years in the political arena a preponderating influence, even
though they represent an actual minority of the nation. This
untoward condition was made possible by the political sagacity
and persistence of the party managers and by the unwillingness of
a large portion of the people to bring the real issue to a head.

Before the Civil War, then, party organization had become a fixed
and necessary incident in American politics. The war changed the
face of our national affairs. The changes wrought multiplied the
opportunities of the professional politician, and in these
opportunities, as well as in the transfused energies and ideals
of the people, we must seek the causes for those perversions of
party and party machinery which have characterized our modern
epoch.



CHAPTER III. THE TIDE OF MATERIALISM

The Civil War, which shocked the country into a new national
consciousness and rearranged the elements of its economic life,
also brought about a new era in political activity and
management. The United States after Appomattox was a very
different country from the United States before Sumter was fired
upon. The war was a continental upheaval, like the Appalachian
uplift in our geological history, producing sharp and profound
readjustments.

Despite the fact that in 1864 Lincoln had been elected on a Union
ticket supported by War Democrats, the Republicans claimed the