The Great Event In Eastern Mugwump

relés, last week, was an address by ' the poet, James Russell Lowell, on "The Independent in Politics." Mr. Lowell, of course, says a great deal that is true. Henry George expresses the thought better than Mr. Lowell when he says: " These parties are, by the aecessities imposed by our elective sysem, great machines, requiring for their naintenance and efficiency, extensive and elabórate organization, mucfa work and large amount of inoney. ïhus they naturally fall into the hands' of politicians - the men who are willing to devote their time and money to working Lheni - the men who tnake a business of ■ ihis, and who expect to find their profit in it." Mr. Lowell sees tliis fact ; and his iemedy is a large independent voting class who will not put their elegant persons to the trouble of attencling caususes and conventions, bot, with no party affiliation whatever, will stand at one side and choose the less objectionable ticket and policy from those which the professional politicians of both parties put up. If, he says, we must have politicians, tben there must be some one to watch the politicians. And his only hope is to make the party leaders a little cauüous. Here is a man who admits tliat there is no hope; that onr system of government is not popular; and that the best we can expect is irom tiie modifying inlluence of a few independent voters. He wants to purjfy politics by shirking his duty. Jle iranti to dry up the stream of political corruption at the mouth infltead of at the source. To a man Bithout any rhyniing power like Mr. Lowell's, it Tould seem best that all men should work with some party, shifting from one to another if their consciences deraand it; but atiending primaries and raaking political tiickery less possible. After we lessen the amount of rnoney needed in campaigns, and after lessening the"spoils," the professional politiLan will largely disappear. Mr. Lowell seems to assume that the professional politician is a necessary evil which only the independent voter can keep from iragging the country to destruction. The coxtest began this week in the national house of representatives over the tariffbill, and we may expect to know the result in four or five weeks. There is no danger of a free trade measare becoming a law. If the Democrats ïucceed in passing the Mills bill in the aonse, however, they will enter the presidential campaign with an advantage which they have not had in many years; for they can then say that the Democratie party can at last do soineIhing. The Republicana cannot afford to take the most radical position on the tariff. The Minnesota Republicans are as much free traders as the Democrats, and that state cannot be carried for the Republicans on a high protective platform. The present Republican members of congress from Minnesota wül probably vote with the Democrats for the Mills bill. Bat the Republicans eao insist (hat whut revenue is raised be mainly on importations which come mto rompetition with our own industhat whenever reduction of revenue is necessary, the friends of the idea of protection are the best men to inake the reduction ; and that no re(luction at present is absolutely necessary because we have a vast national debt to pay. Indeed, there is danger that in reducing the revenue we may help to perpetúate the debt. With such a policy, and with a man like Gresham for a candidate who could oarry Indiana, the Republicans would enter the campaign wifeh bright prospects of winning. We need not only a clear, unevasive platform of moderate protectionist ideas, but a candidate who can win a portion or all of the independent vote. A large part of the independent vote in Indiana is estranged from Cleveland because of his disregard of his civil service reform pledges. That vote must be won, because the independent vote in Indiana will decide the result in that state. Gresham could carry Indiana, while Blaine.Sherman and others, could' not. It woüld seem that congress is not a yery important body of men, after all, judging from the space given to its proproceedings by the New York press Take the New York Mail and Express, for instance, a paper owned by Vanderbilt's son-in-law, who is bo " goody-goody" that each day a 8criptnral text is placed over the editorial columns of the paper. Usually it is necessary to search the columns with a microscope to find what congress is doing, and when discovered, it is among the market reports on the last page, hidden away as though they were' ashamed of our national law-makers. But, on the firet page, in large display head Unes and with a column of verbiJge, the paper will give the disgusting details of the latest guilty love, or of Dis Debar's doings. Tuk Morxixc, Tribune, the paper publisbed by printers in Lansing, says : " What the laboring people of this country want, together withthe remedy, bas many titnes been told." That's news, certainly. As a matter of fact, no two laboring men agree as to what the labor question is. We doubt if the Tribune can give a definition of it that would satisfy all. Then, after all are agreed as to the nature and scope of the trouble, there comes the question of formulating a plan whereby the remedy can be gained. We wish to impress upon the labor representatives the necessity of uniting all shades of opinión in their ranks upon sonie adequate remedy. Cardinal Manxixg, in a recent article in the Jvineteenth Century, said of London : "If all the churches and places of worship were filled three times on Sunday, they would not hold more than 2,000,000. But the population of London is 4,000,000." And that is in the wealthiest city in the world. The church evidently has not much of a hold on London. It is impossible for a city to be very pious when hundreds of thousands of its citizens find it difflcult to keep from starvation.