Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-12-11

Under these conditions, then, the Re
publicans were driven from power IN
ls91, and the Democrats were put In
control Of every branch Of the govern
mcnt. Thsnks 20 this result, the people
Of the United States since the 9Th at
March, 1898, have been receiving the blt.
ter instructions Of that best and severest
Of teachers -experience-to which allu.
slon has already been made. They have
been learning many things painfully and
rapidly. Those voters who had never
known Democratic supremacy are nov
becoming well acquainted With u. They
are finding out what tsrin reform means
when interpreted by Democratic House.
They are discovering the full beauties OF
ID. mocrstic financial management, aud
they have opportunity to note the differ
cuces between Democratic civil service
reform In campaign speeches aud Demo-
cratic civil seryie reform In action.
The elections of lsaJ indlcit ed that the
Impression Of Democratic performances
up to that time upon the mind OF the
average voter had not been wholly favor
able. Many men had then for the first
time the opportunity To make compsri-
sons, and 10 ind out that Il WAS quite
possible that even " the Republicans
had made mistakes, they might stu be
In this comparative world better aud
safer than their opponents. The COM
parisons, like the impression, do not
seem To have been favorable To the
Democrats.
let us pow look briefly nj the situa.
ton q. u stands to-day for the siiustion
is what makes the Republican opportun-
ity, and Republican opportunities eau
arise either from deep-rooted social
conditions, As In the antislayery struggle,
or from the blunders and incapacity of
their opponents, "a IL the case to day.
To outline the situation, therefore, is
necessary, II we would arrive at any
conclusion NJ To what the country needs
or what the Republican party ought to
do.
when II became known that the Dem
ocrats had SECURED the senate and were
In full possession of the government
the public mind Was chilled. The change,
which looked so ru.eate before election.
seemed more serious aud less enhancing
after IL had been actually accomplished.
Men began 10 doubt the futurr, and
bu.ine.s beyan TO hesitate. This state
Of public sentiment wss keenly felt by
the Democratic leaders and by the news
psters devoted To their fortunes. They
wished 20 dlspel the Idea that this gen
ersl anxiety had anything 20 do With
their return 10 power, and they there
fore act about proclsimlng, In season
and out OF season, With loud cries and
much lsmentsiion. that the doubt and
uncrrtainlty which existed were du,
solely "a the dangers 10 be apprehendec
from the purchasing clauses OF th'
sherman act. 10 this clamor had merely
diverted attention frum the fact ~ Dem
ocrstic supremacy, no harm would hs''
been done. Hut scspegoats are uncer
tain creatures, and even when thei
burdens have been duly bound upoI
their backs, they do not al~sys dee a
lexpscied to the mountaln. aud rocks
30 4, hsppened In this case. The out
cry About the sherman act did mucl
more than turn attention from Demo
cratic supremacy. II produced con
dliion of extreme Nervousness aud an
xlety In the business world, aud viii
~. bu.lne.. world In TIL. dangcrou.l!
sensitive condition Mr.. Cleveland cam
into power. lie aud his newspapers hs'
succeeded Ia convincing IN. public tia
We wcr, In extreme financial peril, h.
cause the purchasing clauses OF tn
sherman act threatened To drive gol'
out ~ the country, snd put us ~ once az
on silver standard. Having stimulates
TIL. feeling Ia the highest point OF ten
.Ion, Il VA. the duty ~ the Dcmocrsii
administration, upon their own theor.
~ the case, Ia meet the difficulty si once
Their. were two ways, aud only t~'
WAYS. 81 doing this. Mr.. Clevelan'
could have called Congress together an
begun AZ once the light for r-rcsi, ~hlcl
would have removed the danger of IN
di.appearancc % gold by stopping III
purchase 81 silver, and this, although
UNPLEASANT. was the wisest course to b
pursued. The other method was 10 IL
.u. bonds, or announce readiness q
Issue them tn any amount, aud thu. pre-
vent the Disappearance Of gold by sddinI
a. the supply 81 that metal. Mr.. Cle,e
land did neither. II was given out q
the opinion 81 the administration tina
they had no power to Issue bonds, ant
the President refused 10 call tongres.
Thu. the country, ke.nly alarmed an
excited about the operation. ~ th
sherman act, VA. allowed 10 drift help
le..ly aud tru.t 10 the chapter of acct
dents. II VAS understood az the tim
that Mr.. Cleveland thought aud said thu
TIL. course would furnish = good object
Lesson. whether he said 80 or not, ther
can be- no question that an objec,-lc..o'
"a. furnished. In the existing condl
ton Of public opinion very little VA
needed To bring the catastrophe. Mr
Carlisle. April Interview, In which b
intims,ed that be might pay Treasur!
note. In silver, proved all..uiilcient
There ws. panic In Wall street, sn'
the country plunged forward from on
di..sisr To another. until business wa
FRUSTRATED, and with more money In tn
country than ever befor-, We presently
had all the miseries 81 currency famine
Congress, under the Irresistible pressure
u public demand, Was al last called To
gethcr on the eth 81 August. After ,
bitter struggle 81 three months, the al
mini.tratiou, with q majority of its owl
parry against II, and only by the AID o.
4 Republicans, succeeded In repe,llng the
lpurchaslng clauses. The much-yaunte,
aud unque.tionably sound measure, frou
which so much had been hoped, brought
no relief. II Was too late, for one thing
but the controlling reason Was that,
however wise the repeal A q matter oil
finance, II did not cure the underlying
evil, which the uproar about silver hat
pushed out Of sight.
/ o. bat Iss
been alarmed At the beginning by fear Of
what the Democrats might do. The
cause 81 this fear remained not only un'
diminished, but was much increased by
the incompetency displayed by the rub
Ing party 10 dealing with repeal. That
fear Was now stlll further quickened by
the fact that the Democrats stlll pro-
posed, with business PROSTATE, To 60 on
with their work Of destroying the pro-
tertiye tarin. After the storm which
had swept over the country during the
summer, the ouly chance for revival wa.
In a period OF rest, and Instead OF rest
the Democrats entered on q policy OF
Industrial revolution. They had pro-
posed Ia their platform To overthrow
protection aud take up free trade. They
had solemnly pledged themselves To 90
back half century and adopt tariff
system which was founded upon an &C.
onomIc principal that the whole world
has been abandoning ever since In every
direction. They called IL reform; IL
was really reaction. IL was not advance,
but retreat; IL WAS not new, but old.
Free trade, which England accepted
flfty years ago, was the expression IN
t.riH iegi.l.tion NJ the .iet alone"