The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-11-17
POLITICAL LANDsLIDEs.
A Glance Over the Result of Land
slides.

party that it had not political future. The
first landslide was in 1900. From the first for
nation of parties, in 1892, when the people of
the country united in recalling George Wash
ington to the Presidential chair, but divided
upon the question of who was to be Vice Pres
dent, the powers of the Federal Government
as opposed to those of the States formed the
basis of contention. The Federalists were sue
cessful in the earlier elections. In 1876, when
the first contest developed over the successor
to George Washington, the Federalists won.
Although the Democrat Republicans, the
predecessors of the Democrats of today, had
controlled the House of Representatives in
the former Congress, both branches under
President Adams were Federalist.
The Federalist Congress passed two laws,
the so-called alien and sedition laws, which
involved new principle and brought down
upon the party the suspicion and finally the
wrath of the people. The first law gave the
President power to order an alien whom he
Judged dangerous to leave the country, and
made provision for filming or imprisoning him
if he refused to obey. The other law provided
for the imposition ofines or the Imprisonment
of any persons who opposed any Government
measure or uttered any scandal or falsehood
against the Government, Congress or the Pres
ident
These laws the great mass of the people be-
lieved struck at personal liberty, and they
punished the party promulgating them by
forever RELOCATING it to the realms of lost
wishes. jefferson kept the fires of resentment
smoldering until the election of 1900, when
New York, in April, sounded the death knell
of the Federalists by electing a Legislature
which shonld choose Democratic Republican
| Presidential electors. Jefferson's election fol-
lowed, although the election was thrown into
the House of Representatives because two
| Democrat Republicans, Jefferson and Burr,
| tied for first place in the Electoral College.
| The Federalists were overwhelmingly defeated
| in the next Presidential election, Jefferson re-
ceiving 14S Electoral votes to % for Pinekney.
The close of the war of 1872 found the Fed
eralist Party practically extinct. The cardinal
principle upon which it had been founded and
which gave it life had been generally adopted
as the true exposition of the scope of repub-
lican form of government. The eXtraneous
new issues which had evolved had wrought
its ruin Its usefulness had passed. An
'sera of good feeling followed, eliminating
in the election of 1924, when men, not issues,
was the rallying cry. Although Andrew Jack
son received plurality of both the Electoral
and popular vote, the election was thrown into
the House of Representatives, and John Quincy
Adams was elected as the representative of the
Democratic Republican Party. 1t was during
his term that the tariff question came into
prominence.
But it was opposition TO the doctrine of
notification or the right of State to repudiate
the action of the Federal Government where
the State believed the Federal Governments
action unconstitutional, which was revival of
the original anti Federalist doctrines, that
necessitated the formation of new party,
which subsequently became known as the Wing
Party. The Wings also put in their platform
planks favoring internal improvements, pro
tective tariffs, and demand for national
bank.
In Van Buren's term the Democrat Repub-
licans failed to enact laws for the financial re-
lief of the country, in addition to advocating
notification, so that the people turned to the
Wings The result was that in 1910 William
Henry Harrison, the Wing candidate, defeated
Van Buren, who was the Democrat Republican
candidate for reelection, by 234 to "a elect
oral votes If President Harrison had lived
the political history of the country would prob
ably have been radically different. But he
died just a month after his Inauguration, and
| left the Executive office to the weak, vacilat-
ing Johr Tyler. And in the next election the
Democrat Republicans returned TO power
The slave question had begun to be agitated,
but the Democrat Republicans were not ready
to declare for slavery, although preventing
any hostile legislation, and the Wings would
not oppose slavery. The compromise of 1850,
the chief feature of which was the fugitive
slave law, followed Democrat Republicans
and Wings Endorsed it in their platforms of
1852 But the Wings were only half-hearted
in their support of the compromise, and the
Democrat Republican candidate, Franklin
Pierce. was elected by 254 electoral votes to
AZ for Winfield Scott. The sentiment of the
country at that time was overwhelmingly in
favor of the existing social conditions.
This was the second great landslide. But
it did not. mean the extinction of tho Wing
Party. 1t only emphasized the necessity of
declaring against slavery, which they had all
along really been opposed to.
The injection of the slavery question INTO
politics gave new names to old parties. The
| Democrat Republicans became Democrats,
and the Wings became Republicans. The
sentiment of the people rapidly shifted, as
shown by the popular vote in 1856, when John
| C. Fremont, the Republican candidate, re-
| ceived 377 ,629 more votes than James Buchan-
an. the Democratic candidate, who was elected
| by ia Electoral votes to 122 for Fremont.
| Although Lincoln was elected in 1860 by $50
Electoral votes to 1913 for Breckenridge, he
received 94, l49 popular votes less than his
competitor 1t was not until four years later
| that the slavery landslide had moved the Dem
ocratie polling booth so far down the decliyity
that only n small minority of the voters cared
to venture TO reach it.
The war settled the slavery question and re-
removed it from the list of issues. But the
Democratic and Republican parties were at
variance on other questions, notably the tariff,
which would have been the most prominent
| from the time of Jackson if the terrible cOndi-
ton of the negroes had not diverted public at
tention from it for a few years. Each party
had something to exist for after the humane
issue over which they had recently fought had
been removed from the arena of public dis
cussion. There was no occasion for the for
nation of new parties, because no all-engross-
ing new issues were brought forward for adj
iudication. Parties are always elastic enough
so that minor issues may form parts of their
declarations of principles, without impeding
them in their contest for supremacy. The
notification principle, for which the Demo-
cratic party and its predecessors had battled,
had been removed from politics, and the new
issues which sprang up after the war were of
such character, like the silver question, which,
in some of its bearings, is more nearly a Sec
tional than political one, that the old parties
absobed them.
Bnt the war had given the country into the
hands of the Republican party. 1t took years
for confidence in the Democratic party to be
restored. IL was fully restored IN 1870, when
Tilden received plurality ofthe popular vote.
In 1880 Garfield had only plurality of 7,01S.
while Cleveland had pluralities of $4,000 in
1884, of 90, 65S in 1888, and of 800, 6ss in
1892. In 1892 came the fourth great land
slide in the history of the country, when the
Democratic party, which had in reality existed
from the foundation of the Government with
less change than any of its opposing parties,
notwithstanding greater opposition and with
heavier impediments elected the President,
carried a majority of the States, captured the
United States Senate, and elected 2l9 out of
1856 members of the House of Representatives.
This was the greatest landslide in the history
of the country. 1t was such landslide that
the rut which it made in the hill seemed to
compass the hill itself.
Iflandslides annihilated parties, then there
would have been no Republican party left TO
slide into power last Tuesday. But in two
years the party which was apparently extinct
had become so replete with life as to astonish
the most sanguine advocate of Repubhnanism
by getting up a landslide which made the one
of two years ago look like the mere shifting of
town lot.
All the conclusions which politician can
draw from pyrotechnic landslides is that this
is the epoch of landslides-the period of vio-