St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-23
PREPARE FOR THE CONTEST.


The campaign of 1896, a conflict of
ideas whose field is the nation, is now
inaugurated by the determination of
the dates of the assembling Of the ma
tional conventions of the two great
and decisive political parties. In the
interim before the conventions meet the
various candidates in either party will
be busying themselves in gathering
strength for the contest for the nominal
ton, and the anxious managers will be
studying political currents, spying out
the bars and rocks in the way and
exercising their deXterity in trying to
avoid them. The platform builders will
be training themselves in their art of
framing words into sounding sentences
which shall carry as little precise
meaning as possible, and which diverse
ly opinionated men may read to suit
themselves.
There is good work for the Demo-
Gratis Of Minnesota to do in prepara-
ton both for the convention of their
party and for the final tussle at the
polls. There are some conditions which
it is essential to face and remedy. The
first and leading fact is that they. as
a party, are in the minority. They
have come near a plurality at times
and have deserved to come there al
ways, but influences, sometimes with
In sometimes without the party, have
prevented success. But there are GER
tain obligations laid on a minority
party from which majority usually
acts as if it thought itself exempt.
There is an immobility Of the mass of
men in their party movements that
enables a majority to do things with
1mpunity that should destroy it; but
they retain their normal majorities
because men dislike to repudiate their
party, and, sometimes, because they
nave more or less good reason to sus-
pect that the opposing party would
be no better.
A minority party cannot become a
majority party except by winning to
It's side enough of it's opponents To
give it control. There are two means
OF doing this, neither one of which is
sufficient, but both united are in time
irresistible One is to propose a policy.
and, If given opportunity, to enforce
1t, Which is based on human right and
present needs The next is to select a 8
leaders and representatives men Of
probity, Of ability and cleanliness of
reputation and methods. 1t is the atti
tude of saying to the opposition: eve
purpose doing these things because
they are right and necessary to the
common welfare and we select these
men whose characters and regulations
are a guarantee that we will do as we
promise II we are permitted" Parties
are little different from individu-
ais. The law Of character forming and
reputation building is precisely the same
Tor the one that it is for the other
The trickster. the boodler. the breaker
OF promises never holds the confidence
Of men for long, be he a man or q
party.
The fate Of parties is held by a COM
paratiVely few men. A change of side
Of five men out Of each hundred voters
would give any state in the Union
to the other party. 1t is not the ig-
norant men who are these five: thew
are usually steadfast in their ALE
glance 1t is the intelligent, self-re-
specting five in each hundred, the
men who do not surrender to any party
the entire control of their consciences
and judgments, who are the movable
factors and decide the fate Of parties {?
How can the Democrats Of this state
reach, convince and win over these
five? That is the problem. In the
first place we must be uncompromising-
iy Democratic ourselves. We must
have clean hands. Nothing hurt us, not
even the panic of 49, as did the
recreaHcy Of the Fifty-third congress-
The men we had won by our appeals
to their sense Of right left us when
our congress refused to redeem our
promises to the letter. Who can blame
them? There must be an end Of COM
promising. Principles cannot be com