The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-18
sHAnL WE GET nAcKp

The Springfield QAass) Republican wants all the clements of the Democratic Party to flop together" SO as to win the next national contest, but The Hartford (Conn.) Times takes the position that the only hope of Democratic success is for the Party to get back to the old principles of Democracy so that it may draw to its support those independent voters all over the North and East who prefer princi- pIes to Party. and who sometimes vote the Republican ticket, but who are not in accord with it, on the tariff and some other issues. Says The Times:
 For some time past The Republican has cherished a fanciful theory that the Democratic Party hereafter is going to be "populized' party. The Republicans advice to the Democracy is to abandon all thought of the alliances which elected Tilden and Cleveland and to go ahead with the Siamese-twin arrangement with the Popuiists which has produced two of the greatest defeats any combination Of voters ever experienced.
 And then it adds:
 There is about as much resemblance be- tween a Democrat and Populist as there Is between a Yankee and & China
 man or between a Washington imperial ist and Filipino chieftain. We want to see the Populists go away back and hop to their hearts content.
 We do not apprehend that the Populist Party. as a Party, will cut much figure in the next Presidential election. and we hope the Democratic Party is thoroughly satisfied with its experience in combining
 not again stutify itself by such experi-
 ments. And. speaking of Connecticut and of the political conditions existing there, The Times says:
 We know there are many thousands of voters here who are exceedingly dissatis- fed with the Party in power, and who 1 would be glad new to register rebuke to Imperialism and all that it is asso- l ciated with, provided the Democratic Party could give them such a man as
 Mir. Cleveland or Mir. Tilden to vote for. | But this host of independent and thought
 full voters cannot stomach Populism, and | this is a fact which good sense requires us all duly to consider.
 This is a point we'll worth considering by Democrats. We would not have our 1 Party depart from the principles of geH-
 uine eld-fashioned Democracy in order
 to please the Republicans. but we are in favor of a platform and a candidate
 which will draw to them the support of those Republicans who are dissatisfied
 with their own Party but will never com bine or act with us while We adhere to Pepulistic theories on the financial and other issues. They would vote for a sound Democrat like MT. Cleveland, on a platform like that of 1892, but will never | vote. fer a candidate or platform like
 those of 1896 and 1900. If We can get re- cruits from that source without aban- donment of true Democratic principles 1t would certainly be good policy as well as good politics. We have tried twice to win success by forming combinations with political clements which had little in common with our old-time principles. and
 We insist that Is time to get back to first principles. We can only be defeated. and will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we were right, and that is better than success.