The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-10-11
The Tour of the Southern LOyalists a
failure, and the reason whereof.

Now and then really excellent and patriot
ic men deplore the disposition of Southern
newspapers to reproduce in their columns ex-
tracts from the speeches, Or writings of incen-
diary writers and speakers who are now ma
ligning the Southern people for their party
purposes The argument used by these
quiet people in objection to reproduction and
discussion of these utterances assumes the
very thing to be proved, when with one
voice they aliege that ait does no good. -
This is precisely the point at issue between
the journalist and his amiable crit ics That
fearless and proper discussion of affairs and
bold challenge of faIsehood and denuncia-
ton Of pretenders does have a good affect can
be shown by numberless facts. One of these
is worth stating. When the 'Fire tried
Unionsts assembled in Philadelphia, the
Southern press showed that the mass of
these men were pretenders, having neither
house, nor home, nor kith, nor kin, nor con-
stituents in the States they insolently at
tempted to represent" And the antecedents
of General" Jack Hamilton, who adored Pres
ton Brooks, and his colleagues, who utter
frebrands as easily as tho bad young woman
in the fairy tale did Scorpions, were laid be-
fore the public. Having tried grass and fail
ed, we peted them with stones. Tho result
will be gathered from the following extract
from the Journal of Commerce.
at is pitable, disgraceful to our Northern
| society and morals that a man should be well
coined, embraced, honored, before young and
| old, by men and women, especially in New
England, who is the companion of prostitutes,
and has even been brought before police
court quite recently in the midst of such as
sociates. l. is no less disgraceful that bold
blasphemy, characterzing more than one of
these travellers, should be accepted as wit and
eloquence by men protesting respect for reli-
J gion. Nor is this all. 1t is now beyond
question that the stock in trade of these men
has all along been falsehood instead of truth
One after another of their stories is met with
perfect proof of its entire falsity The result
of all this is, that we have here set of men
of bad personal reputation, convicted of bear
ing false witness, and yet, received by men
of good character, feasted and paid, and sent
ou tneI way IcJolcluS' why Is tnlS1 Leu
the question be respectfully but urgently
pressed on the attention of respectable men
in the towns visited by these wandering poll
ticians. Certainly the gentlemen in any city
or village who presents these people to the
public, must assume some share of RESPONSE
bility for them. In business circles a man
who introduces another to his friends as
trustworthy would lose all personal standing
if it turned out that he knew all the time
that the person he endorsed was not
trustworthy. Can any gentlemen ex-
pect to retain the respect of society
when they give countenance to boon
companions of the lowest classes, to men no.
toriously immoral, and introduce them to the
young men and young women of their cities
and villages?
The tour of the so-called Southern loyal
lists" through the North has been a failure for
political purposes; but that is of small i'm
portance in view of the fact that it has been
of great influence for evil on the young as
we'll as on the old, in moral view