The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1868-01-11
The Year Before Us.

To. day we stand upon the threshold Of
another year-a year pregnant with porcnt
and fate for our land We have fallen npon
times when a Presidential campaign is more
momentous than n military one; and the
election of 1868 will probably. in the mag
nitude of its consequences, ana the treineh
dous stakes involved in the issue, oyershadow
those of 1850 and 1861. We fight to day for
| the ground gained in these eventtul years.
1t is not any more to merely elect Presi'
dent that we vote, but to govern country
and to determine its history. The machinery
of government no longer moves in settled
grooves. The Chief Magistrate OF the ma
ton must now be in truth our executive OF.
hcer. and not merely n respectable and pre-
sentab!e hgurchead.
[, is useless to hide from ourselves the
! fact that the lines are closing for a desperate
struggle. The dragon of the Democracy
he grea, serpent which reared its ghttering
| copper crest and Kissed and shot its poison
Gus iangs throughout the long night OF the
war- has not yet been bound Tor thousand
years and cast into the seething pit, u many
had tondly hoped. With consummatc dts
erection and judgment, with cautious but rest
| less energy, with the prudence, but also Wllil
the determination mnlurcd by long years OF
hunger aud defeat, the Democratic party is
advancing to the conflict. Marahalied, well
organized, and drilled with unremittIng care
during the year which has gone, they are an
enemy not TO be despiscd
| All this is easily explained. la 1860 the
old Democratic purity was shattered. It's
! better par--ts hear, and cnnscien cc-lctl
| The ranks, and iel into line under the colors
| of the Union. Hundreds of its leaders,
representing its heart and intelligence, went
| into the army, and their brilliant record ana
! distinguished services have made their names
| household words in every family where pa
| trlo.sm is cherished The brains OF the
! Democracy ut the same time went over into
/ the rebellion. To dav--t the war over trait
| ors unbung, treason rather fashionable the
| Democratic party has its brains back again,
without its heart or conscience. Over the
! border from Canada, from behind the breast
WORKS Of Richmond, from Of the dead line
! Of Andcrsonville and Libby, trom under the
skirts and shawl ut Davis, the traditional
| leaders OF the Democracy are back again.
! The talent, the ability, the daring which il
Illustrated and for tonr desperate years bore
. up the Confederate cause, has been retrans
terred to the Democratic party, and under
the new leadership we may expect some
thing very different from the blunder5 and
stupiditcs which, during the past SIX years,
| had well nigh wrecked the organization.
Already there are indications of a systc.
matte consolidation OF all the elements OPP
posed TO the country that cannot be sniCiy
disregarded The year gone by has been
| spent by the Democracy -representiug the
entire disatfected interests of the nation
in patient and luborious drill lSeir organ.
ization, North and South, is a secret society
without a secret name In the unrecon.
structed States, without any ostensiblc man.
agement, they are working with tooth and
nail TO defeat reconstruction OF every kind,
until it will operate TO their advantage by
filling the Senate and House with turbulent
and unrepentunt traitors. In Virginia, for
instance, under the instructions OF Il COM
nittee which styles itself the Conservative,
and intimates that its constitutions and work.
ings are informal, the Democrats We
mean by that the entire disloyal population
are associated in circles OF ten. The
chiefs Of every five circles or groups of ter
constitute an executive committee for tho
district, they in turn reporting 10 council
composed or the chiefs OF the tiities. Ihn:
the entire State lies under the grippe Of the
head cOnsIirators, and it will be almost mi
raculous il, with such associations at hons
and Andrew Johson in the capital, Virginia
can come back under the flag We only
mention this as one instance of the thorough
organization of the enemy, and to illustrate
now easily and efficiently they can be han
died.
The year before us is one Of conflict.
behooyes US now to set in order our camps
and make ready for November. We cntc
the field under leader whose victoriou,
eagles screamed from Vcksburg to Rich
mond, but leadership will not avail withon
an army We must furnish him with legion
whose lines are unbroken, whose ranks arc
, rcplenshed, whose elan will be irresistible
The Johnsonian dcscrters must be replaced
: the apathy aud confidence OF success mus
give way to sleepiess vigilance; discordan
and irrelevant side issues must DO resoutei,
swept aside; II political campaign must b,
4 fought on political platform alone. Thel
...-.5a, equipped, inspected, stripped of al
ineffective force, and ready for action, thu
Onion phalsnx Of peace will rival in it
> achievements the Union hosts Of the war
= and 1868 will see another Appomatox.
Philadelphia Press