Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-08-07


ling the late strife and Prosecuting eaen
other for opinion's sake, we do not dis'
tinctly COM rrhend In the present car
eumstances il remains rather underlined
Nobody is for strife Of any kind. Not a
man in Memphis is for persecution that
we know OF. Some Of as have spoken on
the subject of negro suffrage, aud the
violation of oaths, and trampling down
great constitutional principles. Does
our ueiehbor deplore this1 II so, the
paper has supplanied the Radical organ
and we hope its editor will avow at once
whether he goes with It. Is it persecu-
ton for Opinions sake" to say we will
support and patronize those only who
are our friends, and the friends OF the
Constitution Of our fathers, aud will not
feed herd Of ignorant and brutal pop
ulation, which those who, with our lost
liberty, would take the few remaining
rights accorded to us, are using to crush
us under
II so, we are slaves indeed,
without single right remaining to US,
by the terms of surrender of our armies,
by the Constitution of our country, once
reyered, or by the laws Of humanity.
Does our neighbor affirm thisH lfso, let
him speak out, that we may know where
to nd him. He trod 5ravely the deck
of powerful Confederate cruissf. Let
him now, on the land, take bis position
with equal manliness aud frankness.
Does he stand with Longstreet, and
affirm that great principles Of justice aud
right can be crushed by the power of the
sword, and that BY the law of nations,
the law of humanity and the law OF the
Almighty, no rights remain to con-
quered people which the conqueror is
bound to respect2 If SO, for his own
sake and because Of the high respect we
have always entertained for him, we
regret it, and believe that, like Longstreet,
he will soon regret it himself.
The Radical press already begins its
exultation at what it chooses to regard as
a change of view on his part We shall
believe that in his article Of yesterday
morning be only aimed, as the true pa
triot we believe he is, to throw oil on the
troubled waters and conserve the inter.
ests of peace and fraternity. But he is
one Of our public men whose utterances
are curiously looked to, and who should
be therefore exceedingly circumspect as
TO what they are, lest in seeking to do
the good he would, he should iDjure both
his friends and bis country. Does the Ad-
miral mean to say that the Conservatives
and Radical have been equally in fault,
and that the Conservatives being partially
in the wrong, should now submit without
a murmur 10 every usurpatioH and pet
project Of the Radical party-indemnity,
confscation; and all this without grim
ace. and without even asking the inter
ference of the military or the courts
against oppression-submitting as puny
lambs to be shorn, and as slaves to be
trampled upon--all for the sake Of peace
and prosperity We should like to
know. 1t is difficult for one, once an
American citizen, not to speak occasion
ally about rights and principles as if they
really existed. If such is the situation
that ought and ought not are prescribed
as obsolete ideas, the sooner We learn
our lesson the better.
To ask us to " bury the Ratchet is to
affirm that we are using it. We thought
it already buried. Or does our neighbor
mean to say it is not buried deep enough
until we have learned the impossible
thing of loving our enemies so well as to
give them the preference over our friends
Radical over Conservative merchants,
and blaze over white laborers2
Is there man alive Ounce
enough to think he is under any
obligation, for harmony and peace's
sake, to support his enemy and furnish
all the supplies rnd means for oppres
sing HIMSELF We ask the poor privi-
ledge of refusing to commit suicide
not that of Withholding anything which
any man alive has the right to claim at
our hands. he that is not for the Con-
servative and Constitutional policy, q
against it. The old Bulletin policy of
carrying water on both shoulders will
not win. And we advise the editor, who,
with the open heart of a manly sailor, is
incapable OF any indirections, to stand
from under.
no. Whatever Mr.. Johnson, in the
further pursuit Of his exploded policy,
may do with the FIVE military command