268 HISTORY OF THE WHEEL AND ALLIANCE. 



Did it have a chance to say to old - time convention 

 manipulators, "stand back and let the laboring man have 

 a fair show?" No. What did it say? "Stick to the 

 grand old party. Don't bolt the convention, or scratch a 

 ticket. Don't act independent, you'll be one of the other 

 fellows if you do. Vote 'er straight. Don't kick. Help 

 us this time. If you don' t see what you want in our plat- 

 form, ask for it. Wait till we get there, and we'll show 

 you how 'tis done. Whoop 'em up down in your neigh- 

 borhood. Use d/namite and lay it on the other party. 

 Use whisky. Vote 'em wherever you find 'em, niggers 

 and all. Cry negro domination; low tariff; high tariff; 

 radical ; reconstruction ; Powell Clayton; rebel; liar; thief; 

 scoundrel; anarchist; bloody shirt; war; rebellion; blood 

 and thunder. Anything to get up an excitement, and 

 rouse men's passions. If you can't carry your point that 

 way, buy voters, bribe judges, stuff, steal and burn ballot 

 boxes. It's all right. The other fellows do it, and we 

 must get there this time or the country will go to 

 the dogs." 



Great questions can never be settled by men calling 

 each other thieves and rascals. It is more like the acts of 

 children than men. Being Republicans doesn' t make men 

 honest; nor does being Democrats make them dishonest. 

 Human nature is the same. If you elect a Democrat 

 to office, and he is a thief, he will steal or take a bribe if 

 he has the opportunity. The same is true of a Republican. 

 Then why all this tirade of abuse which people indulge in 

 during times of political excitement. Men go wild over 

 the success of candidates who only use them as stepping- 

 stones to position. "Oh, but my party has a different 

 policy from the other; that is what distinguishes it," says 

 one. This is the cry everywhere. How do you know it 

 has a different line of policy? The proper and only 



