtis.
The campaign of 1884 was, despite Blaine's
wonderful energy, dull, Iistless battle
compared with the old days, when the
whole party moved resistlessly to victory,
looking at the flag and its legend rather
than the man who bore it. The campaign
of 1883 was dull, because contest on the
tariff is not a question of morals or pa
triotism, but of economic, industrial ex-
pediency, and human nature cannot be
reused into very ardent enthusiasm over
such issues.
This year the issues are the tariff and
''free silver" "Free silver. is really a
question of morals and patriotism, because
free coinage of the Bland dollar is really a
fraud and swindle of the American wage
up the great creditor class of this country.
To force this country to silver standard
with a Bland legal tender silver dollar
worth but 67@65 cents in gold, means that
labor in its wages. its savings, its debts,
will be obliged to accept dollar worth
67@6S cents, at the present price of silver
bullion, tor the present dollar that repre-
sents 100 cents worth of bullion.
While the question of free silver
coinage" is question both of morals
and patriotism, there are thousands of
well-meaning persons who have not
brains and knowledge enough to see it,
so We expect the tariff and free silver
coinage will both be dry subjects of
popular debate. There is no man likely
to be NOMINATED whose name will rally
voters to his support; no man whose
name and fame is splendid battle flag to
follow to victory. Blaine is such man,
but Blaine denies the use of has name, so
the campaign on both sides is likely to be
dull and devoid of the picturesque.
But, if this is true of the Republican
prospects. If it is not easy to wake the
people to enthusiastic action by the names
of Sherman, Harrison or Mckinley, it
will be still more difficult to make them
cheer at the sight of Cleveland. German.
Boies. Morrison or Hill bearing the
''gonfalon" of the solid South. Sherman
and Harrison are at least men of high in
tellectual quality, while Cleveland's mind
is, like his body, as destitute of acute
angles as an egg; as destitute Of nervous
fibre as a Hubbard squash or bit of
whale iubber.