The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-08-27
A GRAND GATHERING.


Continued from First Page.
that is to be found there you will be
able to prophesy what the party action
Is likely to be.
The Northern Democratic party is, in
many respects. like the Republican
party, composed of men of bust
ness sense and business ability. The
difficulty with the Democratic party TO-
day as it has been i'll all past time. is
the fact that it's great majority resides
to this fact I have not the slightest de-
sire to make any sectional differ
ences, nor the slightest wish
to cause any sectional feeling. The
Southern men are men of intellectual
power, men of intelligence and men of
learning. The difficulty with them is
that the kind of learning which arises
from a thorough knowledge of busl-
ness as it is carried on in the North is
be obtained from books. 1t must be
obtained from the experiences of ordi-
nary life. No Democrat who has been
brought in contact with the great hives
of industry in the North, who has
lived in the midst of them, who has
witnessed the prosperity which they
have brought to the country, could ever
permit himself, if left alone, to do any
thing which would cause the destruc-
ton of business or the ruin of the in
dustries which he sees about him.
While the Southern man may nave
every opportunity to read inshooks OF the
prosperity which has come to the North,
be has no conception of it such as those
who have lived in il. He is devoted to
the
THEORIES OF A BY-GONE DAY.
His mind is fixed upon the principles
which were essential in the prosperity of
bis part Of the country in the days be-
fore the war. During that time the doc
trines Of free trade took root and -four
ished,t and there has been nothing in
their experience which has been suffi-
GENTLY general to awaken or change
their ideas. 1t is true that some parts
Of the South have been opened by the in
dustrious hand of northern toll. and the
people there have acquired some ideas
of what the future of their part of the
country will be If the proper system be
maintained. But this is not general in
the South, and the result is that South
ern men come to Congress, controlling
the Democratic party by reason of their
majority. and endeaver to, accomplish
results which are absolutely ineonsist-
ent with the business interests or this
country. Cd
1t.would be great mistake fol- the
people: of the U nited States to suppose
that the action of the Senate, SO much
blamed by the Democratic party and so
much attacked BY the people OF the
country in general, was to be deemed
entirely the result of personal feeling.
The truth is that the action OF the
conservative senators on many sub
jects is the result. not of their individ-
uaI opinions, but the result of the bust
ness interests which surround them. A
senator from the State of New Jersey
could not be reckless with the business
interests of his constituency, like SEN
ator from Arkansas, and even a-Senator
from Arkansas like MIR, Jones, who
has devoted patience and intelligence to
this tariff question, although not sur
rounded by business interests which
control him, was irresi sitEly borne in
the direction of the Senate bill as it
finally passed that body.
The reason why the Democratic party
has been a failure is reason SO simple
that is a wonder that we did not under
stand more fully and completely that
this result must take place. 1t was in
evitable. The Democratic party has
had, in the last thirty years, no under "
ing principle on which it was united
from one end of the country to the
other. This is not said as reproach;
it is said simply as
AN HISTORICAL FACT.
That such should be the fact also is
entirely natural. A party which has
been in the minority for a long period
of time gathers together all the people
who are opposed to the party actually in
power, and opposed for different reasons.
1t is only when they endeavor to COM
bine and to take positive and afhrma-
tive action themselves, that we begin to
realize the tremendous diversity of opin-
ion W hieh was masked under the seem
ing unanimity or opposition. That the
incapacity to control was so great as has
been shown during the past year, no one
ever dreamed. Not even the bitterest
enemy of the Democracy ever prophe-
sled any such thing as has actually be-
come the history of the country. That
they should fall short of an exhibition
of ability to run the country in a man
ner suitable and satisfactory to it's peo-
pie seemed foregone conclusion; but
that they should make failure in every
NcJ Woo SohiSoa AAOo w W NhoiOiP obCu
Least of all was it anticipated by many
good men who have always acted with
the Democratic party, and who wished
to act with it up tc the end of time.
That those men, while they have had
objections, strong objections. some of
them well founded, against the acts and
against the general course of the Repub-
lican party, may now see that, on the
whole, the safety of the country re-
auires the restoration of that party to
power, is the real hope of the nation to-
day. The lesson Of the past year, while
it has been disastrous to the material
interests of the country, if it should re-
suit in a more thorough appreciation of
the actions and deeds of the party which
was in control of this country from 1860
onward. the country will wrest out of
the misfortune blessing. In saying
this / do not in the least overvalue the
capacity or the strength, or the ability
of the Republican party. I know how
often it falls short of the highest good; ;
/ know how often it disappoints the ex-
pectations of it's best men, but that it
expresses, on the whole, and with all al
lowances for the mistakes which are
incident to human nature, the +
BEST DEVELOPMENT OF THIS
COUNTRY,
is T. NV mind trun heyoud nrection or