Page:Back to the Republic.djvu/159

 POLITICAL PARTIES

T IS difficult to formulate just the best and most effective method of applying the usefulness of political parties to the best interests of a Republic. It is a puzzling question to determine whether there should be two permanent political parties or whether the welfare of a Republic requires that a new political party must be born periodically to meet a crisis and advocate a clear, clean-cut issue. This much, however, is certain. The motto of any political party worthy of continuance should be: A political party can afford to lose if it deserves to win, better than the party can afford to win if it deserves to lose. I wish everyone who is active in politics or aspires to leadership in the public service would read the above sentence several times and think it over very carefully. That attitude was characteristic of Alexander Hamilton in the early days of the Republic, and of Daniel Webster in later years. It was the position taken by Abraham Lincoln in 1858 and by William McKinley in 1892; and they and 155