Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-02
BELIEVES IN SHORT PLATFORM
Herald Reader Suggests a Rather
Novel Idea in the Way of
Party Management

LOS ANGELES, Aug. SO.-(Edltor
HeraldD: No question except how TO
be successful in religious work has oeen
given more careful thought than gooo
political party management.
The evident and surest way In wnlch
to get control of the national govern
ment has been the mature life thought
of millions of minds. In mo@ cases
1t has been tedious and costly work TO
succeed. There have been a few in
stances to the contrary. one of which
was that of the Republican party gain
ing national control in 1860, only four
years after the organization of the
party, caused by the public conscience
being aroused to action over the slaV-
cry question
Another instance was the sudden
gain of the Greenback party In 1873.
In 1876 this party cast only $4,000 votes.
In 1878 it cast 1,153,000 votes, lacking
only 10000 votes of gaining twenty-five
times more votes than 1t cast only two
years before.
What caused this sudden gain to the
Greenback party? And, also, what
caused the equally sudden collapse OF
the party two years later? The party
was created by discomfort with the
hard times caused by the contraction
of the paper money circulation IN or
der to make specie resumption possible
in 1879, the time set by law in which to
resume. This discomfort was so gen
eral that 1t caused the Greenback party
to grow more rapidly in votes than
any other party had ever grown from
so small a beginning.
The cause of the sudden death OF the
Greenback party was the rapid sue
cess of specie resumption in restoring
good times.
These two great political experiences
prove that sure way in which party
can get quick control of the national
government is to spring a national
question near and dear to the hearts
of majority of the voters of the
whole nation. 1t must be a question
that has, or will have, considerable OPP
position, for no voter will leave, even
temporarily, his dear party to vote in
favor of question his own party does
not oppose.
This practical thought suggests a
way by which either the Democratic
party or the numerous reform parties
can get national control at once, as
follows after the preliminary observa-
ton that a political party is always
based on one great, burning question.
or plank, in the party platform, the
other planks in the platform being put
into 1t, not so much because the party
is greatly worked up about them, but
to gain votes from people who lie
awake nights devising plans to gain
votes for them. This fact makes me
believe that the many reform parties
of the day and country can be united
into one large and strong party (and
sure too grow rapidly after becoming
large and strong, for 1t is human ma
ture to run after things that have a
numerous following), by adopting a
brief platform made up of only the
one or two planks which really caused
the organization of each of the reform
parties, leaving the less important
planks to legislative enactment after
the party candidates are elected.
Right here would be glorious oppor-
tunity for the great Democratic party
to capture this united reform party,
by adopting it's platform and giving it
some of the high offices, adding to the
united reform party platform only one
or two of the most important planks of
| the Democratic platform, reading (by
slight compromise) so as to take the
wind out of the sails of the ruling Re-
| publican parity.
For instance, have a high protection
plank for infant industries only, until
they become strong enough to compete
successfully In all the open markets of
the world; for the voting population
of the whole country, without regard
TO any party, Is rapidly turning in this
direction. Have one other plank in
favor of the gold standard, but with
unlimited coinage of silver; for there
is no more sense in limiting the pro-
J duction of our natural wealth In the
hills than there is in limiting the pro-
! duction of our wealth in the valleys,
by small crops of wheat and corn.
Limited production of silver is the
sophistry of rival foreign nations to
1 IL
higher rates of interest to money lend
ers at home and abroad. by making
| good money scarcer.
SAMUEL M. SAWYER.