The Portland daily press., 1866-04-10

ed SO lightly still shine in our skies with I'M
diminished lustre. Let us thank God, that
Practice, which always lags, has overtaken the
Theory of 1776; that what was then generous,
belief has now become legal fact; that at last,
wherever the American flag flies, there shall
be freedom and equal rights for all beneath its
The President and the Connecticut Election.
Most men are disposed to believe by this
time, that there is discrepancy between the
views of the President and of the party which
elected him to Office. The party which elected
Mr.. johnson, is the party which conducted the
affairs of the country, through war to victory,
and now desires to establish a permanent peace
on basis ofequal rights for all black and white,
North and South. The party which now pro-
fesses to support Mr.. johnson, is the party
which opposed and hindered the war while
that was possible, and now vainly seeks to de-
feat the inevitable consequences of the war
Whether he means it or not, the President has
lent himself to the purposes of these men,
criticisms of the civil rights law touch not
the methods only but the very spirit of tie
law. ' -.l''i
II these statements are true, they cannot be
too strongly insisted upon. There is nothing
10 be gained by crying peace, when there is no
peace. We know nothing of Andrew John
sons purposes" his acts we believe are I'M
wise and dangerous. Whether he will hear
or whether he viii forbear, it is the right and
it lis the duty of his fellow citizens to remon-
strate, with voice, vote and pen, against the
misuse of his official opportunities; and it is,
to say the least, grave error of judgment, to
inisinterpret or attempt to put out of sight
popular verdict already rendered against the
Presidents policy. .-a
We regret to be drawn into discussion with
our protested friends but the following extra
ordinary paragraph from the Bangor Times
leaves us no alternative: 1905 40
AS WE EXPECTED. Certain prints are
claiming that President johnson threw all his
official influence against the Union candidate
for Governor in Connecticut. This is wholly
enthusiastically false. The issues betaceen
he EIecutiue and Congress ,ocre not connect
ed ,ctth the contest at all. But the merely par
tlsan press never admit the truth if an I'M
$500 "A>~ ~fPSesA w 5CktS talClT PURPOSES DoI-
ter. helif s}- 80 $500
The Press is one of the "certain prints"
here accused of circulating statements wholly
and gratuitously false. The rest are-all the
professedly Republican newspapers in Maine
or in the Union, SO far as we know, except
the New York Times and its Bangor name
sake. When an accusation so sweeping and
reckless as this, is set a1oat by a journal
which has hitherto claimed to be governed by
apeculiarly nice sense of honor and decorum.
1t demands attention. A too frequent repeti-
ton of such baseless charges would sink the
Times to the level of the Eastern argus. sa
i The prevailing impression has been SO unan-
i mous there is such an abundance of materi-
al wherewith to refute this ill considered al
legation, that.one hardly knows where to be-
GIN On the one hand, the New York Torld
has said, "We had our trump card president
Johnson's, intimation OF his wishes) but little
more than week." On the other, the Bos-
ton Adoertiser calls attention to the fact that
the influence exerted by the President swas
used in the most effective way possibIe.Y He
removed no man from Office, but yet by his
conduct created the idea that the true way
for office-holders to retain his favor, was to |
vote for English-thus exerting an influence
not only on the Office holders but also on all
who wanted to occupy their places
But the facts are notorious. Postmaster
Cleveland, of Hartford, wrote to the President
more than week before the election, saying.
II am now engaged in publicly advocating the
election Of James E. English as candidate for
Governor of Connecticut-a gentleman who is
openly committed to the support of your veto,
70 the defense of your speech of the 22d of
February, and of your policy of restoration in |
opposition to the disunionists Of Congress-
Upon Mr.. Cleveland's letter the President en-
dorsed, "your political action in upholdinq
my measures and policy, Is approved" and |
returned the letter to its writer. Does any
body suppose the President so unsophisticated |
as not to know what use would be made of |
that document Ifso, here is something vet
palmer. General Hawley had declared at
Norwich, early in the campaign. that be did
not approve OF the veto of the freedmen,s bu.
reau bill, nor of the Presidents 22d Febuorv
speech. A few days before the election d;s,
patch was published, over the President,s
name, in which he said, II am for the cand;-
date who is for the general policy and the
specific measures promulgated in my annual
message, veto message, speech of the 22d Feb
rl1ary, and the veto message sent in to-day
There can be no mistake in Misi" No, we
should think not. But if there can be no mis-
take, as the President says, what is the proper
name for the assertion of the Times, that "the
issues between the Executive and Congress
were not connected with the contest at alp?
THE DEMOCRATIC "FlNGER.n-John Van
Buren,, in his late Albany speech, said:
sit is remarkable that all the Federalists |
who have been elected have died in office and
the Vice Presidents who have succeeded iha,,,
have been good Democrats. Harrison Tsn,
Tor and Lincoln died, and good Democrats
succeeded them. Do you not see the finger
of Providence ?" eei
We see the finger very clearly-it is the |
right foreiinger, resting on a trigger, immedi- |
ately behind MIR. Lncoln's head. We see tha |