The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-04-05
The Csnpec,ies, C.ta.,roph-.

The Csnpecticat Catastrophe
The Radical paper of this city seems
ia have considerable difficulty in deter.
mining the precise cause of the recent
visitation that brought the Connecticut
branch of the organization to grief. II
i. unwilling to concede, even in the face
of the facts, that the Democratic party
/, capable al anything like successful
effort. Ii labors at great length to
shaw that the terrible blow under which
il. party now reels and totters, was ad-
ministered by some other agency than
that of the Copperheads. Connecticut
"Copperheadism,' We are requested to
believe. was modified to "mere op'
position to the Radical policy Of Con,
yress," and hence the lamentable result
What is this but an acknowledgment
of the untenable position in which
Congress and its supporters are placed,
as Welt an admission that opposition
10 the Radical policy of Congress" will
succeed elsewhere as well as in Con-
necticut:
It happens, however, to have been
bart of our neighbours past policy to
stigmatize all opposition to Congress as
the raukest "Copperheadism," so if we
NAV be permitted the expression, we
don't see where the modification has oo-
Cured.
The truth is, our neighbOr. like a
duck in hail-storm, or rather like q
hunted ostrich, is badly demOralized.
He ,hrusts his head under the flimsiest
shelter, and thinks his concealment ef-
trctual. being sadly oblivious to the IN
fortunate and unprepOssessing exposure,
which his lodging only makes more con-
,picuous. While he tries to hide his
,hagrin by the comforting reflection
that this woful disaster is attributable
TO modified Copperheadism," the Cin-
cinnati Gazette refers the great catas-
trophe TO modified" Radicalism, and
thinks if its party had stood squarely
op to negro suffrage, the result would
have been different.
On the other hand. the Philadelphia
Ertning Bulletin thinks it was 1.-The
broad principles of Radical Repubii-
canism" that brought this terrible af-
iiction upon the faithful. 1t says:
The defeat OF that gallant soldier,
Governor Hawley, is greatly to be re-
rrettpd. His outspOken loyalty and
,loguent defense Of Republican principles
have long made him a special mark for
,hc assaults of Mr.. Johnson and his
friends. while they have endeared him
TO the loyal men of all sections OF the
country. He fought out the recent cam
pGigR upon the broddesf principles Of Rad
icdI RtpHJhcdRism
Unlike our neighbor, the New York
Times candidly owns the cereal, and
declares the Connecticut election to
have resulted in a decisive Democratic
victory" and the TTibune also character
i1es it as a "Copperhead victory" Thus
do the Radical papers generally, contra
dict and falsify the theories of one
another. i'm their industrious efforts to
account for the unexpected and crush
lrg blow that has fallen upon them.
The more intelligent, like the New York
Journals above-named, have little diff
guilty in settling the cause of their
trouble, but there is large class, to
which the Intelligencer belongs, and
which, like the venerable "Bour-
bon to which it so often re-
fers, learns nothing and forgets
nothinp'-a class which would like to
avoid the conclusion that the Democra-
cy "still lives" by referring the late
.'nnmerciful disaster" to some abandon
ment of vital principle on the part of
the victors in the fight. For the bene-
nit of such it may be well to state, in
the language of the Philadelphia Age,
that the Democracy sacrificed nothing
10 expediency. They did not lower the
old flag one inch iu order to court the
influence or soften the opposition OF
men or factions. They accepted the broad
issue of the Constitution, the Union, and
the right of white men to govern the
nation in accordance with those prin-
cipIes upon which the Republic was
tonndad hv tha aoldiers sa0eS and
statesmen Of revolutionary times. They
adopted the Interpretation of the Con-
stitution given by JEFFERSON, MADISON,
JACKSON, and their illustrious compeers,
in preference to those promulgated by
WENDELL PHILLIPS and CHARLES SUM
xEn and THADDEUs STEVENS. The
unity of equal States, the right of the
people of each State to manage their own
local. affairs under the Constitution,
to choose depositaries of political pow
rr, aud live under the benign and whole
.ome rule of civil law, instead of dwell
ing in the shadow of despotic power Is
represented by military chiefs, was the
rallying cry of the Connecticut Democ-
racy, and they have redeemed the State
and imported fresh life, hope and visor
TO the friends of constitutional liberty
10 all portions of the Union.
"Modiasd Cspperbeadisn."
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