Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1867-06-20

they first make mad was the dcclar.
alton ofa wise man Of the olden time,
aud II there is truth in the observation
It is fair 20 conclude that tho dcstruc-
tion of the Radicals is near at hand,
for u more demcnted set of dema-
gogues never "playod fantastic tricks
before high heaven or ruined n ma
ton.
The Yankee has heretofore been as
proverbial for looking after the main
chance as the Scotchman for his car
nyness, the FreEchman for his vivaci-
ty, or the lrishman for his pugnacity;
but "the glory has departed from Is
rael." Now England rules the coun-
sells of the Radical party, and the Yam
lSee politicians have forfeited all claim
whatever to shrewdness; their con
duct has, in fact, been as utterly de-
void of common sense as it well could
be had il emanated from men totally
bereit OF reason.
If Congress, since the close of the
war, had been composed Of Bedlam-
ties, the legislation, and the proceed
ings and discussions incident thereto,
while they might possibly at times
have been somewhat more incoherent,
would scarcely have exhibited more
violence of feeling, or less good sense,
prudence and discretion. We say this
in no spirit Of exaggeration, or even
Of captiousness. A glance at what
has been done, and what has been
left undonc, will fully justify all we
have said.
In the first place, any man in the
possession of ordinary reason ought
to have understood that it was no
time to cripple and paralize the reviv-
ing energies Of more than third Of
the people by oppressive legislation
when the nation was just emerging
from a desolating and exhausting civil
war. Common prudence would have
dictated the property of assisting the
people of the South in recovering from
the ruinous effects of the strife, so
that they might be in a condition to
assist in paying the enormous public
debt which has been created, and
which is weighing so heavily upon
the people of the United States. A
very little perception Of their own and
their constituents interests should
have caused the Solons at Washington
to take this view Of the matter; but,
on the contrary, their course has been
such as to discourage and crush, inso-
much that the South is at this mo-
ment in a far less prosperous condi-
tion than at the time of Lees surren-
der. That a Yankee should thus so
materially increase his own part of
the burden Of taxation is an anomaly
which can only be accounted for on
the hypothesis we have suggested.
Some faint idea Of the egregrious mis-
take which has been committed seems
lately to have made its way into the
Radical mind during Il comparatively
lucid interval, but the remedy suggest
edcould meyer have cmanated from any
but brain hopclessly crazed. This
proposed remedy is confscation !;
which, if carried out, will render the
fertile States of the South henceiorth
unproductive and worthless by tho ex-
pulsion of the owners Of the soil and
the substitution Of piebald popula-
ton like that of Mexico and some of
the Central American States for be
it observed that the object assigned
for the proposed measure is the re-
ward of loyal soldiers and especially
negroes The foolishness of the sim
pleton who killed the goose that laid
the golden egg was the very acme of
wisdom compared with the PROPOSE
ton to confiscatc. So much for the
financial acumen Of these Radical
leaders.
A little common sense would have
taught our national legislators that
the security of the citizen lies in the
freedom and permanency of the gov
ernment; but, in their insane haste
to crafty dastardly revenge upon a
defenseless people, they have struck
down the very palladium Of their own
liberties; and if the damage they have
done be not speedily repaired, they
and theirs will be as sure to suffer
from il as that the South is already
doing so. 1t was the work of mad
men to annul the Constitution and
overthrow the old government, there
by launching the ship of State upon a
sea of unknown perils. The barriers
set up by our fathers against oppres-
sion and tyranny once broken down,
what security can they have for their
own liberties and property
Wherever the South was concerned,
madness has ruled the counsels at
Washington. Ii was madness to erase
the line of demarkation drawn by the
founders of the republic between the
States and the General Government.
1t was madness to substitute a cen
tralized power for our old and admi-
rable form of government. 1t was
madness 10 reduce ten States OF the
American Union to the condition of
conquered provinces, subject TO the
dictation, in all things, Of the central
government, aud 10 the whims and
caprice of its military satraps Hav-
ing wrongfully and unlawfully de.
spoiled the Southern people of their
slave property, it was the hight of
insanity to invest the ignorant and
debased negro with the rights of citi-
zenship, and to give him privileges
that are denied to great numbers of
the best and most intellectual white
mon of the South.
And it is very midsummer madness
on the part of the Radical leaders to
attpmpt to inaupurafe npUro auffra 0a