THE PARTY SYSTEM

The present tendency of would-be political reformers to eliminate all party feeling from coming elections is no unmixed blessing. There are partisan elements in all elections which we would have permanently discarded, but the party system itself is a source of strength in a democracy and one which should not be tossed aside lightly. If the party system is a bad thing in time of war, it is just as pernicious in time of peace. The character of candidates ought to be a consideration of importance, but it does not mean obliteration of parties. Of course, all platforms will be American. They will be composed of one big plank--Victory, And yet there are many ways of obtaining this national goal. Destroy the parties and you kill all criticism, the right kind of which is essential even in a crisis. If we have arrived at that state where all the voters of this country think alike, then away with all parties. It may be questioned whether such a state is either healthy or desirable.

Let these political reformers turn their attention more to the abolition of corrupt practices, of the factors which all thinking men would like to see removed from elections. The men who have the confidence of the people will be kept in office. It approaches fanaticism for oracular persons to tell the inhabitants of a nation which has thrived under a party system to disguise their feelings temporarily and admit that their whole form of government is unequal to emergencies.