The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1915-10-07
THE PREPONDERANCE OF DOM.
NANCE

LII every IdClOIl dllu COMMUNITY
where the citizens participate to a
greater or less extent in the affairs of
government, or have a voice in the
management of public affairs, parties
exist. Public questions arise on which
differences of opinion are found and
those that array themselves on one
side naturally cohere together and
those that are opposed join together
in opposition. In city or town a
new public Improvement of some kind
is proposed. Some are in favor and
some find themselves against the
proposition, and two bodies of citizens
find themselves arrayed against the
the other on the proposition.
A question like that of County OPP
ton is sprung on the commonwealth.
1nstinctively those who are for and
those who are against array themsel-
YES one against the other and each
strive by every means within their
power to accomplish their object.
In matters of state and national
procedure the same condition of af-
fairs is always found. In matters of
internal or domestic and in matters of
foreign, different opinions prevail and
antagonistic groups are formed and
parties spring into existence. The only
escape from partyism is absolutism
and even under the most despotic alb
solutism, most rigidly enforced, there
is always number opposed thereto;
and although possibly they may not
dare to make their opposition visible,
it is there just the same and the par
ties are in existence.
In countries like ours, where free
dom of speech and press exist, par
ties are more in evidence than else
where and much as theorists and
idealists may deplore the fact while
this may be a government for. the
people" it is also government of and
by political parties.
Ever since the United States took
it's place among the nations some po-
litical party has controlled national
affairs and the same is true of every
state in the union. Ours is a party
government, always has been, now is,
and always will be; any person who
denies this perfectly obvious state
ment is an ignoramous as far as gov
ernmental conditions are concerned.
The greatest misfortune that can
befall the nation, or any political di-
vision of the nation, is a preponder-
ance of dominance by any party; it
matters not by what that party may
be known.
Party utilization does not alter hu-
man nature and men of the same hui
man characteristics make up all par
ties. 81. .-..-
Wherever any party is overwhelm-
ingly in preponderance of domination
and nomination or official selection
of candidate means his election, it
is inevitable that interests inimical to
the masses of people get control of
the nominating or selecting functions
of the party and candidates be select.
ed and legislation enacted in the in
terests of the few rather than for the
welfare of the many.
So universally true is this PROPOSE
ton that in the old convention days
that the people rebelled in many cases
and states and congressional districts
that were preponderantly Republican
elected Democratic officials and states
that were Democratic stronghold:
elected Republican officials.
1t can be stated as self-eviden
fact that whenever political division
was composed of an overwhelming
majority of any political party anc
the candidates selected were the
choice of a majority of the party
that is, reasonable majority-they
were always elected, but it has otter
turned out that where the candidate.
of the dominant party were minority
choice they were defeated. AS exam
pies we might cite the election Of
Hawley, Republican, to congress il
1894, out of the overwhelmingly Dem,
ocratis district of Galveston, Texas
! two Republicans from North Carolina