The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-10-19
CUBRENT TOPICS.

Il
=. --,,, ~ predicate on the failure of several
- ;orrnals which have been started in this |.
,o,,ntr the total absence of the comic element IN
orr ~, rent literature The failure Of these jour-
nals notwithstanding the recognized talent OF
many of their contributors by pen and pencil can
.os;lv be accounted for by variety OF reasons
MT the least of which is the fct that almost every
ore of them has been tho organ OF chque-a
fact fatal to anything like catholiciy IN views oi
either persons VI things. Moreover, as tne ne
rail- has often intimated, it is the haDlt Vi .ne
American mind to look for wit ana huHor' nos IL
a journal specially devoted to these enn'eniis
Qualities but rather in some corner VI ainioe'
everv newspaper. Consequently, acoordhs u 'ne
Grand law OF supply and demand, storles' anec-
dotes and iokes are to be found IN almost every
American newspaper, relieving agreoaby the drlest
5ot,;ls or news and the dreariest dissertations on
,,oltica, religious or scientific TOPICS. The an
nusl aggregate Of witticisms chich are thus scat
tered throughout the columns OF our daily newspa-
narsfsr exceeds the ffty-two jokes year. which,
according to Emerson, are all that can be ex-
pected from Punch or Charivari. The lambent
play of hun or in the pages Of Washington Irving,
the keen wit OF Oliver Wendell Holmes, "a follow
of infinite jest"-briehy. the characteristics OF
each of long list of humorists, from Jack
Downins" to the author OF the "Biglow Pspef''
the author Of the Georgia Scenes" to "biil arp
| "Artemus Ward" "Josh Billings" Mrs. Parting
ton" and "Mark Twain"-amply illustrate tho
claims of American W to recognition Tor indlVidu
ality. local colorng and power, whatever oD]ecton
nav be made to its proclivity to exaggerauon.
And # must be conceded that OF ate great i'm
,rovenent is manifest in the illustrations OF some
~ the professedlv comic papers which have re-
tanned an extensive circulation. Poorly enough
executed in comparison with those OF some Oh Inc
European Journals OF eimiar class, they exhibit,
nevertheless, decided progress. They are far Det-
ter than formerly in drawing and they really attest
greater fertility OF invention tuan many OF their
transatlantic models Moreover, they are, for the
most part. quite up to the times in their selec-
tions of topics, and they respond promptly to the
vital interest of the American public in political
affairs.
THE Boston Post says ga Radical paper calls
upon Congress to prevent John Mitchell from puo-
,ishinq journal in New York. These Radicals
calls upon Congress to do all sorts OF things.
Tbsy will ask for Congressional Committee to e1-
anime the new building on the Common, probably,
for the sake of giving Boutwell, job" And yet, Mr.
Mitchell has no intention Of engaging in the discus
| sion of American politics. What he thinks OF the
present attitude of the two lately belgerent sec
tions. in this section is compactly stated in the
following paragraph: "'A Union Man writes to
enouire whether the Irish Citizen is designed to
sustain the cause OF the rebels in the South We
| ~ o,td roth
think, il there were any rebels there, we should
know it. rebel is one who is either actually IN
arms against the government, or who ID consplr-
ing and preparing for such an enterprise There
are no such people now in all the South; and the
persistency of some persons in applying the term
rebel TO any one there is simply insolent ribaldry
unless when it is also pretext for further oppres-
sion and pundsr. Our correspondent, il ne ID look
ing for rebels now, ought to look to the North"
| In the way of editorial programme we are told:
| SIT ia further our intention to publish In these
| columns O continuation of the work called Jail
Journal giving narrative Of the scenes in which
the writer bore part, or Of which he was spec
t.tor, from the year 1853 till the present time in
cluding an account of his personal observations in
the Confederate States-his adventures in running
the blockade-his connection with tae Richmond
press, and with leading men OF the Confsderacy-
lis imprisonment of nearly five months in Fortress
.donros without any charge against him. his ex-
periencss Of political movements and designs since
that period on both sides Of the Atlantic, &c"
THuRIow WEED acknowledges that negro su-
premacy is dead, and warns the Radicals against
deceiving themselves. He says: "The result did
not turn half so much on the question whether
colored men should voto in Ohio as whether VIC
should by military law convert the Carolinas,
Georgia, Louis lana, Alabama, Mississippi, &C..
into st. Domingos. 1t was not whether negroes
should vote in Ohio, but whether negross should
be voted for in Southern States. Indeed, it was
for this distinctly that the question was submitted
Chiss Justice Chase and Senator Wade were rivals
for the negro vote. The former bid for it in
speeches in South Carolina. The latter played for
it in the Senate Each relied upon that element
in the Radical National Convention for a nomina-
ton. They could not in decency refuse to allow
the colored people Of Ohio to vote, while they de-
manded negro suffrage in rebel States, and ex-
pected that Congress would force negro suffrage
upon Maryland and Kentucky. They thought the
Republican party strong enough to carry it, as it
would have been if the game had been played less
desperately. They charged their piece too heaviI
ly. The petard hoisted its engineer
TIE NEW YORK TINES of Wednesday says: ''The
Charleston Mercury, speaking Of the resolution
adopted by Congress in 1863, declaring that the
object Of the war was the preservation OF the
Union, and that when this object should be ac-
comptshed, the war ought TO stop, says tina this
deceived the Southern people and caused cessa-
ton of the war; Nothing could be more shame
less or offensive than such declaration. Tho
Mercury knows perfectly well that this resolution
had nothing whatever to do with the cessation Of
the war. The South continued the war for more
than two yelrs after it was adopted, and stopped
fighting only because their armies wers scattered
and they had nothing to fight any longer with. 1t
| is not easy to imagine what good any southern
| journal hopes to accomplish by such glarng mis-
statements Of the most notorious Iacts. The,r
only effect is to convince the people OF the North
that the spirit of the rebellion is strong and az
rampant as ever. And they have done infinite
harm by giving the ultraists and Radicals show
of warrant for tL,;r prolonged and bitter warfare
upon the people of the South"
THE COLUMBUS STATESMAN of Monday, gives
Hayes (Republican) majority OF 1850, anu says I:
| eve do not think the official count will change
these figures very materially 1t will be seen that
while losing the State ticket, the Democracy have
gained 40, ,946 votes in one year, and this notwth-
standing the undoubted polling of nearly 5000 ille-
gal negro votes il Cleveland, Xenia, and other
cities of the State" The Cleveland Leader, of
Saturday in an article upon the result of the cleo
ton in Ohio, says: "The smoke Of battle has
lifted, and we are able to see the result with al
most definite accuracy. Let us state them con-
cisely and calmly. We have saved the State ticket
by from 5000 to 5000 majority-a Republican loss
on the majority of last year of nearly 10000
retaining the entire executive government Of the
State in the hands of the Union party. The Con-
| stitutional Amendment is defeated by so large q
majority that nobody cares to figure 1t. The Le-
| gisiature is Democratic by one in the Senate and
enough to elect Democratic United States Sena-