The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-04
The Duty OF the COuntry-The Presl-
DENTS Power Must he Broken.
From he ~. Y. Tribune.

DENTS Power Must Ne Broken.
From Ue ~. Y Tribune.
We trust the friends of the country viii not
be lulled into false hopes in reference to the
President. A careful study of his character and
Of the principles governing his Administration
makes us feel that as ruler he Is not 70 be
trusted, and that he must be watched with sus-
picion and anxiety. We do not say word in
derOgation of the dignity OF the Presidential
office That Office is so exalted, and Its powers
so vast and dfaTreaching, that we owe IL to our
graded. The President has degraded It, He
has made his Administration q shameful page
in our history. The country must not permit
the page to close without a proper recompense
Our rulers may dishonor their office. We must
not dtshonor ourselves.
men as the gigantic demagogue Of America.
This is saying a good deal when we consider
produced. Aaron Burr, Calhoun, Van Buren,,
Pierce, Douglas. and Buchanan are enough for
one century. They had redeeming qualities
Mr. johnson has shown none. His devotion to
the Homestead law, as Senator, was noticeable.
Men did not fail to see, however, that while
this devotion was forced upon him by his class,
he sustained In John @. Breckenridge party
tnat allHeu 10 reduce ms cl3ss DeloW Ine level
OF the negro slave. While he prolessed to give
labor q home, he voted to have it sold on the
auction-blOck. When the war came, he gave
the Union cause a mild and incoherent sup
port. In this also, he followed his class. and
we presume he was not slow to follow it by rea-
son of the indignities he received from the
men who created the Southern Confederacy.
He was made Military Governor of Tennessee,
and was roaring radical. He ruled his State
with more sternness than any of our military
commanders He raved about the Union and
the himself and ae Moses
champion. The people made him Vice-Pre-
sident. Peace came; and in the first sunny,
healing hours of peace this demagogue rOared
for war. The sword had done Its work; he
shrieked for the scatfold. He wanted new
Jeffries in the South, and BloodyAssizesin in every
State. The spirit of vengeance had no morein-
satiate disciple. II his advice had been taken,
our victories would have been as tnhuman as
those of Escobedo and Diaz. Gods inscrutable
providence made him PRESIDENT and the
part which has been so eminently illustrated
by JUarez, himself sought to repeat the trea'
sons of Charles the Second and the obstinate
eruelties of James. Power transformed him
from the demagogue of radicHlism to the dema-
gogue of slavery. His purblind, narrow vision
that might be "conciiated," and in the North
aiNnn Democratic ratio party that NaRrg might renew the
ton, and the e Rebellion We had no
more of the Moses leading down.
trodden race to the Promised Land, no more
ing for blood The demagogue saw political
n the tbe %oSH %oWer epe to
answer the high commands of justice, he
thought that the nation had similar inability.
JmDued with q prejudice which had come To
him with his birth and condition, he sought to
make it principle. He had used the negro for
might retain power Never in ear nest himself
about emancipation, he could not feel that the
country was terribly in earnest. A demagogue
in his soul, he saw only in his fellow-citizens
nation of wire-pulling and wire-pulled dema-
Men may be false but nations never. The
people saw what their Chief Magistrate could
biushed over the exhibition he made as Vice.
President, taking an oath he was scarcely sober
enough to understand. This, with still later
exhibitions OF the kind, was generally forgiven.
| But forgiveness does not always produce re-
and She mam resea h nj0 sne
that strong drink is devil. A dema-
gNgre sober or dEIHnk is de%IagOgPe
! show that the spirit had not left him.
This humiliation was DREADFUL but what vas
| the inaugural address to twenty acts that fol-
| lowed; to his February speech, and his swing
| ing around the circle? These were personal
deeds seen of all men, and subject to the rulea
| that govern the personal habits of gentlemen.
] But we had q President to whom no moral test
| could apply Here was a man conspicuously
| illustrating those very faults which every good
| father warns his children against. Here was
| Chief Magistrate-the first citizen OF the re-
public-for whom all Christians taught their
| children to implore Gods special blessing; COM
mander of our armies and navies, and welding
| an authority as great as that of the Caesars
| Yet we blushed for him, and mourned for our
| country, as men in ancient days blushed for
CommoduS and mourned for Rome.
! The stream cannot rise higher than its foun-
! tain. Sweet waters never come from bitter
spring. II the woof Is straw, we cannot weave
| tares, and cultivate them according to the
most constitutional methods, but they will
| TO ali men, sorrowfully felt and mourned over
| even to tears. is this, that most unworthy
! malignant enemy than the President, and that
unless the people save the country in spite OF
their rulers, then, indeed there is no salvation.
! Pltiful-pitiful, and yet sadly true; We are
to-day surrendered over to an Administration
which began with bar. room capering and
which seeks to rule the country very much
as the Pewter Mug politicians Of Tammany
| Hall rule New York. Congress believed that
| yea meant yea, and adjourned under the in
| fiuence of pledges which always govern the
have passed, and every pledge has been broken.
| We leaned on Grant, and Grant is neutralized,
overruled, eliminated-reduced Ito a cypher
He can protest and plead, but his protests are
scorned, and his entreaties sigh around the
! Presidents ears like the winds that come up
from the Potomac. Grant is too ingenious, too
frank, too honest, too sincere and simple
minded to deal with the gigantic demagogue
that rules him. He pleads for Stanton-Stan-
ton is driven from the Cabinet He begs for
his trusted .Sheridan-the finest soldier of his
time is sent out to haggle with Indian chiefs
and thieves of the Indian Bureau He de-
mands the right to execute the law Congress
specially contided to him. He is practically
| himself, that he had better write no political
essays, and that he may devote his great
genius to Quartermasters and Commits
saries, and mastering idle Brigadiers
ont of the service. Congress is away Grant is
| poWerless, Tammany brother reigns in New
Orleans, and the President merely pauses to
feel his ground before he takes another STEP
and still overriding the expressed law of Con.
gress, call into power the elements of the
Southern Confederacy. Where will he stop Z?
He proclaims himself on the war-path. He
tells his followers that he has put his foot down
He means to "overthrow military despotism
and re. establish the Constitution" We do not
mistake these menaces, for this man is capable
of anything to hold power His fate is fixed.
His political fall is as certain as any event
governed by the laws of national policy. He
has betrayed his party, broken his pledges, dis.
honored himself, dlsgraced the country. Feel
ing this, his policy is desperation, ana there Is
| ha mo w