Litchfield enquirer., 1868-09-03
Which is the Fittest ?

w AASA Ao IAAS A ASSS0S
 Free government is government by public Opin-
 ion. In free countries, statesmen build up great
 reputation chiefly by the breadth and sagacity of
 their utterances on public questions x *
 John Bright has won his rank precisely as Govern
 or Seymour has won his, by making tho ablcst
 speeches of any man in the country of this de- cade. Mr. Seward was reckoned, eight years ago,
 as the ablest statesman of tho Republican party
 the only foundation of his claim being his speech es in the Senate and on tho stump WOJ|d.
 In the foregoing paragraph is to be
 found the chief and in fact 'the only
 ground of preference the Democracy are
 able to urge in favor of their candidate.
 In the first place, statesmanship" is,
 practically. vague term. A " statesman"
 is as much man of genius as soldier like Napoleon, an orator like Webster
 Neither of the Presidential candidates is now justly entitled to such an appellation in any high sense of the term. The prac-
 tcal questiun :- thie. Which has shown the greatest executive ability-for rno rl-~a to be filled is our chief e.recutiUe position. man may be a great orator and very poor president. Our Democratic friends would probably select Washington, Jefferson and Jackson as our greatest Chief Magistrates.
 the last made TO greatAHgs sile'ssts 'sss 'speaRef: Our most eloquent Presidents have unques- tionahle hnnr, +hn +r,-o A1n-,,c Ao n, nvne--
 tive officer, the first was an utter failure
 and the Democracy are not apt to rate his son much higher. Tl'" T'H,' '6 IS eAIfeme- ly ~-.-svI tunate in its last instance: In 1860, Mir. Seward was unquestionably the first man of his party. Six months of ex- ecutive duty lost him that position, and before MT. Lincoln's first term had expir- ed, the whole Republican party ardently desired the removal of his Secretary of State. As we have stated on former occa- sion, We look upon Gov. Seymour as a somewhat inferior, unt'ied Seward.
 The mistake of expecting the union of great executive with great oratorical abili- ty, has arisen in great measure from comparison of our executive with that of Great Britain. There, the prime minister is also the leader of the Commons or of the Lords; he must be prepared to defend all his measures in debate. A silent man like Washington or Grant might be an American President. but not British Pre- mier. Here, on the contrary, there is moro that goes to make the great Presi- | dent, in tie general, than in the orator. Earnestness, energy, the capacity to dis cern and the unenvious willingness to voxr 1P1 xarIf oil 4 responsibility, the sound common sense, which fit man to lead great army, fit him also to lead great nation. From the one besetting sin of military men-a ten deucy to harsh, arbitrary measures-our candidate is signally free.
 Wishing to give our opponents the ad- vantage of the best possible case they can make out against us, we subjoin the , Worlds summing up against Grant: ; ior capacity to form any; steadiness in adher- nS to the opinions he has from time to time bor- owed from others; no eloquence; no ability to ( nake great, or even respectable figure in a \ ehberative assembly; no knowledge of the poli- t les of foreign countries, and but slender and o canty acquaintance with the history of his own. u luI1spruuo0cc aiiU pOnUlcaI economy, tnOSC [ reat departments of inquiry essential to well ouipped statesman, he Is not even a novice, not | ven q tyro; he has never studied them at al
 The first of the foregoing charges is nanifestly untrue. So far from his not ( ,eing able to form and adhere to opinions q m public questions, Gen. Grant has not l. nly formed just opinions but adhered to hem, to the disgust of the Democracy who c nlly intended to make another Mcclellan I; him. Whether he could make a respec- o able figure in deliberative assembly, light be of consequence did we propose to tt ect him member of any such body That k has no general information is pure as- al lmption of the PorId. Up to the end of Il, ie war. we imagine his acquaintance with d: vii affairs was slight; but We must not for or ct that since that time he has been attend co e school where mon learn fast. For so tree years he has had the most intimate ou with, ,and the surest means of in formation regarding, the great problem co Reconstruction. Coming from the army as th the most generous views towards the soanded confederates, he at first leaned ,o, wards Mir. Johnson's plan of reconstruc- de 'a, E1ner experience, and the informa- q,