Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-07-31
The Next President.

sympathize with the Weed and RAYMOND Re
publicans-or Weed and Raymond Demo
crats-have nominated General Grant fo
President. The General has not. as far al
heard from. accepted this nomination, and he
probably will not just at present. The nom
Ination was made, undoubtedly, not SO much
because this committee or club agree with
General Grant politically, or even know what
the Generals politics is. as because they re
gard him as the most popular man in the
United States, and therefore most likely t
be nominated and elected to the next presi-
dency; and being committee not particu-
larly encountered with principles, they have
though hit this good time to connect them
selves with the Generals fortune. or meta
Phorically speaking, tie their boat to his
ship. The individual members OF the club
are not given TO refusing Office when lucra-
tive ones are thrust upon them and they are
especially happy and smiling when they have
not only as many az they conveniently
attend TO, but surplus to be distributed
among their friends of similar disinterested
politics. The club never fully parted with
President johnson, but have had faith, like
many other ofice-hoIders and ofHce-expect-
ants, IN his honesty and integrity of purpose
They looked with favor upon the first Phila-
delphIa Convention, and approved its action
and especially the address of Raymond. in
which he said to his Southern friends that
they would be a mean-spirited set of white
livered fellows if they accepted the Congress
sional plan of reconstruction Generally
this club intend to be on the winning side
and they have felt badly enough because
their grand arm-in-arm demonstration last
summer, instead of being a great success, as
they anticipated it would be, was stupen-
dous hzzle, and they have been naturally
enough looking around since for chance t.
retrieve that shocking mistake. and restore
their political fortunes Looking upon Gen
eral Grant as the coming man, they have
rushed forward as his especial champions.
hoping by this neat trick of nominating him
to secure the first place in his affections. the
most influential position in shaping his poll
cy, and, most coveted of all. the lion 5 share
of the spoils. That is what this nomination
signifies
1t is one of the greatest evils of our form
of government that the President has such
enormous patronage, for it has reduced the
matter of electing President from a high
question of principle to a groveIing crawling
after the spoils. Half the delegates to our
national conventions care infinitely less who
is the candidate, than for the position of
inf al aHr-iO Z
Offices. From this corrupt condition of politics
1T has come to pass that wire-workers and
intriguers set themselves at work to force
the nomination of this man or that man for
the office, because they hope, if successful. to |
make good thing out of it Strip the Office |
disposal of the people and not in the hands !
of one man, and national convention would /
soon be left, the second PHILADELPHIA |
Convention was last summer, to the unselfsh /
voters, instead of, as most Of our national |
are, to the selfish politicians Of |
the country But while the President is 50
powerful in patronage, it is to be expected
that the Weed style of politicians will be early
in the field with their candidates. and how
ever smirched their own political character
may be, they will assume the right to act in
behalf of the party which they expect will
succeed. 1t is unfortunate for Gen. Grant
that these leeches have now fastened upon
him, for their friendship can only injure its
recipient.
Gen. Grant has certainly deserved well of
the country. We believe he is at heart quite
in favor of the Congressional plan Of recon
struction and, no doubt, he has saved the
republic from what would otherwise have
been the evil results of the outrageous con
duct of President johnson. If the Generals
politics had been as execrable as. and his
patriotism no sounder than, theexecutive's
we should have had uprising in the
South before this, if not new Congress put
in the capitol by bayonets. 1t is to Gen
Grants moderate counscls. his wise deter
and steadfast persistence in his dis
like of rebels, that we owe much of the sue
cess of the nation in resisting executive
Yet Gen. Grant has been flat
tered by the Democracy more than any other
chieftain except Gen Sherman, and
the Establishments of the leaders of that
party have been increasingly employed to
win him over to the 90 lost cause 1t is not
An evidence of his holding marked and decided
opinions, that such an effort has been posi-
BILE, but it is an evidence of his convictions
being after all on the right side, that he has
firmly resisted all these affectionate Demo-
cratic demonstrations. When almost every
officer near the President was a party to the
johnson apostasy, Gen. Grant and with him
the most gallant soldiers of the army, re- .
sisted the influence of the White House and
state department, and helped Congress neu-
tralize the treachery that came so near de-
ivering the rescued South again into the
hands of the rebels. For this scarcely less
than for his brilliant achievements in the
ield, the people honor and admire him and |
We cannot say they are not prepared, if the
natter were now submitted to them, to make
aim President
But we think it is rather early to open the +
canvass and the men who have now put c
Irants name forward are not just the adj /,
Tisers to which the Republican party look :
IN due time a convention will be held, in =
which we trust the people who have never l
Tavered IN their devotion to the fundamental t
principles of the Republican party, will be .
represented and the candidate of :,
hat convention. whether it be Grant or v
some other man, will be elected in Novem- !
Der 1868. The faith and the fidelity of
statesmen and generals will be severely tried, I