The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-09-19

reasonable prejudices and bad temper, who
suffers his conduct to be guided by whimsical
likes and dislikes, rather than by his judgment,
and who at all times is ready to engage in the
undignifed strife of epithets, to contend in vile
phrases and exhaust the vocabulary Of personal
abuse-such man will scarcely retain the
respect Of his associates in any grade Of life
and will be peculiarly fortunate if he is not
sooner or later ruled out of all company that
has any lingering sense of what is decent. AS
| it is with individuals and in ordinary social
| in higher relations. Between the President on
one hand and Congress on the other there has
| ragged too long already an unseemly, undigni-
fed, altogether disgraceful contention, that is
only different from the ill-natured quarrels of
common life in being worse, since in the one
case the parties to vile dispute could only
degrade themselves, while here the ountry also
must take a portion of the opprobrium-the
very national name must be dragged in the
mire At least, unless the people of the country
shall show that they are outraged by the spec
tacle, shall protest against the disgraceful con-
duct Of President and Congress together as
manifested in this pitiful quarrel, and shall indi
cate Enthusiastically the disposition to rule such
parties out of the nations councils, this war of
President and party must stand as the charac-
teristic conduct of our higher political life and
as the nations disgrace
An undue license of speech was INDUCED on
the floor of Congress in referring to Mr..
Johnsons course in the attempted recons!ruc-
ton of the Southern States and the peculiarly
violent and virulent radical leaders assailed
not only the acts but the motives Of the Pres-
dent, in terms more fitting barroom brawl than
a Congressional discussion. This was an I'M
worthy departure from the dignity Of parlia
mentary usage. Words thus spoken annoyed
and irritated the President, and he 30 far forgot
the decorum Of his high position as to exhibit
himself to the country writhing under the
smart Of that irritation. His vindictivs speech
in reply will be memorable In our history as
the first speech by which a President OF the
United States ever deliberately showed that he
had no conception Of the proprieties of his
office. Congressman in both houses showed
but too great readiness 10 descend with the
President to the lowest level disputation can
take, as if moved by the instinct that teaches
the cur to heal his wounds with his tongue. So
from one point of degradation to another the
miserable quarrel went, and all the factions
developed their games from one side to the
other of this difference. The impudence and
the atrocious principles Of the radicals, who
concealed their minority in Congress under
the noise of this dispute, had full scope. By
this dispute the republican majority, that was
conservative and inclined to mild measures,
was driven to accept the measures Of the radi-
calls for fear Of seeming to side with the Pres-
dent in what was made to appear his quarrel
with the whole party. Even the next to idotic
copperheads, who thought, with Machiavel-
ian fancy, that by voting with the radicals and
helping to carry their extreme measures they
might frighten the country, even they fell in
to be the mere tools Of those who started the
fight and the political sentiment and tone Of
that quarrel affects the way in which politics are
| discussed ever since. The latest speech of the
| Vice President Of the United States outdoes the
most violent of the Presidents own diatribes,
and not long since the same distinguished poll
tican deliberately proposed the overturning OF
the old established order of society.
Must we 60 on thus from bad to worse, and
follow to its last result the direction given to
political events by the disgraceful quarrel OF
| the President aud the factions? IL there no
| stopping place short Of absolute national de-
graduation! There is but one way to effect
| change. The moderate and sensble people, the
respectable masses Of the republican party
that vast indefinite body Of thinking men that
form the nation and cannot become the tools of
| the factions-these must come out, boldly, open
| " and distinctly, and declare against the radi-
| cal faction, the so-called conservative faction,
| the copperhead faction, and the President with
the rest. They must throw over all the parties
to this quarrel that have disgraced the nation
and turned public attention aside from the
great important issues Of the hour They must
form q new party around new men, or around
men not committed to the perpetuation of dis
graceful strife. They must take up the men OF
the war; the men whom the factions In this
quarrel have driven to the four winds. Let
the people vote now In the coming cleo
tons against the radical tickets everywhere,
and pile up in Pennsylvania and New York a
great majority that shall tell in no equivocal
way that they have opened their eyes to the
nations danger. And upon the strength OF
such majorities, upon the confidence they will
give to the people in their own power, the
masses may rally round some one Of the coun-
try's great leaders--around Grant, Sheridan,
sickles or McClellan-and form party that
will demolsh oil radical or other opposition
to the peoples will.