The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-02-01
A rhouxhtfui Letter from DE-. Bashy.

4 Thoughtful Letter from DE. n"e
OF one thing / can hardly be mistaken,
namely, IL Is the settled opinion OF southern
gentlemen who have been here In some.
what of representative capacity .na'
terms NAV he had of the party IN power,
tha, Il 4. ,mnortapt to obtain terms, anu
Tho, !, 4, well.n;eh useless TO look for neIp
O. .ha Democratic party Of the North. vi
s.har thine / am no less certain, TO
~ .h.t u 1, the unanimous opinion OF the
~aiIsnf little band Of Democrats In Con
eress. Of leading Democrats out OF Con-
90. and of newspapers not Democratic,
sn, ,,h;ch ere battling with the Democracy
g. hsh.If of Conservatism, that the south
n.nnos RELY on the promises Of the hepuo-
i;n.ns that n the South does rely on these
n,omises abe will be deceived, and not
pnIv that but that she will be deserving the
only marty which prstends to uphold and
maintain the Constitution.
Further, il is the opinion Of Conserva-
tiyes here that the rapid. disintegration
which the Constitution is now undergoing
at the hands of the Republicans must in
evitably lead TO strife. The excitable
class Of Conservatives think this strife will
be precipitated at an early day, perhaps
By the impeachment Of the President
(should that ever occur), but cooler heads
believe that no resistance will be made
until the new form of government begins
to bear oppressively on the people-and II
will not be very long before this is the case.
Dodge, of New York, for example, states
that the commercial interests of the coun-
try are even now suffering grievously. Yet
nj the very moment the Supreme Court is
stricken down (by the Bingham bill, which
the Democrats fought so heroicaiiy) we
see gold declining.
Another strange feature OF the times Is
this: While Democratic members beiieVe,
or profess to believe, that the Republicans
are destroying the Constitution and under
mining the liberties of the country-erect-
Ing, in fact, an odious despotism, and paving
the way to untold civil troubles-they are,
both upon the floor Of the House and So
cially, on terms, not only of courtesy, put
OF intimacy and personal friendship with
these same would-be aSsassins OF pubic
liberty. OF course there are exceptions
bat as rule, the two sides Of the House
are on perfectly good terms with each
other. Your readers may construe this
anomaly as best they can. To me it is an
unreliable riddle, from which | do not
even venture to draw an inference. So
far as l can Judge, after much personal IN
tercourse, the Democrats are as earnest
and determined a set of men as l ever
say, faiiy alive to the perls which menace
the Republic, and in the last degree anx-
ious to preserve the Constitution without
the shedding of blood, and by the simple,
lawful, and fraternal mode Of combining
the Conservative forces Of the whole coun-
trv. That combination the Republicans
intend TO prevent, cost what it may.
To complete this picture of the pollti-
cal situation in Washington at the present
time, it remains only to introduce the
figure of the President in his true attitude.
This, to be frank, is out of my power. Best
accounts say he is not alarmed, not shaken
in the least, but full of hope; indeed,
siuCularly sanguine. His immediate fol-
lowers are equally sanguine. But the
party which sustains him and fights for
him have little trust in him, no warmth or
affection for him. They do not look to
him as a leader. What is worse, they
have q one to look to as leader. To
sum u in breath, if were asked what is
10 be the end of these things, should say
"People are paying court to General
Grant, as court was never paid before to
military cheitain in the United States."-
WaShington Letter in Charleston Mercury.