Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1879 — Democratic Strategy. [ARTICLE]

Democratic Strategy.

An incidental remark of a Louisiana Congressman, referring to the passage of the Levee bill, has started certain Southern politicians on a profitless discussion. Shall the South, Ixaving in. view the contingencies of the next Presidential election, cultivate an alliance with the West or the East? The discussion of the question passes'at the South as “ strategy.” Now, strategy is one of the weaknesses of Democracy generally; Southern Democrats are fcspecially addicted to it. They are perpetually planning, and they are always quite sure that, however much they have been mistaken on other occasions, this time they have figured out things so nicely that there can be no mistake. Their calculations are always, as they believe, infallible. Thus, if they could be credited with all the sagacity they claim, the result of the next National contest might be regarded as already decided. In fact, the contest itself is superfluous. For the Southern strategists have come to the conclusion that they are masters of the situation, and have but to decide with whom they shall share the prizes of victory. Shall the favored ones be Western or Eastern? The inquiry derives its importance from the bearing which the answer is expected to have on the platform, which the South, as a matter of course, will construct. We venture to remind these strategists that there is a more immediate necessity f6rtheexCrci.se of their skill. Any consideration of the nature of the alliance to be formed 161880 shouldhe deferred until the Democratic party be extricated from the difficulties which at this moment surround it. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof, and the evils thAt now environ the party call for tb«!*jcercise ot. all its energy and ingenuity. Beside, the party has good reasons for distrusting professional strategists. To them it owes much of its embarrassment. They hod everything prettily arranged on paper. Republican opposition was to be a bagatelle, and the Republican President was to surrender on demand. The Archimedean idea was paraphrased, and, with the appropriations to supply the leverage, the Democrats were confident that they could move the governmental world. If the first effort failed, the second must succeed. But all the efforts have failed. The more the Democrats planned, the more positively they predicted, the more desperate became their predicament. They are helplless. Even the courage of despair they have not. And, as ifin mockery, the philosophers and calculators who supply the party with its strategy- are actually absorbed in a problem that will not come up for solution until next summer. It is-not at all certain that when that period arrives enough of the Democratic party will remain to take an interest in the question of alliances. Unloss it discard strategy and substitute common sense, nothing can save it. The habit of the Democratic party, nowadays, is to attribute to public opinion characteristics not found outside its own ranks. It cannot distinguish between the accidents that have contributed to its successes and the forces that must finally determine the conflict. Undoubtedly, its gains have been substantial; they are represented by its majorties in Congress. Its advances, however, were made possible by its self-restraint. Speaking generally, moderation controlled its councils and overcame many of the obstacles it encountered. There was a w ide-spread inclination to credit it with a neWly-ac-quired capacity for usefulness. Had toe party maintained this reserve, and held in check its extremists, its chances in the National campaign would have been favorable. But the party leaders lost their balance. The products, of moderation they attributed to an outburst of popular feeling in the party’s favor. They imagined that tbe party was borne by an irresistible current of public opinion toward complete possession of the Government; and they jumped to the conclusion that reserve ivas no ionger necessary. Hence the extraordinary series of follies and blunders which have brought disaster on the party and rendered its overthrow certain. The strategists paraded plans for the speewfl session, and the eitrepjlalifluJialkJtLlieelf.rv It beetwaw evident that the Democraiey had been playing the hypocrite, andshafe, hav-

imr as it supposed regained power, it no longer recognized the necessity for hiding its old nature. Still It relied on popular feeling to sustain It against the President and to compel compliance with its demands. Leader after lpader boasted that the country wap on the side of theparlv, and would enable it to overcome aft resistance. If these boasts had any meaning, they pointed to a popnlar uprising in support of the Democracy ana its {dans. How woefully those who ooked for anything of the kind were disappointed, we need not stop to state. The party in Congress has not been able to stir its adherents out of doors. Nay, the party throughout the country has grumbled at the party in Congress for having upset many calculations. Its strategy has been condemned. Its extreme propositions have been snubbed. Upon-the country at large the effect hap been yet worse for the It is seen in the derision with which the party’s embarrassments at Washington are watched, and the entire loss of respect for its governing capacity. While the managers are trying to persuade themselves that they have created an issue for use at the polls, the great body of the people are congratulating themselves on the discovery of tho unchanged nature of the party before it acquired power sufficient for the attainment of its objects. The knowledge thus acquired will more than neutralize the Democratic strategy, however piausißly~it~hfl The party may go on with its vain endeavors to fix attention on imaginary evils, and on fine-drawn theories in regard to the relative authority of forces at work within the Gtfkernmont. Tho North and West are too practical to waste much thought on these subjects. Both have decided opinions respecting tKhkreal meaning of National authority and the duty of upholding it when in jeopardy. But they care vastly more for the practical operations of the Government, and for the satisfactory settlement of questions which Democratic dishonesty has reinvested with importance, than for nice points of strategy or for party management which in a few short monthshave exchanged tho probabilities of victory for humiliation and defeat. —New York Times. ~ .