The daily Alaskan., 1904-09-23
DELAY HELPS REPUBLICANS

icsl campaign in the different states o' the Union will necessarily work to the advantage of the republican party. To oust a party from power it requires a campaign of education" To is tu- cumbent upon the party of opposition to make a case against the government of those in control. To postpone the presentation of the indictment to the people until the very last stages Of a campaign is too much like waiting for an issue to turn up, and it always leaves bad taste in che mouth on that ac- count. The party in power can well afford a short campaign. It is being tried on its record and the longer it can ward of attack the better its purpose is served.
 All the great campaigns in the past, in which a political party long eU- trenched in power was OverthrOwn' with one exception probably, was be- gun long before the day of election. The first successful whig campaign was set iu motion before the inauguration of Van Buren. To was waged iuri- ously during the four years of his term, and Harrison was nominated II months before the succeeding election. The campaign which resulted in the cleo ton of Lincoln began in real earnest in the congressional election contest of lS5S, two years before the ballOtiug in 1860 when the grea, commOner was elevated to the chief magis,racy of the nation. The republican party was de- feated iu 1876 by the gradual return of those who had become attached to the republican forces during the civil war to their old mOoriugs in the democratic party, but only after a long and able campaign against the administration policies of Gen. Grant. The election of Cleveland in lSS+ was due as much to the great assaul. the democratic party made upon the disorEanized forces of the republican party in Iss2 as it was to the magnificent campaign conducted by Senator German iu that year. The one exception to the rule set out in the beginning of this article was the cleo ton Of lSSS. That was a luke. The people of the country had picked C.eve- land 10 win, and had it no, been for the treachery Of the New York state demoC- racy the yic.ory would have been with him. The campaign which resulted in the democratic tidal wave of l>92 was begun in 1889 before C eveIaud had completed his first term. For four years a campaign of education "iu iav- or of definite ideas and a positive policy was conducted by trained politicians and statesmen. The Mckinley cam paigu was begun in the fall elections of 1893 when the great protecuouist was chosen governor Of Ohio for the second time. Bryan tried a four years cam paign along scientific lines before the election of 1900, but he was haudi capped by internal democrat strife.
 The weakness of the democratic party at the present time is that the last four years have not been devoted to a cam paign in the advancement of a definite governmental policy or against the re- publican policy, but the time has been engaged by the minority party in an iu- teruecene, warfare for the possession of the party organization. That being the case, it would seem that good political tactics would have dictated an early as- sault against the entrenchments of the party in power. Instead there has been vacillatiou and hesiJency. Those who have not been satisfied with the admin istratiou of the present chief executive have waited in vain for the clarion call to arms. They have desired to follow an interp:d leader into a charge upon the citidal of the Terrible Teddy. " but they stood in the open exposed lO the scorn of the enemy so long that their enthusiasm began to eb0, There Is the chance that the democratic con vention in the state of NeS York will set the standard of its party in such position that the rank and file will take heart. The republicans of that s.ale by doing their worst have invited such a contingency. However, the call to arms will be so late that the disgrunt-