Massachusetts -- Periodicals; New England -- Periodicals
But we began by asserting that the party in the old Bay State is in a
quandary. It has reached a point when one of two alternatives must be
chosen,--either to force an issue with its allies, as well as with its
Republican opponents, by nominating a downright, old-fashioned Democrat
for the governorship; or, acquiescing with the wishes of its allies, to
attempt a quasi victory over its opponents. In the former case defeat
would be honorable, though defeat is by no means a foregone conclusion;
in the latter case a victory is probable which would be worse than a
defeat for the Democrats. We may not presume to give any advice in this
matter; and yet it would seem that some well-intentioned and honest
advice is needed. If there is to-day a true-blue, a frank and out-spoken
Democratic newspaper in the city of Boston, we do not know its name. Our
esteemed contemporaries of so-called Democratic persuasion, in this
cultured city, are either bridled by the administration or are timid in
expressing their convictions. Why has it never occurred to any one of
them to urge the selection of a candidate that has _not_ allied
himself with the new gods in Israel,--a stanch, dyed-in-the-wool,
old-fashioned Jackson Democrat, such for example as the HONORABLE
CHARLES LEVI WOODBURY? He has always been an ornament to his party, wise
and prudent in his counsels, broad in his scholarship and still broader
in his views, untrammelled in his profession of honest principles, and
true to the faith. He was never known to wander after strange gods: he
has never paraded before the eyes of the public, clad in a Joseph's coat
of many colors; he has never sought the emolument or the honor of public
office, and yet, if we are not greatly mistaken, his scrupulous fidelity
to party principles, his unswerving integrity, and the confidence which
men of all parties repose in him, have merited for him as high an honor
as lies within the gift of the people. There are but few such men in
Massachusetts, and their worth is only comprehended when they are
compared with that of the aristocratic dudes whom President Cleveland
has thus far smiled upon in this state.
The Massachusetts Democrats have this year a grand opportunity to assert
their independence, and to set a wholesome example to the party in other
states. They can do no safer, wiser, or more honorable thing than to
nominate Judge Woodbury, a Democrat of Democrats, as their
standard bearer.
The Boston _Evening Record_ is a sample of daily journalism that is
getting to be rather common nowadays. Like many other of its
contemporaries, it seems to be impressed with the idea that the province
of a newspaper is to _coin_ facts rather than to chronicle them;
and that editorial ability consists in getting away from the truth as
far as possible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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