The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-11-30
MR.. WATTERSON AMID STRANGE
SCENES

Sometimes Henry Watterson is a prophet,
seeing in the present tense, what is to come;
sometimes he is surgeon, taking the body
polite to pieces with nice precision and classi-
flying the parts; sometimes he more closely re
sembies the miner after base metal, but in his
deving he often brings to light fossils that tell
a story of ages of constructive evolution a
theory established long after Colonel Waiter
sons acquisitve function ceased operating.
Yet, withal, we must grant that as a publicist,
he is never weather vane
Mr.. Watters0n discovers himself in all three
aspects in long editorial in the Courier-Jour-
nal yesterday morning, replying to the letter of
young Franklin Pierce, nephew of the former
president, who protests against Watterson IS
suggestion for Democrats in congress to keep
still and profit by the enemies mistakes.
If Mr.. Watterson represents the Democratic
party in his position, then the question, what
is the matter with Democracy! is answered;
and MIR. Watterson gives himself over to the
role OF prophet, when the inevitable logic of his
own discourse brings him to these words:
Until the Republicans break on the tariff and
kindred issues as the Democrats broke on
slavery, the resources, discipline and momen-
tum OF the Republican party will keep things
as they are In due time there will be new
party; for universal education and universal
suffrage mean universal revolution. The season
of plenty or the season of famine will come.
The tariff, the center-piece of abnormal and inn
moral wealth., viii be as odious as ever the in
sttution of African slavery was. The Repub-
lican party rs the party of arstocracy will have
to meet the fate which overlook the heraldic
Democratic party, which was in the day of its
power the party of aristocracy But these
things are likely TO be two or three presidential
elections ahead"
Mr.. Watterson herein is not profound The
Democratic party did not go down in defeat be
cause it was the party of the aristocracy. The
old iederalist party was the party of the arts
tocracy, If there ever was such a thing; and it
sank and the Wing party sank, and the Demo
cratic party sank, because they were not suffi-
ciently elastic to adjust themselves to new con
ditions as they arose. The test of the Republi-
can party will be just exactly that. Mr. Wat
terson calls it the party of opportunity and,
speaking slightngly of Democracy says, sit is
a figure of Speech an empty jar with liable,
silk stockings in the east, wooden shoes in the
west shirtless and hatless in the south trying
to be an opportunist like the Republicans and
not knowing exactly how.'
Again Mr.. Watterson says "Let us hope
these new conditions will not bring us face to
face with civil or social war . "Universal
education and universal suffrage mean uni
versal revolution. Nothing short of revo-
luton will satisfy Mr. Pierce. That will surely
come; il will probably come with a crash"
Always the mind of the old man; always de
string conditions as they were; the good old
times; the environments into which we were
born and to which we were accustomed. Then
we were unafraid. New things disturb US We
/. E...-.4 az. "a.