The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-06-06
lContinued from page 1.l

NOSASAANNN @AOAA RobO ~
echo; but perhaps the most charac-
teristic demand came in the form of
a measure Tor protective tariff.
The election of 1860, in which the
new third party" swept the north
and west and won control Of the ma
ton, led to the counter-revolution of
the southern ruling class-and then to
the half-revolution which is called
our American Civil War.
1t was the logic Of history and the
class destiny Of the modern capital
lists, that the Republican party should
rule until it finished its task of CON
solidating the capitalist system and
national unification under capitalist
class rule.
But by 1875 the Republican party
began to decline, and fell into a pc
riod of twenty years of weakness.
With the breaking Of the power Of
the southern ruling class thru the loss
Of its black human labor-cattle (Which
because of conditions of production
in the south could not be so easily
handled on the wage-labor basis, the
Democratic party lost it's character as
the chattel-slavery party. 1t became
hybrid party. At times it expressed
very lamely, a certain discomfort of a
class of now-impoverished southern
whites; and in the west, at times,
middle-class discomfort rallied to its
banner. There was tendencies of the
democratic party to become the petty
capitalist party.
The Republican party, as well as
the Democratic part, began to lose
its distinctive "one-class" significance
Both parties became hybrid parties,
in which both the petty capitalists
and the great capitalists struggled for
control; the large capitalists invari
ably succeeding in keeping control
the party that won.
In 1896, small capitalist discomfort
succeeded in winning control Of the
Democratic party. This resulted in
reviving the Republican party thru
rallying all elements of big business
to William Mckinley to beat the mid
dle-class attack, and the Republican
party began new period of strength
which lasted sixteen years. In this
period of re-birth, the Republican
party became the champion Of modern
limperialism-the latest phase Of CAPT
talist demand. The industrial CAPT
talists, instead of the slave oligarchy,
now demanded the power to dominate
Cuba and other colonial territories
and got it.
The middle-class revolt was beaten,
both in the country at large and, fin
ally, in the Democratic party. Wars
between different schools of the same
stratum Of big business in Wall Street,
made expedient the use of both Demo
cratic and Republican parties for the
superficial quarrels between factions
in the highest layer Of the capitalist
class.
With the advent of Wilson in 1872
the Democratic party was re-estab-
lished as a twin servant Of the Re
publican party, to serve the same mas
ter-the biggest of big business in
Wall Street. The Democratic and
Republican parties both became n.y.
brid, two-class parties-with the mid
die class trailing after each, both were
controlled by precisely the same ele-
ments, and finally, by compromises,
controlled even by the same individ-
ual big capitalists. The phenomenon
Of the same corporation treasures
supplying the funds for both rival"
parties, which was not unknown be-
fore, became a fixed and steady GUS