St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-05


changes in the government of Great
Britain which would absorb ard
sweep out of sight every other party
consideration. Lord Rosebery win
nave to make it the center of his
policy or let it alone The probable
lty is that he has lost his oppor-
tunity.
THE DISCIPLINE OF PRINCIPLE
L haven't any opinion on this cur
rency question:" said one of the Old
wheel horses of the Republican par
" OF this state the other day.
when the party has declared it's
policy L will have one" eff the
Democratic party declares for free
coinage 1 will vote against it," or
Ii 1t does not declare for free COIN
age L will vote with the party that
Goes, are expressions one hears fire.
quently among Democrats. The two
opposite conceptions of the relation
OF the individual to the party, shown
by the expression of the Republican
and the Democrat, are not exception
al, but arise from the fundamental
dlfterence between the Republican
and the Democratic concept of a.
government, party and the relation
OF the voter to them. The paternal-
list regards the government as su-
preme and his party as the govern
ment. 1t is the parent, he the child.
he enlarges the commandment to
read: Children, obey your parents
and your party" He asserts no in
dividual right or superiority of judg-
ment. Like the cavalrymen of Bal
aklava, it is mot his to reason why"
it is ''only his to do and die" If
his mental processes should rebel
liously run on and bring a different
judgment from that of his party, he
obediently subordinates it to what he
regards as the supreme wisdom. 1t is
this that renders possible that mag
niflcent discipline in the Republican
party of which we have seen and
shall see so many and, to Dem
ocrat, such astonishing instances.
The Democrat holds strenuously to
what may be called the anthropo-
centric idea. He is the individualist.
He insists on his own inherent and
inalienable right of individual judg-
ment. No man owns him and no ag-
gregation of men control his judg-
ment. He refuses to be merged in
the mass. He is not an atom but a
pivot. About him the universe re-
wolves. He puts to question the
position of governments and parties
and organizations of all kinds He
has his principles that are inflexible
By them he tests policies and meas
ures and men. The latter must
yield if they collide with the former.
He may err in his application of
principle, but his very individualism
makes him insistent on his right to
err. A party so composed. so in
spirited, is not always as amenable
as it should be to ordinary discipline
Leaders are not bell wethers to be
blindly followed Policies have no
| coherent power save as they embody
principle. Disintegration ensues at
once when policy antagonizes or
disregards principle. Compromises
about details are permissible; COM
promises that sacrifice vital princi-
pies are intolerable. When Democ-
| racy, the party, subordinated the
principle of human freedom to the
doctrine of state rights it fell apart.
When it has seemed willing to COM
promise the principle of taxation for
revenue with the policy of taxation
for protection it has lost ground.
What, then, is the lesson for DEM
ocrats, for the leaders either by merit
! or chance, these basic facts teach ?
That it is useless to try to incorpor-
| ate in Democratic organizations Re
publican methods of discipline. That
| mere personal power has no binding
force among Democrats, though re-
| spect for leadership in itself should
| sometimes be stronger than it is.
| That there is but one law of
| conference that will bind the
| party in compact mass and
| retain it as an effective fight
ing force, and that is the strict adj
| herence under all circumstances to
! the well known principles of De-
mocracy in government True, all
| Democrats are not thus motived,
that is, all calling themselves Dem
ocrats. The cohesive power of plum
| der controls some; others see their
principles through a glass darkly
and are led astray by false lights.
But it is true of the controlling
numbers, and is growing truer year.
| ly of the whole. The history of the
| party is rich with illustrations of the
fact that the only discipline Demo-
Gratis are amenable to is that of their
| principles. For them they will stand
| up and fight to the death. For them