Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-03
The Political I Campaigns Of 1864
and 1900.
POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE
Mckinley Attacked Just as Lin
coin Was.
SIM RITY IN ISSU E

There are several particulars in which
the presidential campaign of 1900 and that
or 1864 resemble each other. The republic
can party then, as now, was on trial before
the people for its war policy and its acts
Ill great emergency of the nations his
tory The civil war was then drawing to a
close In the triumph Of the federal arms,
Just as the Tagalog rebellion in the Philip
pines is now coming to an end. Then, as
now, republican President who had car
ried the burden of the war upon his Shout
ders, who had seen seepless nights and
| anxious days when the Union cause seemed
In peril, was attacked by the democrats and
called tyrant and an inperialist. He was
criticised for the conduct of the war and
proclaimed a man Of evil design in wishing
to overthrow the Constitution and set up
despotism In the place Of the republic The
several calls for troops were declared to be
SO many unconstitutional acts, and the fear
OF the use Of the army, then numbering
almost 100000, men, for the purpose of
fostering empire was frequently expressed
upon the stump in that bitter campaign of
1854.
Conventions of '64 and This Year.
The republican convention which met In
Baltimore In June, 1864, nominated Abra-
ham Lincoln for President by reclamation
| amid the widest excitement and enthus-
iasm and the next day with perfect har-
mony chose Andrew johnson Of Tennessee
for the second place on the ticket. The
convention which met in Philadelphia last
June named William Mckinley for the
| standard bearer Of the republican party by
reclamation, and later chose Governor
Roosevelt of New York for Vice President.
In like manner there is some resemblance
between the conventions which met in Kan
sas City this year and that which convened
In Chicago in 1854. to place in nomination
Gen. George B. Mcclellan, the idol of the
democracy with George H. Pendleton of
Ohio as Vice President. In the platforms
of both the democratic conventions para
mount issues were forced into the plat
forms at the will of the coterie led by the
candidates. The democrats of that day
were preaching destruction and were work.
ing in the interests of retrogression, as
they are doing today Their platform de-
clared the war failure and demanded the
cessation of hostilities until an inglorious
peace could be patched up between the
belligerent sections. In other words, by the
declarations of their platform they evinced
years to the old Federal Union of the
states during the revolution.
Today they are trying to discount the re-
suits of the war with Spain; they are de-
| c!arins that the armed effort to suppress
the rebellion In the Philippines is distor-
| ton Of the Constitution and reversal OF
the meaning of the true principles of Amer
| lean policy. In the language of 1864 the
| war IN the fHlllpplHeS ~ anu inc
President who has carried 1t on by the
power vested in him by the Constitution Is
pronounced tyrant and an imperialst
They say the nation is threatened with
miitarism and rushing to empire
Logical Consequences of War.
The republican party of 1864 asked to be
supported at the polls in the carrying out
the logical consequences OF the war and In
wiping out the stain Of slavery forever, and
| 10, o,,1
to complete the subjugation of the belig-
erent states The republican platform as
serted that slavery was the cause and con-
J tributed to the strength OF the rebellion,
| and that justice and the national safety
| demanded it's utter extirpation from the soil
| OF the republic. 1t also declared in favor
| of the constitutional amendment prohibit
| ing the existence of slavery In the United
| States. 1t pronounced against any compro-
mise with those in arms against the govern
ment, except based upon unconditional
surrender and return to their allegiance
| to the Constitution and the laws
| The democratic platform made direct
| issue on the above policy by declaring that
| the war had been a failure, that justice,
humanity liberty and the public welfare
demanded that immediate efforts be made
| for the cessation of hostilities with a view
| to the ultimate convention OF states or olner
peaceable means to that end, and that at
| the earliest moment possible peace might
| be restored on the basis of the Federal
Union OF the Dn1ted states.
Slavery and Surrender.
| The paramount issue in 1864 was the con-
| stitutional amendment relative to the nboli-
| ton of slavery. This year Mr. Bryan has
| defined the paramount issue to be imperial
| ism growing out of the avowed retention OF
| the Philippine Islands as the possession of
| the United States and the crushing of the
rebellion there and the orderly government
| of the islands afterward as United states
territory. That is to say, the paramount
! issue now Is the following out of the logical
result of the war with Spain just as 1t was
| then following out the logical result of the
| war between the north and the south in the
abolition of slavery. The democratic party,
| in its unreasoning opposition to President
| Mckinley, are standing in the way of The
advancement of the country just as the fol-
| lowers of Little Mac" were in 1864.
| The truth of the situation then as now,
| was that the democracy had no national is
| sue They were in opposition, and that was
| all They made their party ridiculous in
| the effort to give dignity to issues which
existed only in the necessity of partisanism
| to oppose that which had been wrought In
| the forges of republican well-doing.
| The campaign of 1864 was one of violent
| discussion, and the expression Of extreme
| oninions on both sides. The war spirit ran
| high and men were less prepared in that
| day to listen patiently to political argument
| II at clashed with their personal opinions.
But the work Of the Lincoln administration
|
| much as that of the Mckinley administra
| ton has been this year.
| The Vote in "a.
It will be recalled that in the election
| that year Mr.. Lincoln received 212 out of
233 electoral votes. The popular vote was
divided, 2,2l6O27 for Lincoln and 1,sOs, 725
| for Mcclellan, the latter carrying only
three states 1T remains to be seen whether
any such tidal wave Of defeat awaits the
| democratic cause this year, but If some
| such figures are disclosed in the returns
after election day next month it will serve
| only to round out to better completeness
| the parallel which exists between the CAM
| paigns Of 1864 and of $780,
National Greatness.
| Edmund Noble In the November Atlantic.
| nrha aource of national greatness is not