The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-10-18
Result ofthe Elections.

Result of the Elections.
The Nashville Union dild Anl,7icun, in
the following well-considcrcd article ON the
result of the late elections, takes u more
hopeful view than the majority of our
Southern exchanges. We fear that our
cotemporary is almost too sanguinc. but
hope he may be correct:
1t does not sensbly change the political
condition, and is significant only III the
fact that it entities the radical Congress to
claim that their action has been sustained
by majority of the people iii those
States, and encourages the artful and am
bilious leaders OF that body to abate no
thing of their audacious attempts to rule
tho nation in the interests Of a sectional
party, and III violation Of the Constitution;
and to impede the patriotic efforts of the
President to restore the Union, TO rc-cs-
tablish peace under the purely civil forms
winch our systc'a of Government contcm-
plates, and to rc-assure the public tran
guilty by guarantee Of equal ara impair
tlal rights W Inc citizens OF every section
of the country. We confess that this is d
deplorab!e result, but it is one not uncx-
pccted i'll the calculations of any one who
has closely observed events for the past
few months, and therefore should not sink
those who hoped for 4 different result i'll
the slough of dependency, or cause them
to relax III effort to avert from themselves
and the nation the rntoward consequences
which may cnsuc. We do not under-rate
the significance of expressions Of the popu-
lar sentiment. but as 4 people we arc prone
to m agnify the effects Of elections In the
first flush of 4 triumph at the ballot-box,
the successful party cXults, and cXaggc-
rates the Importance of their achievement;
while the defeated party suffers q CORES
ponding depression, and, beng in the
mood to cuncedc all that its opponent
claims. gives way to gloomy vaccinations,
and commences to cOnjurc up hOrrifviny
images of the future. There is ssomc-
thing t No much of this" and we can per
cclvc nU reason IN the result Of the recent
elections 10 indulge the fcals that some
express of further and extreme action bv
the radicals, either looking to impeaci-
mcnt of the President, or more direct
revolutionary assaults upon the Constitu-
ton, or greater expressions upon the
Southern people. In it there is no ground
to justify dismissal of all hope that tho
Northern people arc not utterly insensiblt.
to justice and maSnanimity, and that they
have cast their constitutional obligations
entirely to the winds. 1t does not show
that the masses of the North are prepared
to support the more reckless of their lead
ers In the bold schemes of revolution
which they have promTl gated. We think
that any one who so interprc.s the result
is yielding too readily to the first feelings
of gloom that follow II political defeat, and
an opinion
1t should be borne in mind that, by the
shrewdncss of radical politicians, the real
Issue i'll these elections has been avoided
and the popular mind diverted from the
consideration If the main question, which
Is the preservation of the Governments
under the Constitution, from the nvidious
dangers which lurk in the licentious abuse
of nndelcgated power by the party now in
the asccndancy. This grave and really
threatening problem which the people will
have to solve, sooner or later, if they save
the substance of their liberties in this
contest, has been ingeniously concealed
anu postponed III the recent canvass. The
people of the North have pronounced no
opinion upon this question fairly and justly
presented. Their judgment and reason
have not been consulted. On the contrary,
they have been lashed into commissions OF
passion, and elcctioneering has been ap-
Piled exclusively to their feelings and pre-
Judices. Amid scnseless clamor about
''copperheadism, and intlammatory ex-
hortatlons against rebels, and under the
influence of fears excited that by the re-
admission of the Southern States to their
lawful and rightful status in the Federal
Union, the Government would again pass
under the control of those still hostile to
its integrity, the unscrupulous lea ders
have contrived to shuttle their ncfarious
schemes to the bottom of the pack, and
coZen many honest and wcll-meanng citi-
zens into their support. These elections,
III onr opinion, mean this and nothing
more. The effect is detrimental to the
early return of conservative rule in the
counsels of the country, it is true, but they
do not signify a deliberate support of u
spirit OF revolution, such as will take form
i'll the impeachment OF the President The
boldest and most wicked of the leaders
who have melted the popular feeling of
the North to this pitch, upon a close calcu-
a Y IpN7 - laa, I.N
that twenty thousand majorities in States
that cast from quarter to half million
votes each, do not afford sanction or en-
couraScment to their schemes. We have
confidence that ultraism does not dare vet
to go beyond the point it has reached
We commend to our conservative friends.
in this season of depression, the example.
Of the President. He stands firm and un-
dismaye1 on the r:;iii'arts OF the Constitu-
ton, and is confident that the judgment of
his countrymen will, when brought to-
know the danger, yet rescue the nation.