Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-09-20
Presidential Apologies Mt st. Louis.

st. Louis was the extreme point OF the
Presidents Western tour, and his speech
there was the extreme Of bad taste and
absurdty, even when compared with his
former achievements in that line. But
a little more or less of twaddle in the old
vein has come to be q matter of no con.
sequence to the public.
There are but two points in the st.
Louis speech that will attract attention
excepting its strange utterances of
blasphemy, upon which we do not pro-
pose to comment at the present time.
One is the Presidents defense of his
course with regard to the New Orleans
riots. 1t appears to have been goaded
out of him by an interruption from the
crowd, and it was the first instance, we
believe, of his dwelling upon this sub.
jeCt. He had better have omitted even
this, for as defence it is absolutely
worse than nothing. There is an air of
guilty constituencies about the whole
style of his reference to the New Orleans
massacre which will weigh more with
the public than the severest criticisms
that have been aimed against him. AS
to argument, there is not q shadow of
it. The President merely re.echoes the
slang of Mayor Monroe and Judge Abel
against the convention. If it had any
foundation, what excuse would that
afford for the suppression Of free speech
and the shooting down of scores Of citi-
zens for no offence against the laws The
Presidents reasoning amounts but to
thls-that pardoned rebels may shoot
down men suspected of disputng their
authority, and the President Of the
United States will uphold them in so
doing! 1t is something to have such an
admission plainly set before the country.
The other interesting feature Of the
Presidents St. Louis speech is his char
acteristiC declaration in regard to the
Federal appointees, to wit, that he is
going to "kick them out" Just as fast as
he can. Abraham Liocoln'S appoint
ments are not good enough for Andrew
Johnson. He is right, they are wrong
which is another case Of the twelfth
juryman charging the other eleven
with obstinacy because they didn't
agree with him. He processes remarka-
OlC ACNC IOl CLC pSOpIC, huu 81 III ' Cl %
mont and Maine, for instance, where the
people are nearly unanimous against
any change Of Federal officers, Johnson
says: II will kick them out just as fast
as | can" Let him kick The boot
will be on the other leg by-and by. This
very declaration OF presidential despOt-
ism, couched in it's vulgar phraseology,
makes dismissal as honorable as was
the original appointment at the hands Of
Lincoln. Both will be regarded as
equal testimonials to personal integrity
and devotion to republican principles
Let it be understood, then, that one man
clothed by accident with "a little brief
authority" falsely pretending to regard
the popular will, seeks to chastise the
people of this country by wholesale
prescription of officers who have be-
come hateful to him because they are
acceptable to the loyal masses and have
proved faithful to the principles of their
appointer, and martyred President
This course is wholly consistent with
the recreant and downward career of
President Johnson, and will only inten-
sify the righteous febuke which the 10y
al country will administer at the prop
er hour.-BOstOn Journal