d action in these two regards, from principle,
but rather from policy. Finding the course pursued by the Republicans
unpopular, they adopted the opposite mode, and their success is a
proof of the truth of what I contend. One great trouble in the
Republican party is bigotry. The pulpit is always trying to take
charge. The same thing exists in the Democratic party to a less
degree. The great trouble here is that its worst element--Catholicism
--is endeavoring to get control.

_Question_. What causes operated for the Republican success in
Iowa?

_Answer_. Iowa is a prohibition State and almost any law on earth
as against anything to drink, can be carried there. There are no
large cities in the State and it is much easier to govern, but even
there the prohibition law is bound to be a failure. It will breed
deceit and hypocrisy, and in the long run the influence will be bad.

_Question_. Will these two considerations cut any figure in the
presidential campaign of 1884?

_Answer_. The party, as a party, will have nothing to do with
these questions. These matters are local. Whether the Republicans
are successful will depend more upon the country's prosperity. If
things should be generally in pretty good shape in 1884, the people
will allow the party to remain in power. Changes of administration
depend a great deal on the feeling of the country. If crops are
bad and money is tight, the people blame the administration, whether
it is responsible or not. If a ship going down the river strikes
a snag, or encounters a storm, a cry goes up against the captain.
It may not have been his fault, but he is blamed, all the same,
and the passengers at once clamor for another captain. So it is
in politics.

If nothing interferes between this and 1884, the Republican party
will continue. Otherwise it will be otherwise. But the principle
of prosperity as applied to administrative change is strong. If
the panic of 1873 had occurred in 1876 there would have been no
occasion for a commission to sit on Tilden. If it had struck us
in 1880, Hancock would have been elected. Neither result would
have its occasion in the superiority of the Democratic party, but
in the belief that the Republican party was in some vague way
blamable for the condition of things, and there should be a change.
The Republican party is not as strong as it used to be. The old
leaders have dropped out and no persons have yet taken their places.
B