Year: 1870

All the country through,


II is the ball d rolling on


For TlpDecanoc and Tyler too,


For Tippecan0e and Tyler too;


And with them we will beat little Van


Van Van, Van IL o used up man


And with them we Will beat little Van.


This was one of the most inspiring of the
whig campaign songs of the grand political
one of the most extraordinary political out
breaks OF fun, music, barbecues, great
gatherings of the masses and grotesque
professions in the history OF any people. 1t
was six months Carnival of Venice on y
grand scale all over the United States, fer
menting revolution, winding up with politi-
cal whirlwind in the election, and terri
BILE rattling and cracking among the scattered
dry bones of the democratic party. This was
the elimination Of ''the great comniotion" Of
1910. We have "a great commotion" among
the politicians now springing up. Its import
that it portends an awful rattling among
the political fossils and dry bones in 1872 we
have not the shadow Of doubt.


In the opening of the campaign of 1910 the
disastrous financial revulsien of 1887 and the
defalcatons and general looseness of Van
Burens administration had settled the issue
against him. AT this time, nearly two years
in advance Of the election, 1t may be too
soon to pronounce upon the issues which will
control 1t but, from present indications, the
republican party will be broken to pieces
from the squabbles among it's leaders; and the
democratic party, wise from the lessons Of
twelve years of outside experience and defeats,
will be fused with all the floating elements Of
the country into powerful organization. 1t
is also beginning to be apparent that the most
efficient and popular democratic leaders are
ready for any personal sacrifices for the sake
of harmony. Take, for instance, the late pro-
clamation of Mayor Hall in the New York
Leader, to the effect that the democracy Of the
West need not entertain any mlsgivings as to
the designs Of Tammany; that Tammany is
not welded to Governor Hoffman, but that
even now she can assure the West that New
York has no choice for the next Presidency,
and cheerfully in this matter recognizes the
claims OF the great Western section Of the
Union Is not this the road to success?


This is surely the right spirit for good
fight. The man must be taken to serve the
party, and not the party to serve the man. In
this view the less that is known of the man the
better he will run, as was the case with Polk
in 1874 and Pierce in 1852. These men were
freprOof in being comparatively unknown.
The same may be said. aside from their mill
tary capital, Of Jackson, Harrison, Taylor and
Grant, and the same may be said Of Lincoln.
Henry Clay, as statesman, had the grandest
record of them all !; but 1t gave his enemies
such field for attack that they kept him and
his friends all the time in hot water. Hence
his defeats. Excepting a great soldier, a
great man is not the man to run for President
in these latter days. John Quincy Adams was
great scholar and statesman of the old
school; but he was beaten by Andrew Jack
son, whose schooling and craftsmanship were
hardly more brilliant than the record Of Andy
johnson, and who was far inferior to Johnson
as a speaker and writer. A man, therefore,
from the Indiana Legislature or the St. Louis
Common Council or shrewd fellow fresh
from datboat or a railsplitler, may serve the
democracy better than the pretentious Sey-
mour or the polished Hoffman. Your rail-
splitter runs better than your grand statesman
because he is nearer to the people in position
and sympathies shoemaker or factory
hand, with reasonable qualifications, would
beat Sumner for President, even in Massa-
chusetts, though he would hardly be able to
cope with Ben Butler.


The field, then, from which to choose the
democratic candidate is large enough, and it is
the true policy of the party TO select as their
man some one whose very obscurity will make
him strong. But what will be the chance Of
such man against General Grant? An up
hill work; but we are beginning to doubt
whether Grant will be in or ont of the field in
1872. Some Of the most powerful men of his
party are moving heaven and earth to get him
out, and it is possible that they may succeed.
He has had enough Of fighting, and he wants
to rest and enjoy himself from his labors.
Why not? Besides, in failing in the outset to
bring the ablest politicians Of his party around
him, the politicians have 80 devilled him and
demoralized his party that, as things grow
worse, he may give it up in disgust as bad
job, and retire to his farm. Or, even if he
should run, Misleading malcontents and Mar
plots may get up two or three scrub candidates
against him, and 80 cut him out before the
people or in the House. Greeley says it is too
soon to talk OF Grant yet for the succession
Probably before the end Of another year
Greeley may say it is too late Clearly he,
too, has been disappointed in something, and
is in the same boat with Fcnton.


But there is much deeper and broader
view to take of this political commotion. The
men and things we have been discussing are
the mere drift floating on the tide Wa live in