The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-14
ssThe Pnth to Pence.,,


speaks for the thought, the culture,
and, we may add, the loyalty of the Demo
cratic party. Besides being by far the ablest,
and in many respects one of the most fair and
candid of the opposition journals, it is the
acknowledged organ of that part of the Demo
cratic party which has learned something from
che events Of the past five years. In this re-
spect it is almost as widely separated from
such papers as our Democratic morning con-
temporary Of this city, and the ordinary run
Of blind, fanatical "Copperhead" journals, as
Is the Tribune itself.
There is a scholarliness fairness, and an
intellectual viyacity about its leading articles
which make them pleasant to read, even when
one cannot adopt their arguments or endorse
Eheir views. 1t is a very fair representative of
that large and influential class of our fellow
citizens who were truly loyal to the Govern
ment during the war, but who do not wish to
give up the name and organization of the
Democratic party. That class constitutes by
no means majority of the party, but with
the Republicans it constitutes very large
majority of the whole people.
We accept this manifesto in the spirit in
which it is made, as an honest attempt to
settle the fundamental and vital questions
growing out of the late convulson through
which our country has passed, and thus to
remove them from the arena of partisan
politics. The end is a laudable one and every
contribution towards it should be welcomed
by all who have the good of the country at
heart. As the World well remarks:-
''The questions now inlissue penetrate to the
very foundations of our political system; they
passions Of human nature. These questions
are too deep-reaching and too unsettllng to
be safely kept open and made the football
OF party violence in successive Presidential
elections"
What, then is the settlement of these ques-
tions which the World proposes 1t premises
that any settlement, to be durable, must receive
the assent of from two-thirds to three-fourths
of all our citizens, else the minority will not
despair of subsequent reversal of the verdict;
and it suggests that such settlement should
be fortified with constitutional guarantees. Its
essential fairness, however, should commend
it to the judgment of the great body of the
people, and to this end the World says:-
'It must furnish adequate security TO the
Union; to the rights of the States TO the just
not least to he Interests and capabilities ofthe
negro race No settlement can stand 1Uhich does
NOT combine and hdrOaize these several clements
on basis adapted TO The present situation and
cOnStdeTote TO them alt"
1t is something, we must confess, to secure
such an avowal as this from the leading Demo
cratic journal of the State of New York, on the
heels of fifty thousand majority for its party.
1t shows that the logic of events has not been
barren of effect on the brain and talent of that
organization. We see nothing in this proposed
scheme to which sound Republican might
not assent. Give as adequate security to the
Union to the rights of the States; to the just
claims of the public creditors; and to the in
terests of the colored citizen, and we have
nothing more to ask. American politics then
reverts to its legitimate work of discussing
and determining policies in Government all
of whose fundamentals are fixed. Parties must
then take new departure, and men will seek
political associations on new and less vita
Issues. Much, very much, is gained when the
best thought of the nation is thus shown to
gravitate to a common point.
The mode by which the World proposes to
reach this settlement is, first, general con-
ference of Heading men from the whole country
and fairly representing all the interests to be
consulted.
1t suggests such men as Wade Hampton
Governor Orr, Ex-Governor Brown, Alexander
II. Stephens, ETC., from the South such Re-
publiOans as Hamilton Fish, William c..
Bryant, Henry Ward Beecher, and Horace
Greeley, and the 'soundest and wisest" men
OF the Democratic party. Such conference,
1t thinks, consisting of sixty or eighty men
of eminent standing, ripe experience, and per-
suasive temper, would succeed in finding
some solution of our national difficulties which
would lift the Union out of the slough of party
politics, and reGstablish it on the only basis
whereon itcan stand-that of comprehensive,
all-adjusting equity. Any propositions which
. conference so composed should agree in re-
commencing would probably be so intrinsi-
oally fair, so marked by considerate and recon-
CLING justice, that they would command q
popular support wide enough to put them into
the Constitution, if that should be deemed
Aheir fittest embodiment"
The World acknowledges that the negro
question is the knotty point in the whole diff
Guilty; but it answers that from the very
nature Of the conflict all parties must abat
something Of their claims to secure the per
Inanence of what is granted. The extrem
..ortv ~, ona side demands Immediate and uni