Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-10-15


shrewdly characterizes the modern
party platform as being made up OF
about equal parts of Cancellation. de-
nunciation and defamation. They are
too often made TO get In on. not TO
stand on. The one thing the most OF
them evade IL the real issue. This Is
one of the most demoralizing features
OF modern partysm. For as one has
suggested, one OF the best preventives
Of bribery is TO give the voters "a real
and living issue.
WILL EVADE REAL ISSUE.
political parties are also given to
compromise and evasion. This is espe-
cially true where two parties are close
y matched. Under such circumstances
either or both win evade real issue to
Win the vote OF the half-breed or
dough-face Now | do not deny that
there Is place In politics as IN life for
compromise, but not on moral issues;
nor Is compromise worth while In the
long run on any real issue, No real
issue can be settled until IL Is settled
right. AS Lowell says, Compromise
may be a good umbrella, but II II a
poor roof The majority Of our poll
ticians are cursed with timidity. The
national, state or local party which is
going to win during the coming year
and years will be the party with most
outspoken readiness to deal with real
issues and TO deal with those Issues for
the sake OF the principle involved and
not with a mere hope of gaining office
thereby. When Will our political lead
ers learn that truth and righteousness
cannot he gagged by their silence?
When will they learn that they cannot
evict the decalogue from politics by
refusing TO talk about II or make its
laws part Of their political creed?
Another sign of moral weakness
sometimes manifests itself In the dis
position Of political parties to put men
upon their platforms who have as little
character as the platforms themselves.
Great conventions Will pick up dark
7, horses, not because they stand for any.
thing distinctive either personal or In
the matter OF principle. but simply az
negative quantities they do not lay
themselves open to attack. SO men of
personal magnetism are sometimes Sc
lecteG to win the battle which the party
has not the courage to win on a pro-
gram OF principles Good men are also
sometimes put up to capture votes for
bad party. As one says of this policy.
When a corrupt party has been re-
huked by defeat through the revolt OF
Its own best members for presenting an
unusually bad candidate, it is likely TO
fool the public the next time by nomi-
mating an unusually good man, conf
dent OF so recalling its own seceders
and also enisting that large class of
Christians who hold the popular fallacy
that II the candidate be a good man, il
does not matter about the party. Amer
lean voters have been In the past more
ready 10 vote for mon than measures
but the watch word, measures, not men,
seems now likely to have its day. Both
good men and good measures we must
have.
THE RIGHT TO BOLT.
"A final abuse Of party spirit is some
times seen In the endeavor OF party men
to brand those who dare to break away
from the regular ticket as traitors You
might suppose that such q course was
worse than treason against ones coun-
try. Now II there is anything certain
In this whole matter, il Is that the
American freeman has the lnalienable
right. the divine right to kick. bolt,
scratch his ticket or organize those who
agree with him concerning men ana
measures into third or twentieth par
ty. These Independent men, whether
they remain In the party and kick, re.
main In II and scratch whether they
bolt or reorganize,are the most vital fac
tors the regular or irregular parties
have to deal with. They have a mind
of their own and a will of their own.
They are usually men who have some
principle or measure for which they
greatly care, and as MIR. Bryce has said,
In the end, 10 men who care are worth
more than hundred men who do not
care Moreover II there Is a moral
nj GO nNstF la he N.l. In.
boiling, the ultimate weight OF the
movement Is sure, Such men, when
they get loose In one Of our political
conventions, as they sometimes do.
thank God, not only reinforce our faith
In the ultimate worth and assured dom
nance Of personal liberty, but they give
Us living and personal exemplincation
OF that central truth not only of per-
sonai liberty but also Of personal re-
ligion. God alone is Lord Of the con-
science, and hath made Il free