The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1906-06-30
ALITTLEPOLIIICAL HISTORY
Review of Principles and Work of Leading
Political Parties in the United States
Since Beginning of Consfitu-
tiOnal Government.
Deer Harbor, June 81, 1906.

Editor San Juan Islander.
In view of the fact that many fresf
voters are coming to the front-thUse
who have attained their majority il
the last few years, as well as the fac
that among the older members of The
community latter day political issues
have perhaps clouded their memories
as to the great questions that have di
vided political parties in the past, i
is we'll perhaps to present a short
review Of the history, aims and rec
ords of those parties from the dawn Of
our Constitutional government in 1875
up to the present.
When our country established its
independence at the close of the revo
luton of 1853 each of the thirteen
states was a sovereign and independ
ent entity, loosely connected with the
others for war purposes under the old
confederation Naturally each regard
ed it's own welfare as of paramount
Importance and paid comparatively
small attention to the interests of its
neighboring states.
They were hard up for money, and
passed, each for itself all kinds of laws
as to tariffs and imports. Some states
passed high-tariff laws in order to de
rive a revenue to pay their running
expenses. Others passed practically
free trade laws, and of course ships
loaded with merchandise from foreign
parts unloaded at their wharves.
Then the freetrade states establish
ed export duties on all articles ship.
ped into adjoining states, and the high
tariff states demanded the same Gus
toms dues from goods imported from
the free trade states as they would
from foreign ports. Practically, for
tariff purposes, each state was regard
ed by the other as foreign territory.
In this manner endless trouble arose
between the thirteen sovereigns, and
ill feeling was augmented by disputes
among those states with navigable
waters on their boundaries as to the
commercial control of those waters
and the jurisdiction of each over them.
1t was, in fact, owing to a dispute on
commercial matters between Maryland
and Virginia that led to the calling of
the convention in 1887 that framed the
constitution under which with it's
various amendments), our country has
grown and prospered up to the present
day. That convention found it was
utterly impossible we should exist and
prosper under the old articles of con-
federation. But in it's deliberations
the individual interests of each state
had to be considered as well as the
general welfare of all, and after four
months of consideration our present
constitution was accepted by it as the
best obtainable, was reported to con-
gress, approved by congress and re-
ferred to the several states for rati-
fication, and was finally ratified by all
and became the supreme law of the
land. Not, however, without much op-
position was it sanctioned. In detail
all it's provisions were not altogether
satisfactory to any state and the vote
on it's adoption was very close-in many
instances, and many amendments
were recommended by. nearly every
state as it ratified the instrument.
The states that had, through war
and suffering but lately achieved their
independence of one controlling power
were 10th to relinquish the rights of
sovereignty to another, even though
that other should be of their own
choosing. Naturally, under these con-
ditions, opposing political parties
arose.
First the Federal and Anti-Federal
parties, the one supporting and the
other opposing a strong central author
ity. The Federal party endured to
about 1820-24, while the Anti-federal
soon adopted the name of Republican,
later that of Democratic-republic
and finally was known as the Demo
cratic party.
The neutrality-suspicious. succeeded
the Federalists about 1824-28, while by
1882 all opposition to Jackson democ-
racy had combined under the name OF
Wings, under the leadership of Henry
Clay, and for twenty years the politi-
cal fight was on between democrats
and wings, sometimes one on top,
sometimes the other
The issue between the two parties
now was the tariff. The war with Eng
land in 1925 had shown beyond
question the expediency of entrustina
the general government with enlarged
powers in times of public peril and the
main object for which the Federalists
had contended being now generally ad
mitted there was no further need fol
its existence as a political party and
| it became generally merged in the
new Wing party and supported the
Wing doctrine of high tariff and
liberal expenditures for internal i'm
provements
The slavery question up to this time
had not been prominent one in ma
tional politics. Anti-slayery men OPP
posed its extension into the territories
but generally it was regarded as
domestic institution that each state
must regulate for itself. and the Mis-