The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-04-28
HARMONY FOR WHAT


Il am. as you know. In thorough
sympathy with your efforts to build
up the Republican party, and fully
agree with you that we have a splen-
did opportunity before US for max
ing substantial gains, IL not winning
a victory. Therefore, I trust Won
will pardon me to make a suggestion.
1t is this: Could we not gain more
recruits by getting all factions TO-
sether and presenting a united bar-
monious front to the enemva T do
not know whether this can be done
or not. but 1 feel that It will do no
harm to make the suggestion"
This suggestion is made with the
purest and best Of motives, but the
writer has not stopped to analyze the
situation and see whether or not the
plausible plea for harmony can be
applied. Sometimes an effort tn 60
cure harmony among those of differ
ent views is wise and proper, but
there are other times when II ia i'm
proper and would be most harmful
When persons who are going In the
same direction, and who are neces-
sarily trying to advance some prin-
ciple and accomplish some defined
result, disagree only about details
and non-essentials. then it is their
duty to not let disagreement over
details oVershadow and defeat the
great object in view. On such an
occasion the plea of harmony is q
patriotic one. and the failure to heed
1t would be worse than folly.
But is that the situation that now
presents itself in the Republican
party in the State? BY no means.
but quite to the contrary. The dis
agreements between what is called
the factions in the Republican party
are not over details, but over funda-
mental principles and policies. The
so-called factions of the party TODAY
are on the one hand constituted of
the great majority of the party who
want to fight for the principles of
the party and for victory for those
principles; on the other hand there
is an element in the party not only
opposing this effort to head the party
for growth and for victory, but who
want to keep the party as a small.
close corporation for the distribu-
ton of Federal patronage. The
bosses OF this last faction want the
complete and absolute power of dis
pensing patronage in their hands,
Therefore, they are opposed to the
election of Congressman; they are
opposed to the election of Repub-
ican Governor; they look with fear
upon the coming of every recruit,
Tor 1t threatens their boss rule.
There can be no more harmony be-
tween these two Numerically oppo-
site views than there can be between
black and white, or between right
and wrong. It is impossible to har-
monte these factions, because they
are going In Numerically opposite
directions. When the patronage ma
chine bosses cry Harmony" as they
are now doing, and are misleading
some patriotic Republicans by the
FEASIBILITY of the cry, they mean
that they want to keep control of the
patronage Of the party and subordi-
nate the party to their personal and
selfish ends. and the harmony they
want is for everybody else to be quiet
and let them continue their blighting
and treacherous boss rule. II this
element of the party wants harmony
then they can get it by travelling in |
the direction Of those who are fight
Ing for Republican success.
There is no disagreement and will |
not be between The Caucasian and
any Republican in the State who sin
cerely wants Republican success and
VIII prove that fact not by words but
oy his actions. If man is travelling
a road to the east and meets a man
travelling the same road going west,
now can they harmonic in the direc-l
lions they are going? There is only
one way that there can be harmony,
and that is. but to agree to stand
stlil and not travel at all, or for one
OF the men to change his course
and go in a Numerically opposite
direction to that which he has been
travelling.
we know recent case where al
good member of a church went to
the minister and asked him to ston
preaching the gospel along a certain
line. and when the minister asked /,
why, he said because it offended -,
some members of the church who =
were engaged In businesses that they s
did not want criticised from the pull
pit. This is the DEVILS plea for har- q
mony that is going on inside of near +,