The Washington times., 1901-10-02
The Partisan Feeling.

The Partisan Feeling.
The greatest difficulty in securing
correct governmental action upon eco
nornic and industrial questions is the
strong partisan feeling by which the
average American citizen is influenced.
Multitudes of men are Republicans or
Democrats. as the case may be, more
from force of habit and early associa-
ton than from careful study, or in fact
any study, of the great political prob
lens to be solved 1t counts for moth
ing, save in a misleading way. to in
woke the name and fame of a distin-
guished statesman long since dead, on
behalf of a certain political party of
today, unless it can be shown that such
statesman would probably favor the
party in It's later policy. In the earl
Ter days of the Republic, mere party
names counted for but very little with
the leaders of American political
thought. Their aim was to carry into
effect measures involving certain prin-
ciples. and they did it through the med
iurn of parties without much reference
to the names of the organizations At
this time large numbers of men seem
to regard the party name as all-import-
ant, and the policy advocated by II as
quite a minor matter.
1t is rather freely assumed that both
jefferson and jackson if living today
would be Democrats. Probably they
would, for while there may be much In
the present character of the organiza-
ton that would not command their ap-
proval, the general trend of the party
is much nearer to Jeffersonian and
Jacksonian ideas than anything TO
be found in the policy of the Repub-
lican party. So the average Repuoli-
can, without investigating, takes it for
granted that he is standing politically
just where Lincoln would stand If he
were living at this time. No one may
presume TO say with certainty what
any of these men, were he now alive,
would think with reference to present
issues, because the views Of any or all
OF them might have undergone marked
changes with the development of new
conditions. All of them, however, pos
sessed certain personal characteristics
from which we may feel justified in
drawing inferences altogether satisfac
tory TO ourselves as TO how they would
feel concerning questions involving
great fundamental differences in prin-
ciple.
Fer example, while Thomas Jefferson
acquired the great Territory of Louisi-
ana. it is almost impossible to imagine
him as favoring a policy of governing
il outside of the Constitution Such
course would have been foreign to ev-
cry instinct Of his nature. So jackson,
born fighter. who would never have
hesitate to extend American sovereign
ty, in a proper case, by force, and would
have used the strong arm Of the mill
tary to the full extent necessary to es-
tablish the sovereignty-would not have
entertained the iGea Of holding it as
colony.
Turning from questions which relate
TO the legitimate exercise of govern
mental power TO those Of an economic
character. it is well-nigh impossible
10 believe that either jefferson or Jack
son would favor treasures The purpose
and the effect Of which are to enrich
certain classes at the expense of all
others The ideas of both men We're
broadly democratic. in the comprehen-
siye sense Of the word. and therefore
the notion that they would now favor
any kind of unjust class legislation is
literally unthinkable. Hence it seems
morally certain that neither of them
would be u Republican if living now,
fa,l1 at ,riNr
fed approval 10 everything to be found
in modern Democracy
How is il now, with reference to Lin
coln2 The first martyred President was
a Republican But the great issue then
before the country was that OF slavery,
which eliminated in the civil war.
Upon the question of vigorously prose
cutting the war, party lines We're not
closely drawn. and, as is well known.
great numbers of Democrats found
their way into the Union Army. The
political issue was the slavery ques-
ton. we all know how Mr. Lincoln
stood upon that. We do not know
what his views would have been with
reference 20 the questions of Republi-
can policy that have arisen since the
close Of the war. He might or he might
not have favored the Fifteenth Amend
ment As a Whig. he was a supporter
of Henry Clay's tariff policy. So were
many others who have since become
Democrats. The conditions of today
form the broadest contrast to those
which prevailed when the great Ken
tuckian so eloquently and persuasively
advocated protection. It may be grave
ly doubted whether Clay himself would
be a protectionist under present condi-
tions. Absolutely certain 1t Is that not