Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-10-25
Saint Maru's Beacon
POLITICAL EUKsUa.


Piles, as to what is for the best in
terests of the country. This is no
more than natural, as we know that
all men cannot see and think alike,
and there can be no doubt that
when these people separated into
different parties they did so on
honest political faith. In the early
division one PORTION of the people
was in favor Of a strong central
government, founded something on
the order of that Of the mother
country from which they had sep
arated, and the other party favored
more rights and power to the several
States, thereby getting closer to the
people. OF course, in the lapse OF
one hundred years, these conditions
have become somewhat modified,
but We feel that they still exist to
some extent, and we cannot help
but think that the Democratic party
stands closer to the people today
than does the party that opposes it.
Or course, new issues have arisen
since the political parties were first
formed, and they have been adopted
by one or the other of the parties Of
the present day, and when these
parties hold to these principles on
honest convictions we have every
respect for them, and we freely ac-
knowledge that our opponents have
an equal chance of being right as
we have ourselves.
But We sadly fear that many of
the voters of today have not the
purity of political feelings and con-
fidence in their respective parties as
that which was held by their fathers,
and we fear that the cause of this is
that the political parties themselves
have badly degenerated. 1t seems
that too often for the sake of tenn
porary success party will drop all
its heretofore cherished principles
and adopt any issue or dogma which
may hold out any hope of retaining
or gaming power. This was abun-
dainty exemplified by the Demo-
Gratis in 1872 when they endorsed
Horace Greedy for President, who
had been, perhaps, the most intense
enemy of that party who had ever
welded a pen against it. At the
present time, IN North Carolina in
particular, and really in many of
the other Southern States, the Re-
publicans have joined fortunes with
the Populists and are shouting for
free silver, while their brethren in
the North hold the idea as chimer-
ical in the extreme. The same in
consistent conditions exist to some
extent in the far Western States,
where the Democrats and Populists
combine against the Republicans.
One year ago ali the malcontents
and disappointed politicians in New
York combined with the Republi-
cans under the dogma of reform
against the Democrats and succeed
ed in carrying the State by heavy
majority. But it seems that the
reforms enacted by the conglomera-
ton of factions were generally in
the backward direction and very
much detrimental TO the tax payers
of that State.
But what is of much more inter-
est to us just now is the political
situation IN our own State. For
more than twenty-five years the
government of this State has been
altogether in the hands of the Dem
Ocratic party, and that party is en-
tirely responsible for whatevergood
or bad measures have been enacted
in that time, and it is also respon-
sible as to whether it could now, If
such a necessity should confront us,
turn the affairs of the State over to
another party IN as good condition
as they were when the Democrats
took charge in 1867.
On the credit page of their ad-
ministration we find that the debt
of the State has been decreased by
several millions of dollars, notwith-
standing the State tax has also been
considerably lessened. The credit
of the State is of the very best
among the States of the Union.
During that period the population
of the State increased more rapidly
than it had for many years in the
same length of time. A public
school system which has no superior
in any other State has been devel-
nneh here of which the nennla Of