St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-10-09
THE FRUIT OF THE BATTLE.


cost more than it did before.
THE FRUIT OF THE BATTLE.
The rcut of the men of God was conf
pleted yesterday afternoon at 6 o'clock
with the most brilliant completeness,
and on this holy Sabbath morning, save
for an occasional tired jaw bone left
gllstening by the wayside, nothing is
to ibe seen of the noble army of the
anointed which set out with banners
ten days ago to rescue our local politics
from corruption. The preachers of the
Seventh ward have reasonable famil-
iarity which the principles of theoretical
and applied theology; but when it comes
to the manipulation of Republican pri-
marleS and of Republican county con-
vention, they are not in it. The chill
dren of this world are wiser in their
generation than the children of light,
and so deXtrouS in their use Of imple-
mentS of warfare that the men of God
to this hour do not know what hit them.
We have Just ended a busy and inter
esting week. and the victory rests with
the people"
1t is to be hoped that the projectors
of the reform movement within the
ranks of the Republican party will not
be discouraged by their defeat. Their
task was one of unusual difficulty. aud
they could not expect success to attend
their first effort. To adopt the express
i've figure of speech which the Pioneer
Press applied to the Democracy. it re-
quires heap of pumping to make water
rise above the level of its source, and
in single season they cannot harden
their muscle enough for the task. They
want to keep On, however, i'll spite of
what has happened; andperhaps, with
little change of method, which their
experience will suggest. the result in
the future will be a happier one.
The GLOBE is inclined to believe that
the meif~of God place too much reliance
on the efficacy of literature in political
campaigns. The most eXacting critic
could find no fault with the English of
the resolutions they passed at their sue
sessive meetings, and the one man who
has read Capt. HACKETT's essay on
Tin Plate and lived tell the tale,
says, except for the errors in its facts
and the lack of logic in its arguments,
it is not half as bad as would be sup
posed: and yet, II Notwithstanding the eX-
cellences of these fruits Of the mind.
they seem to have had very little
weight with the Scandinavian coach
men and the negro walters of the
Seventh ward. who voted with such
reiterated enthusiasm for Capt. HoR-
TON. The sad truth is that these gen.
tlemen have been so occupied OF late
with the eXacting duties or their pro-
fessons that they have not perused the
resolutions or the essay on "Tiu Plate"
as carefully as they deserve. They
will get around 10 them, no doubt, dur
ing the winter, and then they VIII be
sorry that they did not support Capt.
HACKETT. But this will be little too
late, and this is the trouble with good
deal of the reformerS' work. 1t would
be better for slight Infection of pre-
viouSness.
Another mistake the men Of God
make is in giving-Sc much prOmlnenc
to preachers. The vulgar herd has no
objection TO having preachers crowned
and canoniZed," but there is sort of
prejudice against their participating
too actively in partisan politics. For one
thing, preachers are as rule dictate
rial. They have spent great part Of
their lives studying the Old Testament,
and they have become accustomed to
the atmosphere of an absolute moi
archy. They thunder around at the
caucuses and polling places as though
they had just come on an express train
from Mount Sinai. This may be all
right morally. But politics is not
branch of ethics, and the most success
full politicians do not try to cram
the ticket they favor down peoples
Threats. People resent such tactics. No
body ever heard the genial Democratic
organizer who coached Captain HoRTON
in the secrets of the craft lift his voice
in angry denunciatiOn of his enemies,
or for the coercion of the wavering. He
has been gentle and smiling all his life,
and will be gentle and smiling to the
end. But preachers are so used to
laying down the law from their pulpitS
and so unused to being answered back
that a spirit of compromise is uncon-
genial to them. The GLOBE is not so
deficient in sense of propriety as to sug-
geSt that the preachers be eliminated
altogether from the councils of the re-
formers. But if wicked man or two
can be found in their number, perhaps
it would be a good idea to put them i'll
front. 1t is possible to have so much
virtue in movement that the commu-
nifty cannot aSsimilate it.
These hints are offered not in any
hostile way, but rather for the purposes
of consolation and encouragement. Any
scheme which has for its object the
publication of local politics deserves
respectful treatment; and the GLOBE,
even if its disposition were adverse,
would not find it in its heart to speak
unkindly at this time of the gentlemen
who were interested in this latest effort
in this direction. Scenes of human suf-
fering are never pleasant to contem-
plate, and these good men have enough
to bear without the torture of any addi-
tional friction. There has been much
frothing denunciatiOn Of the Democra-
cv'S Legislative and county tickets, and
the substantial heads of our bust
ness houses have put their shoulder to
the wheel that the city might see what
they could do. And what is the result?
We have Republican legislative ticket
on which there is only one man fit to
represent our people at the capitol. and
his nomination the substantial heads of
our business houses opposed with a Bit
terness which refuses to be healed. And
we have a county ticket headed by
professional officeholder as the candi-
date for sheriff, and including another
professional officeholder for treasurer,
man for auditor who is striving to repair
his shattered fortunes from politics,
lawyer without clients or reputation
FOR county attorney, and an out
cast Democratic politician of out