The Van Buren press., 1867-09-20
From tie Init Slarery Standard
General Grant. Senator Fessenden and
the Whole Radical Congress Floored.

Grant has at last spoken and-blunder-
ed How he stalked into the Secretary
ship, his friends boasting his great power
TO prevent mischief. What mischief has
he preyentcdY None The only power
he claimed against the President mo-
ment's thought obligcs him to renounce.
This is our practical" statesman, whose
first move is blunder, This was our
81 Michael whose resistless sword was
to NOW down the Satan Of the fallen host
Instead of that we find that he does not
even know how to draw it,
The great popular leader sinks to be
only the Presidents Secretary issuing or
derS heabhors sits like " ancient PISTOL
eating his leek and grumbling. Was
ever boastful promise followed by such
miserable failurey The General Of the
United States is to-day n weed caught in
the Presidential maelstrom, and unless
some better brains than his own come TO
the rescue, sure soon TO be swallowed in
the vortex Letno Grant man after this
call Johnson a clumsy knavc he has
found wit enough to befOol the model
leader, whose silence passed for the high
est wisdom--thc puff of whose cigar was
craftsmanship Once before there was an
animal which passed for a lion till he
spoke.
Grants friends excused the shame of
his taking StantOns office, on the ground
that he got thereby so much power to
prevent mischief What power to pre-
vent mischief has he gained by becoming
Secretary? Absolutely none His re
monstrances are wholly disregarded he
is obliged, as Secretary, to issue orders
he dislikes and wait till, as General, he
can do something to avert their sad re-
suits. Evidently then he has gained no
beneficial power by taking the War De
partment. Has he, by such an act, as
sumed position which teaches the peo-
pie What valuable lessons do the peo-
pie learn from the sight of their admired
and trusted leader befooled into this sor
ry plight by brains 50 muddled that when,
as Secretary, Grant demonstrates agninst
a mcasure,J johnson, forgetting that Grant
is anything but general, charges him
with insuborlination As if Cabi. !
net officer could be guilty of "insubor-
dination" /" We challenge the South to
produce anegro as unfit to vote as this
man shows himself to preside over
Cabinet. -
Grant has not, as Secretary, averted
any mischief Has he by taking the Of
flee reused and taught the people? TO
fasten public attention more thoroughly
on this plotted treason, to rouse them to
their duty, is worth anything but sacrifice
Has Grant done this great
public duty by taking Stanton's Office
Does chagrin at seeing his ignorance,
does disgust at Witnessing the Presidents
paltry triumph over him teach them the
the needed lesson? Every thoughtful
man sees that so far as Grants influence
is concerned the loyal masses are weaker
to day than yesterday. If Grant had in |
protested against Stanton's
and refused to accept the /.
place, that would have reused and taught
the people and made him President of the /
United States on a just platform Instead
of this the people see o-day that Grant
rushed forward to help out Stanton, sup
posing himscfto possess power ofcon-
trolling the district commanders, which !
he now confesses he has no title to. He
stands before the public convicted at
once of ignorance Of his own duties and
faithlessncss to his friend
As matters stand the only advantage
the masses gain from this event is one
more hollow idol brokcn-one more
sham exploded Grant joins Mcclellan,
to stand forever in history among the
" might have been" We by no means
undervalue this gain But the present
business of the nation is neither to break
nor to mend idols. Our present business
is to save the loyalty of the South from
plunder and death In this great emerg-
ency it appears that neither the Thirty
ninth nor the Fortieth Congress had
sense enough to draw statute that
would hold water If Grant be blum
derer, he has scores Of comrades in the
last and present Congress-
If 1861 will stand in our history as the
year Of treason, 1867 will surely stand
marked on the same page as the year Of
ounces, Treason no doubt nourishcs TO
day in Washington, but incompctency
is the dominant characteristic which dis
gusts the nation and amuses the world.
If the real government is shown in Wash
ington, then il is demonstrated that dc
mocracy is failure. A head Of the State
who would long ago have withheld it,
had not heaven graciously provided that
he should be even weaker than he was
wicked a Congrcss--ft body to fit head
ruled by q conservatism which modcstly
assumes to represent the calm wisdom
Of the nation and smiles, Malvolio like,
on its critics and sentimentalsts The
result ofthis wisdom, code which, worse
than the old sarcasm, not only lets the
big Williams through, but cannot even
catch the small ones
What can we expect Of practical com
mon sense from Senate which follows
Fessenden 40 a leader man Of whom