Page:Back to the Republic.djvu/161

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Political Parties
157

succeed by giving the people what they need rather than to succeed by trying to give the crowd what the crowd thinks it wants.

A political party should be a moulder of public sentiment, not a mere echo of popular fallacies.

It was hoped that with the granting of suffrage to women, they would begin seriously to study the science of government and equip themselves for the duties of citizenship, but they have given little encouragement in that direction thus far.

When the boys get back from over there we may find that the experiences they have had, the scenes they have witnessed, and the knowledge they have acquired has developed in them a civic consciousness that will make them a constructive force for stemming the tide of radicalism and shielding this Republic from the dangers of democracy.

There should be at least one political party in this country that believes in the Constitution and that will be guided by its wise provisions; that believes in the Republic as the best form of government the world has ever known and that will adhere strictly and literally to it. Whether some political party now in existence can throw off its weaknesses and infections and rise to the occasion, or whether a new party must spring forth to meet the situation is a question the future alone must answer.