Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-28
rFrom the St. Louis Republican,

1
| A ContraSt-Kentu Missouri.
by the ravages of the war, Kentucky has
come the nearest to a maintenance of her
State rights in their integrity. The conse-
! quence is that she, of all those States, is
| now the most rapidly repairing the mis-
chiefs and disasters occasioned by the war.
This is attributable to the absence of any
despotic and hectoring interference with
her local government and legislation. She
| is able, from this fortunate circumstance,
10 direct her own policy, foster her own in
dustry, protect her own people and inter-
est, and to adopt her legislation to the
changed circumstances which the abolition
of slavery has produced. Nor is she dis
tracted by an internal faction which finds
| its interest in sewing the seeds of bitter
ness and strife, and in disfranching the
| great body of her taX-paying and proper
| ty-holding population. The late election
in that State shows a remarkably near ap-
proach to an actual unanimity of sentiment !;
sentiment strongly conservative OF all the
great and paramount interests of society.
If left alone under such favorable circum-
stances and surroundings. she will speedily
repair all the damages which she sustained
as consequence of the war.
But if Kentucky presents an example of
the happy effects of good local self-govern-
ment, Missouri furnishes an equally or more
officious intermeddling by Federal usurpa-
tion, and of the blighting influence of local
faction, bent on partiZan, bigoted suprema-
cy, regardless of the great principles of
justice and the common veal. Here in
Missouri, through Federal intermeddling
and usurpation, band of malignants, ad-
venturers and renegades, destitute of abil-
ity and fearfully destitute of integrity, got
political possession of the State; and con-
sciOus of their inability to maintain them
selves in power if the people were al
lowed the freedom of choice, they resolved
to secure by chicanery and fraud what
had first been obtained by force. The
consequence is, such frightful in
stance of villainous misgovernment as is
scarcely paralleled in American history.
In order to secure a local ascendency so
fraudulently obtained, the great mass of
our best citizens, who contribute the most
largely, through property taxation to the
maintenance of the State Government,
were practically disfranchised; and thus
those who sustained the principal burdens
of government, were denied all participa-
tion in the control or direction of it's
affairs. Thus the majority were practical
ly overruled by the minority, state of
things at variance with all proper notions
of justice, and in shameful violation
of the whole system of government
always recognized and heretofore main
tanned by the whole American peo-
pie. But this was not all, nor
the worst. The freedom of speech-here-
tofore considered an American birthright
was suppressed by violence; the utter
ance of word in censure of outrages daily
practiced was denounced as crime, and
subjected the speaker to the assaults of the
ruling ruffians, who, in many instances,
murdered without compunction, and rob-
bed with all the sang .trOid of professional
freebOoters. Under such a domination
1Nrrs IL hrAA -
official corruption and embezzlement be-
came the rule, and all the evil influences of
reckless misgovernment and official ruffian-
ism spread their baleful consequences
throughout all the ramifications of society.
Indeed, in many parts of the State, he was
fortunate who was able to retain even a
moity of what was his own.
Such is sad but faint and imperfect pic
ture of the late condition of our State, from
which it has not yet quite emerged. True,
public opinion, which in the end is more
powerful than bad laws, is slowly correct
ing these evils. The Supreme Court of the
United States, by its decision in the Cum
mings' case, did something for us. But it
is to that safeguard of Justice which Prov
idence has placed in the nature of man,
which has provided that evil shall finally
work its own destruction, that we owe
more than to anything else.
Not to dwell, however, on these consider
aGlons, IL must De OBVIOUS TO every one who
thinks at all, that industry could not thrive
under such a state of things. II Missouri,
therefore, is not recovering from the raw
ages of the war as Kentucky is doing, the
cause must found in the fact that our State
Government has been in the hands of those
who care not for the welfare of our peo-
pie; it is attributable to the fact that our
State has been controlled by those who were
more intent on power and plunder than
Jealous for the common veal. In all the
elements of prosperity, in fertility
of soil, genial climate, mineral wealth, and
natural avenues of intercommunication
Missouri is not surpassed, scarcely equaled,
by any other State in the Union. Our pres
ent condition and most of our past evils
are attributable to bad local government;
and the confusion which has prevailed Sin
the State furnishes an instructive example
of what disastrous consequences may result
from even few years of mischievous mis-
government. 1t is, however, to us a source
of felicitation and a subject of congratula-
ton to the people, thata more rational aud
conservative spirit is abroad. which prom
ises speedily to rescue the State Govern
ment from the hands of the spoilers, and
which will work nightly and effectually
to place Missouri in that elevated position
which it is her right, under fair govern
ment, to occupy.