The herald., 1896-02-25
MISPLACED PARTIsANsHIP


The absurdity Of waging local polit-
ical contests along the lines Of polit-
ical division caused by differences of
opinion regarding national principles
and policies is beginning to dawn on
the American people. The opinion is
developing, and developing rapidly,
that partisan alignments based on is
sues involved in congressional and
presidential contests should not gov
ern men when they are about to elect
sheriffs, tax collectors, coroners,
mayors, street superintendents and
councilmen. The views of Q man
on finance, taxation or foreign policy
have nothing whatever to do with the
opinions he holds regarding county
roads, the method of managing the
county hospital, the manner in which
streets should be paved, problems of
sewerage, policing and other strictly
local subjects. The application Of the
partisanship that is created by diverse
opinions regarding national questions
to local political activity has embsr
rassed the consideration of both nation
al and local issues and afforded free
scope to the designs Of the political
schemer. Time and again in the
large cities the congressional and
presidential part of q ticket has been
traded off for the benefit of the local
portion Of that ticket. This was no.
toriously the case in New York city in
the election of 1888, when Tsmmany
sacrificed the presidential and con-
gressional candidates of the Demo-
cratic party for the sake of the state
and city candidates, the latter being
considered of vastly greater import
snce to Tammany. Thus the presi-
Dental election of that year was lost
to the Democracy, for the loss of New
York by Cleveland was the result of
the trading adverted to, and the prog
ress of the party in the national field
was checked. On the other hand citi-
zens vote for incompetent and corrupt
candidates, or candidates holding
views on municipal subjects to which
these same voters object, yet the sup
port is yielded because the candidates
fight under banner that has
no real significance outside the sphere
Of national political activity. A man
might be as sound as q 80
to silver dollar on questions of
revenue or finance from Democratic
point of view. and still be objections
BILE to one-hslf the Democrats of his To-
cality as candidate for a local office
because of certain views he held about
water rates, road or school bonds or
some other essentially local issue. Yet,
as the national partisan idea governs
in local political contests, every Dem
ocrst voting on the Office for which
such a man happens to be candidate
would be expected to swallow him with
the rest. As a matter Of fact there is
no more reason for supporting for
mayor man with whom you agree as
to national issues than there is in vot-
ing for q candidate for public office
because he accepts the same religious
creed or belongs to the same lodge a.
you do. National and local politics
are OF different kinds and call for
different alignments.
In line with what has just been said
is the following from the Kansas City
Star, one of the strongest and sound
est Democratic journals in the United
States. The Star hits the center with
its usual directness. 1t says:
The time will come, and that before long
when the people of this country will look
back at the period when municipal govern.
ments were created through the force OF
partisan contention and wonder how such
a condition could ever have existed. To
the reflective mind there is something alb
solutely absurd in the news which comes
from Pennsylvania regarding the city elec.
tions in that state. The returns are en-
| plotted by the Republican papers as indi.
| eating a great victory. In most. if not all
| of the towns heard from there was Dem,
| ocratic and Republican ticket in the field
and the battle was waged with as much
!, acerbity as If the settlement of great ma
| tional issues depended upon the result
| One would suppose from this curious align
ment of forces that the interests of the
| Republican taxpayers were entirely sepa
rate and apart from those of the Demo
| cratic taxpayers, and that the success oil
one class of voters meant ruination to the
| other.
| Now, seriously, could anything be more
| dsgracefuily stupid and senseless than
| such rivalry? Is there anything bearing
| the dimmest resemblance to reason OF
| justice to EXCUSE it? Does it signify a plea.
yune what the mayor of city or the
aldermen or any of the other officers
think or believe about the questions
which divide the political parties? Il
there any sane ground for the idea thai
| there can be a natural conflict between
Democrats and Republicans concerning
! the management of their own communi
| ties?
The majority of the people give theiI
consent to this idiotic system in compli
ance with an established prejudice without
| stopping to consider that in 80 doing the,
| are fostering and stimulating the mos,
| fruitful sources of corruption i'll American
politics and giving aid to that element In
| both parties which builds I'D gangs and
combinations for the purposes of plunder
and the defeat of government in the inter.
est of the people.
The Times says that "it is polite to
dissemble." That the Times believes
thus The HERALD and the public have
long been aware, but it has not been
/ generally suspected that the LEADING
paper of North Broadway would have
the wronght-iron nerve to boast of its
belief and advocate it's practice by
others. Unlike this confessed journal