The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1900-11-09
PART1sANsH1p Is PATRIOTISM

|PARTISANsHIP Is PATRIOTISM
Parties are necessary adjuncts to good
government. Government is almost
purely aebusiness proposition. Like all
business, much depends on circum-
stances yet to occur in the future, and
therefore much government must be
done and based on the uncertainties Of
the future. Hence individual judgments
based on these uncertainties differ greatly
as to probabilities. II we all knew what
the future would bring forth we would
nearly all be unanimous as to the best
course to pursue. But because men dit
fer injudgment there are questions, and
because some are on one side and some
on another, these each form parties, and
lby organized effort each party works to
guide the government into the direction
which it deems most beneficial to the
country.
This of course is the broad sense of
party division and organization. There
| is also with this the honor and glory and
power of official position. Candidates
use these questions of national or local
interest to advance their own ambitions,
but it is rare that any one man can
arouse sufficient personal feeling for him
self to make personal party, and rarer
yet to make that personal party sue
cessful power for any length of time.
But these personal ambitions go far to
keeping up the organized efforts of the
parties i'll carrying out their purposes.
Without candidates. party would lack
Leadership and become a rope of sand
without cohesion or power. These per-
sonal ambitions, while sometimes demon
alizing through the sel6shness and dis
honesty inherent to mankind, are also on
the whole rather uplifting and purifying
no SO much because of the party and UNI
selfishness of the candidates as it is be-
cause the great mass of people-as
mass-believe in honesty and purity in
politics, and party leaders long ago dis
covered that fact and know that to win
the people must believe that they are i'll
-, GIG.
4as Il rule tile l,.o:,l Intelligent men are
strong partisans. By this we mean intel
ligence as applied to knowledge and in
terest in our government. But there is a
large class of people who from ignorance,
indifference and sometimes pure con-
trariness belong to no party or. at least
hold very weakly to party ties. In many
close states there are enough of these to
hold the balance of power, and as these
states sometimes hold the balance of
power in national elections. it is fact
that often thsee 1onpartisans determine
the results of such elections.
i Parties are necessity to government.
II seems to us that any reasonable, i'll
telligent man can ordinarily find party
home. He might not agree with all
things, or with all candidates in that
party, but in the general platform and
principles he can and should find at least
the most of his beliefs and il so he should
belong to that party. But in all cases he
SHOULD himself know why he is repub-
lican, democrat, populist or other parti-
san. And if he is independent" he
ought to know the reason why as we'll.
1t would be better for everybody if
everybody had positive partisan views,
and acted accordingly. There are entire
ly too many who vote through the influ-
ence of others, who follow the crowd.
who don't seem to know why they vote
tor this party or that, or indeed to care
much eth way. Every man is to de-
gree responsible for the good govern
ment of this nation. Every man in this
country is king. 1t is almost criminal
for any man to cast an ignorant or in
different vote, and by that rule every man
ought to be an active and earnest partisan.
On the 10Th of December, 1897, Rev.