Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 83.djvu/553

Rh concern long in the field, it possesses certain substantial advantages which a new party can only painfully acquire. There is a legitimate place for a party that champions the interests of property within reasonable bounds. The differences between the Republican and the Progressive parties on the tariff and the trusts are by no means insuperable.

On the other hand, it is vulnerable in three respects. It distrusts the people, it has not identified itself closely enough with their interests, and it is on too intimate terms with those who participate in politics for private gain, three weaknesses that led to the downfall of the Federalist party. Its future depends on its ability to overcome these weaknesses and on the mistakes of its adversaries. The fact that the Democratic party managed to live down its associations with slavery and its highly questionable record during the Civil War indicates that the future of the Republican party is by no means hopeless. Competition normally leads even a conservative party to make a bid for popular favor, and but for the disposition of many of the Republican leaders to bank upon the mistakes of their opponents rather than upon setting their own house in order, one might confidently predict a field of future usefulness. The party has often profited by such mistakes in the past, but it is always poor strategy to rely upon the shortsightedness of one's opponents for success in any game. Sobered by the responsibility of power, the Democratic leaders may not be as obliging in the future as they have often been in the past, or the Socialist and Progressive parties may profit by their mistakes. If the Democracy rises to the occasion, it may be given a long lease of power. The schism in the Republican party is a more serious matter than many of its leaders realize. Fundamentally, it is not the work of a lot of "soreheads" or of Mr. Roosevelt, but the natural consequence of its own conduct.