St. Mary's gazette., 1867-07-18
The Poisoned Ch1lice.

clearer opposition tn the le''e' a",'
. .,.;en, Constitution, aud, indeed
., nreseptative government as 1t has oeen
,ndcrstood in this country since the days
~ Washington, than in its conduct towards
,o,;,ca, onoonents who have applied tor
,dmission to seats in Congress since Tue
.loso Of our late civil war. An opposition
{, Congress sufficiently powerful to make
,.or fen and feared by the dominant par
" in the government, has ex'steo IN '''s
n,r, from. the first administration OF
Washington up TO the time we are oonslo-
.r;nc and heretofore this opposlten mas
been held by writer's of all shades OF po-
Et;cal opinion. not only to be useful to no
o,,, hnt to be a necessity Of our national
health But there should not only exist
two parties in system of government iiAe
o,r. 70 watch each other, bat these parties
.bou,d be sufficiently strong and 'ndepen-
ao,, " check each other. The co-orcl-
49,. yr,nchcs of our government have
,bc;r foundation in this idea by 'o"e
.,r,npe and incxplicab!c law OF political
gravity, parties heretofore in this country
have approximated each other IL ~e'en'
and strength in the government Gener-
ally, in domestic politics, if one party nao
the executive, the other had congress OF
n, least such an opposition in Congress as
compelled the dominant party to 1espe''
it, opinions and wishes Aud Win ire
onent alterations in power between these
nort;es the ms beiag always faced oy
strong opposition, our system OF govern"
n,.,t has worked harmoniously and
successfully for three quarters of a centu-
rv Now all has changed. The conser-
,,,;ves have the President, indeed, but
Congress has made him cyphcr IN 'ne
covo,nmcpt and ha, substituted IT'S will ID
r,,cc Of the Constitution as the rule anu
measure of his conduct Congress, III
fact has usurped nearly all the valuable
o,.cut;vc powers of the government, and,
inflated with these and other usurpations'
the dominant party of that body has been
for come time. and is now engaged, IN
crushing out by the foulest of outraSes
nearly every vcstigc of ofleslslatlve oppos'-
lion TO its will. We pass over its cen
,ures and expulsions Of political opponents
during the war, and como down to the
present time and to the recent cases OF
Kentucky and Maryland. Against no
single delegate from either OF these
S,.,cs bos nm overt act of treason been al
legged. In every case the delegate has
been denied admission to his seat upon
tho ground-not that he had been faith
los, TO the Consttution-bu that he had
onnosed some three or four years ago the
war policy of the government. In PLAN
,e,m. il was because he had held during
The war to the faith of the democr attic par
ty as interpreted by Pierce and Buchan-
an, because he had opposed tho Lincoln
no,;cv Of coercion, and because he opposes
the radical policy now, that he has been
denied admission to his seat. After all,
i 10 the offence last named that has
eon,ummated the exclusion of the Ken
.ucky and Maryland delegation from their
seats in Congress. From the previous ac-
t;on Of the radicals. no candid man can
doubt, if these delegates had favored the
present radical policy, we should have
heard nothing ofthcir disloyal antecedents,
supposing them to have been disloyal.-
Congress. within the last two years admit
ted Tennessee radical to his seat who is
acknowledged by his own friends to have
committed an overt act of treason during
the war. 1t is present and future politi-
,,l acgrandizcment, and not fear or ha-
tired of the worst past dsloCalty. that in
sp;rcs the acticn of Congress in regard to
the delegates from Maryland and Ken
tucky. But once admit this new radical
principle. that men fairly elected, with
proper certificates from the governors of
their States, are to be denied admission to
their seats merely upon partizan consider
ations. and what is the result =? The coun-
try sinks at one full swoop to the wretch
ed level of Mexican politics. Parties are
not slow to practice the prescription they
have endured, and thus, with the admis-
sion Of every new party to power in the
nation. will commence reckless and ille-
gal prescription of their political opponents.
Al present it Is our political friends that
are debarred their just rights of rcpresen-
tation- that are the Objects of partizan
prescription Tomorrow, it may be the
radicals who are on the tread mill, Then
il may be. that the ingredients Of the
poisoned chalice they have forced others
70 driLk of may be commended with liter
est to their own lips. There would be at