Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-05-30
REPUBLICAN, ADVICE.

was at tlat Time CQe recipient VI d SlehI
deal of unsolicited advice from republl-
cans. and it was all along the same line.
The democrats were assured that their
defeats were attributable to radicalism
and that they could strengthen their
party by a return to conservative doc
trines. They were not promised victory,
of course not, but the republican editors
were so anxious to have a strong, virile
organization to fight that we were as
sured that the republican party was be-
coming careless because it had no eff
fective opposition and that it would
really be good for the country to have
the democratic party almost, bnt not
quite, strong enough to win a victory.
1t would keep the republican party on
its good behavior, make it careful about
its conduct, etc. This kind of advice
was given in unstinted measure, and it
was followed. We had an eminently
respectable candidate; he had the con-
fidence of the business interests, and
HIS CdilpdiSl was COlouSlOS atOA
thoroughly conservative lines, and then
the republicans sat back and laughed at
the success of their scheme as they
counted up q majority almost too large
for figures.
Now the same game is being tried
again. The republican editors are again
pleading for the democratic party: they
are weeping over its supposed decrepti-
tude. Well, it is bad enough for the
republican editors to advise us. There
IS possibly some excuse for them. The
president is not taking their advice in
the management of the republican party
and they feel that they are entitled to
advise some organization, but it is adj
ding insult to injury to have advice from
General Charles II. Grosvenor-''the
sage of Athens as the Cincinnati En-
Guirer calls him. The Enquirer found
him at the Sinton hotel. He picked out
a democratic candidate and gave him a
boost. Here is a sample of his advice:
There is no way under heaven and
among men whereby this country will
trust the democratic party again with
power in all the branches of the govern
rnent, until there is a radical reforma-
ton in the principles of the party and
the personal of its leaders. What good
would come of carrying the southern
states for a democratic candidate in 1908
with such accidental victories in other
states as might possibly occur? The
great body of the electorate is dead
against the democratic party as it stands
today, and it must have a guarantee of
principle ard not a guarantee of oppor-
tunity.
How is a better result to be brought
about? 4 republican of unfaltering
faith in his party, and a lack of faith in
the democratic party, ought not, per-
haps, to give any advice. and surely his
advice will not be counted as of any
value by our democratic friends. Never
theless, it would be the part of wisdom
for the democratic party to turn its
back upon the past. with a single state
ment to the people of the country as
follows: We have tried a number of
experiments and they have failed. We
will now retreat from the disorder of the
skirmish line, which has been so fatal to
US on so many occasions, and fall back
%> ~ -|.u,@. I,-o 1E Lo~,~o..%.o ,loo-
principles and history. We will demand
that the politics of the ancient demo
cracy, so far as they are applicable today
shall be adopted as the cardinal prin.
c!ples of latter day democracy. 1t shall
have those fundamental ideas reiterated,
the abandonment of which has led US so
far into the wilderness of defeat and
decentralization. We will enact a plat
form e%mbodying democratic principles:
we will adopt democratic ideas upon
every living topic of today's politics and
we will ask the people of this country to
retrace their steps from the conditions
of the present and cast anchor again in
tIG oOoP WoIcE upOu GuO SolO ouCL4OI AZ
of democratic ideas" "Let the demo.
cratic party do this and then let them
name a democrat, a man whose recor5
is not all honeycombed with the faint Of
modern radicalism, and let them rail-.
the people of the country as best they
can to the support of the democratic
party thus reorganized And her yor
say, what will be the effect of that? Tht
answer is easy. Defeat in 1908. Wha1
of it? 1t will be defeat with honor. A
defeat with honor is durable; a defeat
with dishonor is hard to rally from. i
will be 40 worse than the party has beer
%enacting for the past twelve years and il
will not be any worse than the party il
absolutely facing, if it continues it
present absurd career"
The democratic party will not tax,
advice from its enemies. The presiden,
has shown how popular democratic doc
trlnes are when sporadically adopted