The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1902-02-14
WITHOUT A LEADER.
DEPLORABLE PLIGHT OF A ONCE
GREAT POLITICAL PARTY.

The Democracy ShOrn of Its Jener.
sons, CaIhouns and Tildens-On Its
Last Legs-DemaGOguesL Like Bryan
and TiIIman Gave the DeathblOws.
The future of the Democratic party
does not seem to brighten as time goei
by. We are accustomed somewhat ia
think that in this modern age Of organ
ization the personality of the individual
man does not amount to great DEAL
but the Democratic party of today ar
fords a striking contradiction Of thii
theory. 1t is, of course, not conceivable
that such an overwhelming majority OF
the American people as are today Civ
ing their support to the Republican
party in national affairs are in entire
harmony with all it's principles and al
the policies it is crystallizing into law
1t is not in the American nature that 81
many of them should agree absolutely
A very large element of the Republican
strength must be accounted for on tn,
ground of distrust Of the Democratic
party and dissatisfaction with its lead
ership.
The underlying principles on which
the party was founded-namely, the
demand for the largest freedom of in
dividual effort and the largest measure
of local self government, principlei
aptly expressed in the once populat
maxim that that government is bes
which governs least" proved at ONT
time very attractive to large numbers
of thinking men and would doubtless
do so again if party effort could be con
centrated on their realization. But II
has been so long since the Democratic
party endeavored to stick to any princt
pies at all that the present generation
has forgot that it ever had any. It'll
only cohesive forces seem to be the
fear of NEGRO domination" in the
south and the natural desire Of thost
politicians out Of job to hold Office IL
the north, supplemented and sustained
by the element of discomfort with the
existing order of things.
Since the war Of the rebellion the
south has had little or nothing to dc
with shaping the policies Of the Demo
cratic party. The result of the wal
crushed the spirit of the old slave hold
ing aristocracy. 1t enjoyed few brief
years of local power after reconstruc
ton days were over, but soon gave way
to the "revolutionists" as represented
by Tillman and his type of southern
statecraft. Few men in the north have
any conception Of the fierce fight thai
ragged within the Democratic party OF
the south for ten years and finally re
suited in victory for the men who hac
once been the poor white trash of the
south. Its result was the utter disap
pearance from the Democratic council
board of men of the Calhoun stripe
leaving the national leadership Of the
party to northern Democrats who had
been born and trained to follow, not tc
: lead. In these causes the student OF
political history will find the beginning
Of the end Of the Democratic party
Northern Democrats have, from the
very beginning of their party leader
ship, sought victory not for the sake OF
, principle, but for the sake Of spoils
not through the strength of principle
but through the supposed strength OF
class, sectional or ism" movements
The very first effort was to seize or
the supposed popular discomfort with
the Administered tons treatment Of Gen
eral Mcclellan. Next the party fol
lowed the Liberal Republican" move
ment off into the swamps and Endorsed
the nomination Of Horace Greeley
made by few discontinued Republic
- H.,
for leader. 1t came pretty near find
ing one in Tilden, but it discovered him
too late in life, and just about the time
he had become strong enough to accom-
plish something he died. Again the
party was a riderless horse until Cleve
land came up. Notwithstanding the
unwisdom of his extreme policies, the
party chung to him in want of some
thing better until his first great fac
was put into practical operation by the
passage Of the Wilson German tariff
bill, and the industrial smash of 1894
followed. Never in the political his
tory of the country was a political
leader so quickly discredited and cast
out as was Cleveland, while still in
Tic never
did new leader vault so suddenly in.
to the saddle as did Bryan, through the
force Of single demagogic speech al
Chicago. The party was again off
hunting an "ism," and the man who
could lead it straight to the POpulist
camp suddenly revealed himself. Fee
BILE as is his intellect, foolish as are
ncf aP &ho ho
held the Democratic party In the hol
low Of his hand for more than four
years, and it was not until he met with
second overwhelming defeat at the
polls that the party began to realize
that he would not do.
Democrats are not by any means all
ignorant. The party is such a heter-
ogeneous and disorganized mass that
the most successful leader for it would
be man who could be in harmony
with the prejudices of the south, who
could appeal to the discontinued and
persuade them that their troubles were
due to government; who could inspire
those of his party that think with con-
fidence' in his conservatism and those
that dream with confidence in a radical
return to Voltairean maxims of gov
ernment-or rather of no government
and who could breathe into the poll
ticians of his own party and the large
fnanciers Of no party confidence in
Democratic success. 1t is a mighty
hard proposition. If such leader ex-
lists, he is still among the undiscovered.
1t seems not at all unlikely that the
party will join the ghostly procession
made up of the Federalist, Wing,