New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-05
TUO PARTIES IN CONTRAST.

r,,,r Rood was sustained, OF course ne III
..o,.s, &c Rut this time he was sustained 10y haii
,ho Donocrats. and by every Repupilcau saw
mo which inst now means great uea. 'i-@'
~ tho earning and complaint which nave oee'
,ort;onod in newspapers came from hel"o
,;cans who were impatien: to get speclai iiie"S'
,,ros octed upon. One mans pet notioh was
banking md anothers bankruptcy one ronseu
% COO another Department created WIN he"
amy Of officials and another believed a ihohe
,ory commission necessary 10 enNghteh Coii-
cress and third wanted permanent tarin
commission. and so on without eno IL - pei
fectly clear that the several thousahu piiie u"
,rodnced cannot ali be acted upon. nor even Tie
several hundred which their advocates COLI
slider each the one thing needful. un1h the
Tariff bill has passed both houses, 1t IS not pos
sib,e to saw how far the tendency AND discus
sion Of these ,er measures mign' eihparl "s'
If. So the ma who has clear ana sehsioe
nurpose and dc not swerve from IL ~ e'ci!
nufY of wind fi1r. Olmself sustained d! tl'e
normon.sense of the whole body Of Republ-
cans.
Az for the Democrats their disgust with eacn
other finds free expression. Mr.. Bailey was
"heartily sick and tired OF exhibiting 10 MS
"country the dissensons and divisions III the
democratic party" almost as SICK ana 'ireu'
nerbans as the country is of the party Itself
He thought it "a pitiful sight we present 10 'he
country" and in view of the fact tha' tnlr'!-
+bree democrats agreed with him. while thirty
+wo accented the leadership Of the demagogue
from Kansas The contrast between the two
sides of the House was really pitiful. But II
,s not as Mr. Bailey wishes the outside world
10 suppose a mere spitefri wrangle ABOUT
question of leadership or parliamentary pro-
cAdure There is so much behind II That IL Is
difficult to believe the so-called party can ever
be united again in any serious effort. The he
publicans constitute party because the! nave
distinct principles in which they thoroughly
believe and to which they know that they must
subordinate other wishes. The Democrats are
not a party, because they have no longer such
principles.
1t is idle to say that the belief in silver coin
age unites so much OF the party as remains
loyal to its platform. The Populist and Anar-
cbist resolutions Of the same platform might
with equal reason be called the bond or union
Every one knows that a large number Of the
Democrats who supported Bryan were mt heart
profoundly convinced Of the folly of the silver
and other crazy planks of the platform, but
stood by the party because they We're not will
ing TO leave it in its hour CT disaster. Bryan
received more than million and half OF
votes between the New-EDgland and the In
diana lines Of which not a quarter were cast
in honest belief that free coinage OF silver was
necessary. More than half were swept along
nv habtual attachment TO the party organiza-
ton. In the great States of the Central West
The proportion was smaller. but even there a
large share Of the votes for Bryan were those OF
men who do not believe In free silver or who care
rothing about IT, Considering that on this same
issue the sO-called party lost q host of its most
influential leaders in recent years, besides a
body of voters who went straight over to the
adversary il may be declared with irresistible
truth that the free-silver doctrine is not bond
Of union for Democrats.
But ii has come to be about as difficult to find
union on the tariff question. There is indeed
n great body Of Democrats who are fanatically
devoted TO Free Trade theories, and with them
a host who have personal interests on that side,
az ipporters or otherwise. But these forces
had 40 diminished under the experience Of
CleyeIandism and wisconsin that the party
could get the aid of only about third OF Its
regular supporters in the election preceding the
Presidential When November came it found
President Cleveland with Carlisle and Wilson
and most of the Free Trade leaders, IN revolt
against their party on the silver question. and