Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-10-17

From the New York Tribune, uth inst.
II President had been chosen In the
Autumn of 1852, he would have been
champion of National restoration by
means of giving the whole country up
to the revolted Shareholders and bidding
them work their will with It.; If one had
been chosen in the August Of 1854, he
would have been pledged to peace on
any terms with the Confederate rebels.
Had the builders of the Chicago Plat
form of that year evinced the simplest
common sense-had they briefly resolved
that they wanted Union and Peace, and
did MT care what became of the Niger
may had they known enough to say
nothing at all-Gen. Mcclellan could
have barely been beaten, ever with the
lightweight of Pendleton hung to his
skirts. That Platform cost him more
votes In this State than composed Lin
coins majority: we presume 1t was the
same in Connecticut and elsewhere
We consider that Lincoln's election was
secured by Sherman's capture of Atlanta
and Sherfdan's victories in the Valley of
Virginia; but McClellan's overwhelm-
ing discontinue was engineered by Val
landigham & Co. at Chicago.
The Republicans owe their victories of
1866 primarily to Mayor Monroe and his
subordinate Thugs in New Orleans; but
Andrew johnson & Co. greatly intensi-
fled them by their harangues while
swinging round the circle" somewhat
later. Eliminate those two elements
from the canvass, and we could not have
called out the full vote that gave us Penn
sylvania, New Jersey, and New York.
There may have been no more Republic
cans in either State after than before
those performances but good many
more of them found their way to the polls
than would have done but for Messrs.
Monroe and johnson.
The Republican party need not depend
for its victories on the persistent misbe-
havior of itsenemies. 1t isstrong enough
to rule by its own merits, independently
of their fOllies and crimes. But to this
end, 1t must l. Complete promptly the
Reconstruction of the Southern States on
basis of blended justice and magnan-
unity; 2. Systematically educate and en-
tighten the People. The necessity and
urgency of closing up the work of Re-
construction on the broad and safe basis
of Universal Amnesty with Impartial
Suffrage Is now so clear that we will not
dwell upon it. Events are more cogent
than arguments. We will speak to-day
only to the second point.
If there were neither q newspaper nor
common school in the country, the
Democratic party would be far stronger
than 1t Is. Neither elementary instruc-
ton nor knowledge of transpiring events
is needed to teach the essential articles
of the Democratic creed "Love rum
and hate niggers." The less one learns
and knows, the more certain he is to
vote the reg 'larticket from A to lizard"
But Republication rests on a radically
different basis, and Is sustained by Who'll
ly diverse considerations. 1t lives by
intelligence; it dies in the murky, sti-
fling atmosphere of Ignorance. Canvass
almost any township in the land, and
distinguish those who take from those
who fail to take newspaper, and you
will find that two-thirds of those who
take vote Republican, while three -fourths
of those who read nothing but q chance
paper picked up for few moments in a
bar-room vote the Democratic ticket, and
will not be persuaded to touch any other.
Ifevery man In the country could read,
and did habitually read two good jour-
nails, one of each party, we should have
no more doubt of electing q Republican
President next year than of the rising of
the sun. But every voter who does not
read is In peril; and the multiplicity of
such voters subject the results of our
elections too much to the control of ac-
cident. Fortune will not always favor
us as she did in 1854 and 1865. We can
be sure of victories only by deserving
them. And the duty now imperatively
pressing upon us Is to take care that every
Uoter ,oho can read, and a0iH read 1t, or
WhO has some one in his family sDho can
and toiU read it to him, is sedsondbly sup
piled Nth good Republican journal for
the Whole year 1868.
We are not going to succeed so easily
rs many have fondly calculated, and we
rejoice that we are not. If we let the
contest go at hap-hazard, and do not
seasonably provide for and deserve sue
cess, we may be beaten. But If we begin
now, and, ,byconcerted, systematic effort,
put good Republican newspaper into
the hands of every voter who will read
1t, we cannot be beaten.
Flooding the country with printed
matter on the eve of an Election is
desperate resort-better than nothing,
and that is all. No reliance can be placed
on 1t; little good ordinarily comes of it.
But begin now, and systematically in
sure that every man that has vote shall
have newspaper IL he will take 1t, and
ali is safe. Republicans! resolve to see
to 1t at once!