The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1915. POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2350, 5 January 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1915. POLITICAL PARTIES IN AMERICA.

Some American papers have summed the results of the recent congressional campaign in the Phrase reversing the lever in national politics, but this sems to be going rather ahead of the facts.'' The elect tions materially modified the state of parties but nob to a. decisive des/ ee ? ' while the. Republican. arty has made a- recovery that augurs well for its prospects in the next Presidential campaign (two years hence) it is still in a considerable minority in both branches of the Legislature. Its success was Wholly confined to tho elections to u- l °* Representatives, in which the Democrats lost some 58 seats. _ Theysstil t however, have a majority of 27 over the Republicans, and of ibout twenty over all other parties combined. In the Senate tbey gained three seats, and inCreased their majority over all other parties to ten. The Denfocrats are onus placed m a dominant position the remaining two years of tho It residential \term. A remarkable ww t ? f pre-election position is that the elections were apparently approached by both parties almost in a spirit of indifferenoe, and certainly with a pointed neglect of the party organisation which' usually ngures ao prominently in American national politics. During the past two ■ years the Democrats under President Wilson's lead have put through a heavy programme of antitrust, tariff, and banking legislation, , and one effect Seems to have been th<i creation of a- widespread sentiment in favour of a legislative rest. _ On the other hand tho agita-. won in favour of better defence preparation is of such recent origin that it did not figure as an issue in the political campaign, and the subject ot foreign policy seems' to have equally. suffered neglect; though it is bound to be a leading issue two years hence. The elections and their outcome must be accepted largely as a settlement Of domestic affairs, and one that paves the way for a real test of strength at the conclusion of President Wilson's term. As.has been said, the two main parties Siem to have troubled little about organisation. Various journals have commented upon the fact that the party Executive Oommittc'es played but a shadowy part in the campaign. The Washington Hei'aldj a Republican °i'B an , declared expressively that the Republican campaign fiom"did not ' have • car-; fare, aid similar statements have, been made about the Democratic Party.. Executive and its financial position. Candidates, it seems, were left pretty much to their own resources, and the result of the contest is on that account all the more remarkable, > _ The election had no more marked feature than the collapse of the Progressive or "Bull-Moose" party, and the consequent repudiation of Mr. Roosevelt, who led it out of tho '.Republican fold in 1912. "It appears,' says one Boston newspaper, ' tohave been a national affair—tho burial of the Bull Moose." The 1 strength of the. Progressives in the House of Representatives has been' reduced from'ls to 7. but in the general estimation this by no means indicates the. full measure of the disaster by which the Progressives have been overtaken. It is estimated that three-quarters of the voters who followed Me. Roobevelt in 1912 went back into the Republican ranks in the recent election, and it is freely stated that the Progressive Party is dead, past hope of a resurrection. One of its own members (Me. Davenport) construes the meaning of the decline in his party's vote to be that the, country favours a two-party system. Mb. Roosevelt's political prospects in the near future are riot good ; His revolt against the Republican Party has been punished by failure, and he is very decidedly out in the cold. It is just possible, however, that- he may again 1 como into prominence as the exponent of a strong foreign policy in opposition to that of the Democrats, which certainly must bo described as anything but strong. • ■. It is in reference to foreign policy that President Wilson'and his Administration will bo judged during tho_ next two years. In spite of their recent losses at the polls, the domestic reforms enacted by the Democrats arc regarded as safe, and, indeed, these losses were not greater than might have been expected, in tho light of past experience, to follow upon a drastic measure of tariff revision. Their domestic programme thus completed and endorsed, the Democrats are free to turn their attention to foreign policy, and it is generally agreed that upon their work in this field they must stand or fall in 1916. As is remarked by 'the Springfield Republican, positive advantage will accrue to the Administration in 1916 provided that its conduct of foreign relations is successful, but assuming failure at this point, it is easy to conceive of circumstances that would make tho election of a Republican President two years hence, inevitable. This, indeed, is a by no means improbable contingency, _ Looked at from outside, tne foreign policy of the Wilson Administration, so far as it has been made manifest, does not seem calculated to afford lasting satisfaction, either to the American peoplo or to tho nations with whose interests those of the United States are most closely identified. Its broad features have been on the on© hand an almost callous disregard of Germany's criminal 'violations of • the Hague Convention and of international law, and on the other a somewhat peremptory Note to Britain on neutral trading which (even admitting that it is intended chiefly for home consumption) 'is calculated to embarrass her in exercising, her legitimate right of search at sea. Just as a higher sense and appreciation of its'international responsibilities might have induced the United States Government to utter some sort of protest against the revolting cxcesscs of which Germany has been guilty, so a greater exer-' eisc of foresight and'wisdom would have induced it to adopt much milder and more reasonable language to Britain than is embodied in Pp.ebidkht Wilson'fi Nolo, To nut lJw> matter plainly* it 'is in «

America's interest that Germany should be soundly beaten, and she should he willing to bear; some passing loss and incouveniencc to see that end accomplished If by ally chance Germany emerged victorious from this ■war_ she would treat the Monroe Doctrine with no more respect than she has accorded to .tho Hilgue Convention and Various other treaties, and would without doubt seek to gain a permanent footing in South America. Happily, this point of view is coming to be so widely recognised by the American public that it may have some effect even upon the somewhat feckless Democratic Administration. All things considered, however, it is just as well that the Republican Party lias been firmly re-established, and offers the American people a second string to its bow if the Democrats should prove incapable of giving effect, in their foreign policy, to the real s inclinations and sentiments of the American nation.