Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1863-1866, 1866-02-23
The Bane Of ,he south.

L-4AAs4 49,. = aNS
rfs,a The Bane OF the sOHth.d
The leaders of the late rebellion in
the South do not err on the side of mod
estY. On, the contrary, they deport
themselves as il they had been doing
something exceedingly praisewOrthy-
The presumption is that they do not
feel guilty, but regard themselves as
having merely faded in an undertaking
which was in itself highly meritorious.
Very certain is it that they are con-
strained by neither conjunction nor
delicacy from accepting public office,
even under the Government they have
Just been striving to oyerthrovi and
seem rather the more ready to push
themselves forward as candidates by
reason of what has occurred. Unfcr
tunately, too, the great mass of the
Southern people look upon their leaders
in treason in any other light than that
of culprits, and persist in advancing
them to responsible positions, greatly In
preference to men who have been con
sistently loyal The result ia that the
South is rapidly drifting back to her old
position, passing under the control of
the very men who have wrought all her
wO
Who that is loyal will not say that this
state Of things isto be regretted Its
effect upon the Southern leaders is not
to make them more loyal, but on the
contrary, as their participation in trea-
son has only added to- their popularity,
the very opposite result must be the con-
sequence. As long IS rebel can be
elected to Office in the South over
Union man, ambitious men will natural
" strive to establish regulations for dis
loyalty. Nor can the influence of these,
leaders, when in Office, tend to the pro.
duction of loyal sentiment among the
people. They will do nothing to weaken
their own power IF the people become
loyal, they know very wellthat they will
be looked upon with aversion. This they
will labor to avoid as long as they can,
and hence viii endeavor to keep the
peoples minds inhamed against the
Government as means of self-protec-
ton. Nor will the young men of the
South, under their tutelsge, grow up
with sentiments of Affection for the flag
Of their country Instead of becoming
patriots, they win rather learn to be reb.
els. Patriotism will not be a popular
virtue, while that staggering hraVado so
freely inddlged throughout the South,
before and during the war, about the
superiority of the Southern people and
their fright to live independently of the
Yankees" will 60 on yielding the same
fruits it has already borne. Fl
What the remedy for this evil is seems
manifest enough. The old political
leaders of the South should be laid upon
the shelf, and a new and better class of
men should take their places. They
have long been the bane of the South,
being responsible for her present diff
culties, and threatening to involve her
only in greater ones. Nor is there any
hope of reform on their part. Their
past records stand in the way, making it
matter of pride with them to Justify
what they have already done, by doing
it, again. The entire education of the
Southern political school has been to
chain men in their prejudices, leading
them to believe most religiously in the
superior wisdom of their own opinions.
The lessons which they have been
| taught are of all the most difficult to
unlearn. In fact it is thus far demon
strated that the great body of Southern
political leaders are thorough Bourbons
in the tenacity with which they adhere
to their peculiar views. Defeat the
most terribly overwhelming has failed
to shake their 6delity.to the theories
they have INDUCED Once traitors to
their Government, they seem deter
mined to remain such to the last
Hence, to secure better state of things
in the South, il is indispensable that the
old leaders should be gotten rid of, and
new class of men, with new ideas,
should rise up to take their places. |
That such men exist in the South is far
more than probable, although for the
time they are overborne and repressed |
BY the weight of men of the old order. |
Whatever policy will, therefore, lead to |
the rspii deposing of the present lead
'ers of Southern opinion will prove the
greatest of blessings to that section.
The rigid enforcement of the test oath |
for members Of Congress and occupants
of all positions of trust and profit under
the Government will tend in that direc-
ton, and should be most sternly adher- |
ed to. But this in itself, we greatly ap-
prehend, will not be sufficient to work
cure, The remedy should be one which will /
go to the seat of the disease, in reach
ing the popular heart, by making it pat /
riotics destroy its confidence in the men
who have led it astray. Such a remedy, I
ample in every respect, as we believe,
exists. Of its efficiency we have no
doubt, because we have seen it fully /
tested in our own midst What we al /
Jude to is q Radical party-simifar to
that which rules Missouri-for every
Southern State. Such party speedily |
overthrows the idols which the priest.
hood of slavery have set up, and BY APP
pesling directly to the patriotism of the
people, calls out the men who, by their
principles and abilities, are fitted to /
govern Until such Q party is organ
lied throughout the entire South, and /
has made its influence felt in all her
political operations, we greatly fear that
any process of reconstruction which may
be resorted to will sigrally fall 7sla
At present the tendency of things
throug bout the greater portion Of the
South is backward--in the direction of /
the very evils by which that section has
already been so terribly scourged. There /
is not as much loyalty apparent now as
there was soon after the termination of
the war, or perhaps, more properly
speaking, there is more disloyalty dis.
played. The reason, we have already
indicated, is the favorable prominence
given to men that were leaders in the
rebellion. Such men have been elected
to high ,ofiees-to Congress- to the
United States Senate, to goveraorships,
and, in fact, to all positions controlled |
by the popular voice. Nor can we see
that this tendency is likely to be soonsl