Show THE TWO GREAT PARTIES A few evenings since I 1 read a communication from prof J H paul concerning the two great political parties of our country cou in this communication he gave some valuable information and yet there are area a few ideas untouched by him which it seems are worthy of consideration to be well acquainted with an individual we must know something of his history by such much k knowledge no cledge we shall be better able to perceive the motives which underlie his bis actions and give impulse to them so also with political parties political creeds and platforms are but the crystallized ideas of vast masses of men who have perhaps long before already discussed these respective political principles s happily for the easy explanation of this subject we may add that so far as the changed circumstances of our country admit the republican party of the present day very much resembles the federal party of a hundred years ago we may therefore jor for purposes of illustration speak of the political parties both then and now as democratic and republican the rhe original thirteen colonies in their isolated positions in some instances separated by trackless forests as well as in the different conditions of their settlement had much to lead each to look upon itself as a sovereign state the affairs of which could be interfered with by nothing nth i ng except ahe vaguely defined claim of the sovereigns from whose dominions t the e colonists had come the hardy knickerbockers of new netherlands now new york had no do idea of amalgamating with the inhabitants of new england who another language and believed another religion neither was it to be expected that the quakers of pennsylvania would affiliate with the sturdy episcopalians Episcopal ians of virginia much less with the catholics of maryland in a wor deach of the colonies was settled under conditions either expressed or implied that no other colony nor all other colonies combined had a right to interfere with its internal affairs afra irs this was the germ the pith the marrow of democracy this was the idea that permeated society when the colonists formed their first articles of confederation the second article of that instrument expressly declared each stature state re caius its sovereignty freedom and independence and every power jurisdiction and right which is not by tins this confederation expressly delegated to the united states in congress assembled from fram 1777 to 1789 the united states were governed by this compact but twelve years of unrest was sufficient Jent to prove that the democratic utopia was impracticable As soon an am the great strain of the war of independence was over and the people had bad time to reflect they perceived the inherent weakness of their government the wisest statesmen of America buch as washington franklin adam alex ander hamilton morris rutledge and william JL ivingston began to agitate for greater strength to the central government at this juncture was founded the federalist by alexander hamilton which afterwards proved to be one of the ablest political magazines magazin eu ever published here arose the germ of the federal or republican publican le ie party which after a few years agitation so influenced society that at length the people of the united states laid aside the old articles of confederation and sent forth the proclamation that we the people of che united states in order to forma form a more perfect union etc do hereby ordain and establish this constitution for the united states of north america here then we see the inherent difference between the two great political parties the democratic holds that all power originates with the sovereign states and congress possesses no power except that which these states have delegated to it the republicans both then and since have a thou thousand cand times declared that the supreme power originates with the people in their collective capacity and the states possess no powers except those given to them by congress in short then we may perceive that the democratic party is the champion of local self government with a tendency to state independence while the republican party is the special advocate of a strong central government with a tendency to imperialism imperial sm having thus defined the status of each party it is easy to perceive their tendency in each political movement in the very constituting of congress we see these two principles at work in the formation of the senite each state is considered as sovereign and independent and is recognized as having the right to send two senators irrespective of its size or population thus little rhode island is accredited with two sena senators torl while new york nearly forty times rimes as largeant large and with fully twenty times its population senda likewise two senators on the other hand in the house of representatives where each member is elected by a constituency irrespective of state boundaries boun darks ue w e perceive the tendency to follow the republican idea S also in the subsequent political movement we perceive the workings of these two antagonistic principles the purchase of louisiana the accession of florida and the acquisition of texas were all the logical sequence of democratic action the formation of a national system of banking the creation of a navy and the enactment of a high protective tariff are the natural results of republican tendency of centralizing power the fact that in some same parts of the country the democratic party has lately favored a high protective barit is doubtless owing tf to this that in those sections certain industries have been started which demand protection from foreign production and not any real change in party policy the terrible civil war from which our country emerged scarcely a quarter of a century ago had its origin in the antagonism of the two great political parties aside from the question of negro slavery which had remained a relic of barbarism i in it the midst of ad advancing vanci Dg civilization there was also the deep though often disavowed antagonism of centralization on the one hand and state sovereignty on the other the true patriot must regret the danger to which our country is exposed from extreme measures by either party J H WARD |