The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-09-19

urnns.
THE old democratic leaders are illus
ratingthe saying of Solomon, "though
hon shouIdst bray fool in Il mortar
with pestle, yet will not his foolish
ness depart from him." one would
think the democratic party had been
brayed hard enough during the last
half-dozeu years to cure some of its
follies, but the leaders insist i'll travel
ing in the same old ruts. They have
played themselves "for better for
Morse" to resist all progress, and they
stick to it, though all men see that it is
only worse and worse for themselves
and the party, and that continually.
Geo. II. Pendleton, OF Ohio, the man
who ran for the Vice Presidency on the
ticket with Mcclellan, upon the doc
trine that the war was Failure" does
not seem to have found ont yet that it
has proved 10 be quite the reverse, and
i'll recent speech he declared himself
for treating the late rebels and the rebel
States just as if there had been no civil
war. In fact, lie would have the nation
ignore the history of the past four
years altogether, and go on as if moth
ing had happened, and things were
lust as in good old times of democratic
rule. When such blind politicians
lead n party, is it strange that both fall
into the ditch, and only sink the deeper
the more they struggle to extricate
themselves? The general principle adj
vocated by Mr.. Pendleton as covering
what he thinks is the true policy of the
democratic party, he stated rs follows:
II am in favor of no change i'll the
constitution. / would recognize the
right of the southern States TO their old
position in the federal system Instant
", without DELAY, without experiment,
without condition, save only that they
acknowledge the supremacy of the con-
siitution, and admit its provisions to be
the binding rule of the State and fede-
raj action"
The Lynchburg tVirginial Repu5li-
lean prints Mr.. Pendleton's speech in
full, rejoices in it as showing "the tone
and temper of the conservative masses
of the north" and says:
at is to this party that the south has
10 look for safety in the future, and il is
this party thar the south will have to
aid as unit i'll wrestling power from
the hands of the radicals. One of the
most gratifying signs of the times is
the extraordinary Goldness with which
this party Is announcing its creed, and
the zeal with which they are pressing
il upon the friends of the country"
An exchange puts the case as between
such utterauces as those OF Mr.. Pendle-
ton and the current resolutions OF
democratic conventions thus:
ait is the fashion now for the Demo
cratic papers and conventions to indorse
President Johnson's Southern policy
II they are honest in this they can
neither agree with nor tolerate such
leaders as Mr.. Pendleton. 1t is the pc
culiar and most essential feature Of
President Johnson's policy that he re-
9uires acquiescence in emancipation
not only of every reorgRniZed STATE
government, but of every southern cit
izen askingor accepting pardon. If the
democrats approve the Presidents pol
icy, they sustain this enforced acquies
cence in the freedom of the negro, ant
they cannot give countenRnce to tn,
conservative party Of the South, us Mr.
Pendleton Is doing, without showing
themselves to be false and treacherOu
III their professions of support to tn
President. They must make thei
choice between the two and stand to on
or the other. II they mean what theI
say in approving the Presidents course
they must cooperate in the work o
emancipation with the truly loyal mel
OF the South. If they intend TO strik
hands with the pro-slavery party ant
TO encourage resistance to emnncipa
ton, let them withdraw their false pro
Iessions and say boldly what they d,
mean. The matter ut issue is too i'm
pOrtant to be dealt with in the spirit o
party trickery, and the people are to,
much in earnest to be readily deluded.
IT has been intimated that the recen
Mississippi convention did not repre-
sent the people of that State, and there
fore we cannot be sure that its action