Such men do not sever a life-long
political affiliation without cause. They
know the paity machinery and its
tendency, having been in a position
to observe both. They also know the
hopelessness of expecting reform
from such a source.
If a tree may be known by its
fruits, so may a party be known by
the men it places in charge. These
are surer indices of its policies than
are its platform declarations, since
the men are the heart of the organi
zation, while the resolutions consti
tute only its clothes.
What, then, can be expected of a
party that puts in places of com
mand the Taggarts, the Sheehans,
the McCarrens, the Whitneys, the
Guffeys, the Belmonts, and the Ry
ans?
Mr. MacFarland goes to the Inde
pendence League because the spirit
of Democracy has gone there. He
knows that the Democratic party has
been hopelessly divided for twelve
years; that when a progressive candi
date is nominated the conservatives
knife him, and that when a conserva
tive heads the ticket the radicals
desert him in droves. He knows fur
ther that a house divided against
itself can no more stand in this day
than it could in the days of Lin
coln.
He knows, as every studious man
must know, that there can be no
hope of reform through the Republi
can party. For whatever pretences
may be made by its leaders, the
agents of the interests in Congress
can always be depended on to see
that nothing is actually done.
