Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 3.djvu/422

396 tration. The Republican party is to-day in the minority. It has lost the House of Representatives, and in two years it may not only fail to regain the House but also lose its slight majority in the Senate unless much of the ground now lost be meanwhile recovered. Your Administration, with both Houses of Congress against it, would be in a very precarious situation. The Administration party must therefore recruit its strength somewhere. In what quarter should that be? If with the “machine politicians,” the loss would be far greater than the gain, just as it was before. That tendency was the cause of the decline of the Republican party. You can gain very largely in the South, but you will be strong in the South only if you are strong in the North. Strength in the North will be a condition of Southern support. But new strength here can and will most certainly be found, if you boldly appeal, by word and act, to the noblest and most patriotic aspirations of the American people; and in this respect your inaugural will be the last act of promise, the appointment of your Cabinet the first act of performance. The good effect of the former will be seriously damaged if the latter falls short of it. If both agree you will easily win back those elements which, by despair of the Republican party and hope of reform on the other side, were led over to Tilden. Indeed, you must win them back, or your Administration may be helplessly at the mercy of the opposition in both houses of Congress two years hence, which means failure. As things now stand, it is my sober conviction that nothing would be more dangerous to your success than a policy of uncertain, hesitating appearance, and that, on the other hand, the most courageous and straightforward policy of reform will be for you the safest. The Republican party in Congress will be obliged to follow you—at any rate, it will not be able to resist you; for it cannot afford to give the Democrats a chance to appear as the principal supporters of your