The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-16
Nos 21s and 20 sOUTH TRONT

"Shylook' was awarded his penalty. No COM
pact, however solemn, has ever been permit
ted to have the weight of feather against the
lncinations, or, as they would prefer to call it,
the sense of justice, of the Republicans. Re-
spect for engagements has, by this means. been
o undermined and weakened that Just sense
the obligation of contracts is well nigh
bliterated
The idea that any contract is binding simply
on grounds of good faith or that it Is binding
in the sense in which it was made, or that Il
IS to be observed for one moment longer than
party having the power, has also the inoli-
nation to break it, is pretty well exploded in
this country, except so far as a remnant of
GOOD faith survives among the Democracy.
Inc country derided its engagement to return
fugitive slaves; derided its engagement to
abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court;
its engagement to restore the States to all their
rights as soon as the Rebellion was subdued:
its engagement not to maintain martial law in
time of peace; its engagement that every State
may have Senators and Representatives in
Congress- and it has derided O long list of
other engagements plainly written in the Con-
stltution, but openly repudiated in the prac-
uce OF the Government. 1t may be said, in
deed, that most of these engagements, like
that 10 return fugitive slaves, have been disre-
garded on account of Overruling considerations
which rendered fulfilment revolving to the
pUDiAN mlhu' 1ulS IL pFeClS6ly our pol Mt:
that past engagements go for nothing against
a present sense of expediency and that the
Republican party has been educating the
the country into this contempt of engagements
for the last twenty years.
What reason have we for expecting that
pecuniary engagements will fare better than
others All sense of the obligation of an en-
gagement, simply as being an engagement.
having been etiaced, there remains in the Re-
publican party no moral sentiment to which
the obligation of compacts can fasten The
interest of the bondholders may stand in the
place OF conscience, and bribes may do the
same Office for congressman; but the mass of
Republican voters and taxpayers have so often
sanctioned the violation of compacts, that thew
will have no compunction in doing it again to
ease their burdens. They have become quite
reconciled to the idea of repudiating debts by
paying them in greenbacks, by the custom
winch has so long prevailed of paying private
debts In this manner. If it is right in the one
case, why not in the other2
The public conscience having been thus de-
bauched by long course of Republican edu-
cation, and all feeling of the obligation of a
public engagement in the sense in which it
was made, having been obscured and nearly
obhterated, we can give the public creditors
no encouragement against the spread and
prevalence of General Buffers doctrine We
snail faithfully do all we can to counteraot IL.
but the Democratic party has had so little suc.
cess in arresting other fagrant breaches of
public faith that we dare not be very sanguine
against the addition of this new instapoe to
the disgraoeful list.