Letters and Literary Memorials of Samuel J. Tilden, v. 2

by Samuel J. Tilden

"I share your conviction that the reform in the administration of the Federal government, which is our great national want, and is indeed essential to the restoration and preservation of the government itself, can only be achieved through the agency of the Democratic party, and by installing its representative in the Chief Magistracy of the United States.

"The noble historical traditions of the Democratic party, the principles in which it was educated, and to which it has ever been in the main faithful; its freedom from the corrupt influences which grow up in the prolonged possession of power, and the nature of the elements which constitute it, all contribute to qualify it for that mission.

"The opposite characteristics and conditions which attach to the Republican party make it hopeless to expect that that party will be able to give better government than the debasing system of abuses which, during its ascendancy, has infected official and political life in this country.

"The Democratic party had its origin in the efforts of the more advanced patriots of the Revolution to resist the perversion of our government from the ideal contemplated by the people. Among its conspicuous founders are Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson; Samuel Adams and John Hancock, of Massachusetts; George Clinton and Robert R. Livingston, of New York; and George Wythe and James Madison, of Virginia. From the election of Mr. Jefferson as President, in 1800, for sixty years the Democratic party mainly directed our national policy. It extended the boundaries of the Republic, and laid the foundations of all our national greatness, while it preserved the limitations imposed by the Constitution and maintained a simple and pure system of domestic administration.

"On the other hand, the Republican party has always been dominated by principles which favor legislation for the benefit of particular classes at the expense of the body of the people. It has become deeply tainted with the abuses which naturally grow up during a long possession of unchecked power, especially in a period of civil war and false finance. The patriotic and virtuous elements in it are now unable to emancipate it from the sway of selfish interests which subordinate public duty to personal greed. The most hopeful of the best citizens it contains despair of its amendment except through its temporary expulsion from power.

"It has been boastingly asserted by a modern Massachusetts statesman, struggling to reconcile himself and his followers to their Presidential candidate, that the Republican party contains a disproportionate share of the wealth, the culture, and the intelligence of the country. The unprincipled Grafton, when taunted by James the Second with his personal want of conscience, answered: 'That is true, but I belong to a party that has a great deal of conscience.'

"Such reasoners forget that the same claim has been made in all ages and countries by the defenders of old wrongs against new reforms. It was alleged by the Tories of the American Revolution against the patriots of that day. It was repeated against Jefferson and afterwards against Jackson. It is alleged by the conservatives against those who, in England, are now endeavoring to enlarge the popular suffrage.

"All history shows that reforms in government must not be expected from those who sit serenely on the social mountain-tops enjoying the benefits of the existing order of things. Even the divine Author of our religion found His followers not among the self-complacent Pharisees, but among lowly minded fishermen.

"The Republican party is largely made up of those who live by their wits, and who aspire in politics to advantages over the rest of mankind, similar to those which their daily lives are devoted to securing in private business.