The herald., 1896-05-03
POLITICAL PARTIES
BY MAY ELnORE BENsEN

| toward her political ocean of freedom.
| Politics has been looked upon by woman
as synonym for everything corrupt
| and vile, in government; it Is the COM
paratively few who fully grasp the
simplicity yet grandeur of it's signifi-
| canoe, and its true application, and,
what is stranger still, men are equally
| ignorant. -
| The science of the politician, says
| Draggonetti, consists in fixing the true
| point of happiness and freedom. In the
| progress of politics as in the commoi.
J concerns of life, we are too apt to forget
| the ground we have travelled over, but
| frequently neglect to gather experience
as we 60 as the experience of the past
| thirty years fully proves the utter neg
| lect of the voter to profit by the lessons
he has learned; now he stands culpably
| negligent and Indifferent to the corrupt
| legislation of today. When information
| is withheld from the masses, ignorance
| becomes reasonable excuse for all the
| corruption, intrigues and spoliation Of
| the would-be politician; for this word
must be restored to its pristine siSnifi-
| canoe and true employment.
TO bisect these two functions of gov
ernment, politics and parties, it would
be well to explain their functions James
| Russell Lowell tells us that politics is
an art that concerns itself about the
national house keeping, about the i'm
mediate interest and work aday wants.
the income and outgo of the people.
Nothing difficult in that. The women
have had to learn domestic economy,
bring that to science, that the outgo
might not exceed the income. that it
seems as if the national e-keepinE
could be as well and wisely managed
by the immediate interests" woman
might have in all the affairs of the gov
ernment.
Some tell us it lis a lack of confidence
in what? government, officials, or pol
iticians?-that brings on financial
panics; they tell us the government; the
politics are all right: the present state
of corruption is in no wise due to either
of these, oh, no; but as the French
would say. de trop," too much politics
has created an era of plumber and the
political sharks are draining the life
blood of the nation. while the manipu-
lators of congresses and legislatures are
fast robbing the people of every vestiSe
of freedom; bringing ruin and destruc-
ton to great republic. We have seen
how simple is the science of politics.
just to fix the true point of happiness
in the national housekeeping, that will
be productive of the greatest good to
every member in the great national FAM
lily.
The second function in our govern
mental affairs we have to deal with is
party. Webster defines it. and he does
not refer in any way as to such body
being represented by the male portion
of the population solely, but of "a num-
ber of persons united in opinion as op-
posed to the rest of a community or
| association. and aiming to influence or
control the general action. especially
one of the parts into which people is
divided on questions of public policy"
The first act in the long series of
causes which led to the formation of
political parties in our country was the
navigation act passed in 1851. The act
declared that no goods should be car
ried to the colonies or brought from.
except in English ships" This aroused
the latent spirit of independence in the
| colonies and resulted in the formation
| of the party of remonStrance in America
| and the one of oppression in England
| (Our opinion of the present state of
| dominant power and oppression in
America is that our ship of state is car
| rying one-sided cargo of manipula-
| tors, corrupt politicians and legislators,
| that demands another strong remon-
STRANGE party.) The stamp act passed
in 1865 divided the party of remon
| STRANGE into a party of action and in
| action. Twenty-Five years following,
| the party of action, called Wings, or
| strong government men, and the FEEDER
| alists laid in law and blood the founda-
i tions of this government.
The ratification of the constitution
| gave the party of Anti-Federalists, and
| the opposers of the American Magma
| Charta were called Particularists. So
| we come down the years. as time and
| the needs made urgent, the birth of the
| Democratic. Republican, Greenbacll
and Prohibition parties; each with their
| different opinion, each aiming to in
| fluence and control the general action,
each party divided on the questions of
| nIlh1ip nnlirV enph 0nnnca6 tn q
| ether portion of the community, each
| firm in the conviction that the cause
| they espoused was the right one, each
| faction violently opposed to the other.
| Before the formation of any or all these
parties it had been invariably the rule
| that few by a common bond were
| drawn together to effect some reform
that the evolution of thought and the
| urgency of the hour demanded. AS
| pioneers in the cause of humanity S
| needs, that was borne in upon their
| hearts, they received the stigma, re-
| proach and abuse of their opponents,
| who, flushed with wealth or power
of earnest men and women, who each
| in their age stand guard over the
worlds veal. AS public opinion reaches
out on thought waves almost spontane-
ously comes into action a new party;
amidst prejudice, revilings and ridicule
own day, the contumely and abuse
borne by the few fearless abolitionists
gave birth to the once grand old party
Then the Womans Christian Temper
ance union. with it's earlier Crusade
brought into being the Prohibition
party. Who will not remember the vials
of wrath poured upon these brave an6
daun-less women, defenders of the
home, but their names are now immor-
tai. The spirit of socialism or Ameri
can nationalism was abroad in the land
stigmatized as visionary, Utopian
anarchistic, the ball rolled on, gathering
strength and numbers neither ridicul'
or prejudice could stay the, tide and thu
Peoples party wheeled into line.
Who cannot tell the floodgates of ap
probium, malice intent the anathema
and maledictions heaped upon our nobl
pioneers. the honOred women who ha'
paved the way for woman's enfran
chisement? Another tidal wave has Sc
in; we are upon the verge of great move
ment in out suffrage ranks; we are wait
ing to join hands with out three siste
states from whom have fallen the fet
ters of their political bondage. We mus
act, men and women who are ready. fo
the incoming century, in unision. I
make public sentiment. to control tn
general action respectfully one of tn
party into which people is divided o.
questions of public policy" And surel
we are divided, for we find man, some o.
the grounds of expediency alone, in tn
last hours of the century, opposing tn
cause of woman: others for reasons of n