The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-11
THE OUTLOOK FOR DEMOCRACY
An Admirable Analysis of the Situation as Viewed
 from the Standpoint of the Recent Election.
BY EDWARD N. SHE pAnD, OF NEW YORK.

PARD, OF NEW YORK.
 Party distinctly gave up its former alli- No doubt it lost largely of that vote, but In general 1t has much mofe than made up that vote from those who gre m sympathy with genuine Democratic doc Urine and were glad again to vote the Democratic ticket. Most of the RepubD- can majorities in the Northwest are de- creasing and they would not have se- cured even those majorities but TOT tne strong, though not always sincere deciar- ations made by many Republicans in fa- vor of tarif revision.
 The Republican vote was also much larger for the exceptional popularity of emphatic declarations of August and Sep tember last against monopolies. It IS widely believed that, although he IS not a free-trader as 1t may be supposed ne was when he was a member of the Con- den Club, he nevertheless is at heart an enemy of the enormous advantages gwen the great monopoiies Of the country by the pretestive tarif.
 Gains Despite Hoossvelt's Popularity.
 In spite of Roossyelt's popularity ana in splte of the tariff reform and anti monopoly prountses made in the North west, the Democratic party has much more than held its own. And. therefore. 1t seems to me that not only in the North east. but also In the great states or .he
  trend to the traditional principles of the
 I have said that in the second place the election demonstrates the dislike of the masses of the American people to any pfogram which they deem to be either reckless or revolutionary. do not myself consider the program presented ey rom l.. Johnson to the people Of Ohio to nave be either reckless or revolutionary. TO my mind there was much that was whole t> Al -kr ,&~1A nA II ainnaFAlV Ta- gret that the adverse majority against him should have been so large.
 It is, however, anothr Illustration Of what the Democratic party has many times learned in recent years-that what ever may be the theoretical truth of any program, or even the actual promise of 1t, the masses of the people, and more especially the great body of small. inde- pendent producers who have some prop erty and expect to have more, are s;ase nostl.e (whether rightly or wrongly) to be either reckless or revolutionary.
 The same thing was evident in a lesser degree in the New York campaign. do not at all sympathise with those who would hold any one political leader res. ponsible for the anthracite coal plank in the Democratic platform. It was adopted by the Democratic convention, and those in the convention who disapproved of u but made no open protest must take their full share of the responsibility. Nor was 1t an altogether unnatural mistake in view of the acute situation produced by the coal famine. ,.
 Coal Plank Was Unwiss.
 Every one now psrceives It to have been unwise. It at once chilled most i'm portant section of highly intelligent and independent sentiment that was prepared to give a vigorous and telling support to the Democratic State ticket Some. at least. of that sentiment. supported Odell; and much of it that remained with the Democratic party was no longer enthusi- astic or very earnest. Instead of charg- ing any one man or any few men with the responsibility, 1t would, I think, be wiser for all Democratic politicians to remem- Der. for at least ten years to come, that accession to power is in large measure conditioned upon the public belief that 1t Is a conservative force.
 would have the Democratic party at all times point out the intimately reck- less character of the RepublkaejS program. The Democratic party has Tn 1902 done much to convince, but 1t must still do more to convince public sentiment that It's present purpose is conservative, and not destructive. and that to it's enorts the the people of the United States must look for preservation of equal rights, for dissolution of the partnerships founded by the Republican party between the government and special interests. and for 
 the practice of true Democracy in our country.
 I have, in the third place. said that the elections of 1902 again illustrate the dom inart influence of political independence. I do not underrate party discipline or the legitimacy of the devices for inspiring and sustaining partisan enthusiasm The re- formers who would abolish this are short-sighted in the extreme. Important as independent support is. no party can succeed unless the great mass of its own number-those who are not independent, those who vote for 1t with an equal de- vote for 1t. perhaps, whether right or wrong-gfve 1t an enthusiastic support.
 It was this consideration which was. I think, overlooked in. the alliance made by the Democratic Party in 1872 with more recently made with the .Populist Party In different States.
 Independent Vote Necessary to Sue
 cess.
 But the body of steadfastly regular par ty men in the United States or in New York or in other debatable States is not ton, It must have independent support. and if the party be well organized and reasonably faithful to its own traditions the whole problem is one of commanding by the sobriety of its platforms and the character of it's candidates the confidence of the independents.
 It seems to me that very many polit- ical speeches and platforms are in this view singularly useless or even worse than useless. It may be useful that Democrat already determined to vote the Democratic ticket shall be made to feel more intensely or to have his likes or dis likes gratified, but in too many speeches and platforms this sentiment is alone remembered, and 1t is forgotten that while the vote of one Democrat does not count any more however intense or partisan he may feel, the attempt to gratify his sense of partisanship may easily drive away the independent support that is absolute ly essential at the polls.
 In my opinion every great political meeting, especially any one that Is re- ported, ought to be addressed to the sent iment of those who are open- minded but who are not yet partisan.
 The Democratic Party is returning to power. shall not say that any wisdom on it's part could assure 1t success in 1904 But if it be wise. if it avoid every sug- gestion of demagogy or attempt to gain some immediate and merely fictitious ad- vantage there is a large probability of success in 1904.
 and in spite of himself, in driving on the issue of tariff reform.
 earnestly trust, however, that no at- tempt to carry any election, whether in 1903 or 1904, will be founded on any ap- peal except to what a great Democrat of a former generation called the sober sec ond thought of the people If such an is because victory is not possible.
 Such a program, however. would make 1t certain that the Democratic Party would be as powerful in the first hah of the twentieth century as it was in the first half of the nineteenth.