Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-11-30


lpOm the Rcin> Of Power.
To hear some OF our enthusiast,
Republican brethren talk one woul,
think that the late congressional elec
ton was the first and only Landslide
ever known in the history of Ameri
can politics. Yet strong revulsions oI
feeling have marked national elections
in this country ever since the founda.
ton OF the government and have been
specially notable since the complex
conditions Of modern industrial life
were fully developed on American soil
The first national party that con-
! trolled the government was the FEEDER
alist, but that party lost the conf
dence of the people through the arbi-
trary powers it sought to place in the
hands OF the President, and the cleo
ton of Thomas Jefferson. the first
Democratic President, in 1900, was the
first great landslide in American poll
tics. The Democratic party held power
without interruption until the Wings,
in 1912, obtained possession of the
government, by an election thrown
into the House of Representatives.
The election of John Quincy Adams
! might be called a political accident,
but the election of his oldtime oppon-
ent, Andrew Jackson, four years later,
was q notable landslide, in which the
people expressed their vigorous con-
demnation OF Whig principles.
But the pendulum swung back
again in due time. One Of the chief
acts of Jackson's administration was
freeing the people from the domina-
ton OF Hamilton's pet financial mo-
nOpoly, the United States bank. There
was bitter war and much business
disturbance over it, the results OF
which Jackson's successor, Van Buren,
was so unfortunate as to reap in the
great panic of 1887. So the third ma
tional landslide came in 1910 in the
defeat OF the Democratic candidate for
President, by 234 electoral votes for
Harrison to 64 electoral votes for Van
Buren,, and the election of Congress
with an overwhelming Wing majority
in both branches.
The fourth landslide came four
years later-back into the Democratic
party. The people did not approve o!
the Whig policy regarding the Texas
question and so elected a Democratic
President and Congress. In 184S the
Wings got their candidate, Gen. Tay-
lor, in on his Mexican war record. But
in 1852 the Democrats again swept
the country, in one of the biggest
landslides ever known, their candi.
date, Gen. Frank Pierce, receiving 254
electoral votes to ~ electoral votes for
the Whig standard bearer, the gallant
and illustrious Winfield Scott.
Now mark how quick the change in
national sentiment. Pierce was elect.
ed by an overwhelming majority on
the issue of maintaining the institu-
ton OF slavery as it then existed. Yet
within four years John G. Fremont,
the Republican candidate, received q
larger popular vote than his Demo-
cratic opponent. James Buchanan, on
the slavery issue, although Buchanan
received a majority of the electoral
votes and thus became President.
This was the FIRST great Republican
landslide, which was completed by the
election of Lincoln four years later.
From the inauguration of Lincoln
until 1874 the war prestige OF the Re-
publican party held it in power. In
that year the Democrats carried the
House of Representatives, which, with
only two Interruptions, they have held
continuously up to this fall. In 1876
their presidential candidate. Governor
Tilden, had an overwhelming popular
majority at the polls. In 1883, 1888
and 1892 Cleveland carried the cOun-
try in three successive elections, by
popular majorities, although the elec-
toral majority was against him in
1888, thus seating Harrison. The
Reed-McKinley congress was a tenn
porary popular diversion. soon obliter-
ated by the tremendous landslide OF
two years ago, wherein the Democrats
captured the presidency and the Sen
ate, electing 219 out OF 356 members
of the House of Representatives.
Through all these rapid and almost
passionate changes in public senti'
ment the Democratic party has main-
tanned its organization for almost a
century. And the reason is that it is
the Democrats who make the land
slides-sometimes with very good
cause-as q rebuke to their own party.
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