Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 November 1920 — PARTIES [ARTICLE]

PARTIES

After every election there is always a demand for a conference of the leaders of the defeated party, coupled with much talk of the neces« sity for “reorganization.” So if; is now. A gentleman who refused to do anything to help his party this year now comes to the front with a program da silly as it is impossible, and he, too, is convinced that there will have to be a "conference”

in the near future. Yet it Is at juit such times as this that the policy of “watchful waiting” is the most sensible one. What is needed now is meditation —and observation. A very wise man has said "that we are not to - events, but to folJow them." The Idea that things can be settlelT and policies outlined by mere talk —an idea which is, it must be confessed, very prevalent, notably in Chautauqua circles —Is childish. What is needed is not a powwow or “gabfest,” but sober and serious thought. The real question just now is, not what is to become of the Democratic party, but how the Democrats left in positions of power and influence can best serve their country. If that question is properly answered the future may be left to take care of itself. What is needed, both by the Democratic party and the nation, is wise, prudent and patriotic action, andi not "the hairbrained chatter of irresponsible frivolty,” which is all that usually comes out of “conferences” held under present conditions.

There are those who are quite convinced that the Democratic party Is dead, or at least dying, extinguished by the recent election. This, too, is quite in accordance with precedent. The Democratic party was, we were told, killed by the civil war, and the split between the Douglas and Breckenridge wings, and many times since sentence has been pronounced on it. And there were some buoyant Progressives who were sure that the Republican party had suffered the death penalty at their hands in 1912. But those who so thought were wrong, and those whose memories run back beyond day before yesterday will be slow to accept the old diagnosis as applied to present conditions. Mr. Asquith’s policy of “wait and see” has much good sense In it. It should not be forgotten that adversity sometimes works for good, and that prosperity has its dangers. Even the victors can not be sure of an uninterruptedly happy future, and they would do well to remember that "it is the duty of all persons, when affairs are the most prosperous, then in especial to reflect within themselves in what way they are to endure adversity,” and that prosperity itself "is not without many fears.” The Democratic party is likely long to outlive those who are today predicting its demise. —lndianapolis News (Rep.).