The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-07-10

They pay to the MANNED man, to the
widow, orto the orphan, o. currency
which they have sunk one quarter
below it's rightfM value sby their.
policy 81, hate, of waste, and of mill.
tary despotism, the pittances paid to.
the wounded soldiers, and ipinched
down twenty-five per cent. below the
value Of that coin which he had
right to expect. Is there no covert
repudiation in this? Again they
say, foreign immigration, which, in.
the past, has added SO much to the
wealth, development and resources,
and increase of power to this repub-
lic-the asylum of the oppressed of
all should be fostered and
encouraged by liberal and Just
policy. Is this foreign immigration
fostered by policy which, in cruel
mockery of laws Just passed, de-
claring eight hours to be legal days
labor. But the cost of Government
and of swarms of officials SO swell the
cost of living, that men must toll on
to meet these exactions. The time
was when we could not only invite
Europeans to share with US the
material blessings of our great coun-
try; but more than that, we could
tell those who fed from oppression,
that we lived under Government of
laws, administered by the judiciary,
which kept the bayonet and the
sword in due subordination. We
could point to written Constitution,
which not only marked out the
powers of Government, but with
anxious care secured to the humblest
man the rights of property, of per-
son and OF conscience. Is immigra-
ton encouraged by trampling that
Constitution in the dust-treating it
with contempt-shackling the judi
ciary-insulting the Executive-and
giving all the world to understand
that the great guarantees of political
and social rights are destroyed? But
the crowning indictment against the
follies and crimes of those in power
is in these words: 'sThat we recog-
nize the great principles laid down
in the immortal Declaration of In
dependence as the true foundation
of Democratic Government, and we
hail with gladness every effort
toward making these principles q
living reality on every inch of Ame-
rican soil. If within the limits of
ten States of this Union an American
citizen, stung by a sense of his
wrongs, should publicly and truth
fully denounce the men in power,
because in the very language OF this
Declaration of Independence, they
have erected a multitude of new
officers and sent hither o swarm Of
officers to harass our people and eat
out their substance, he would, in all
human probability, be dragged to q
prison, or if, in the indignant lam
guage of our fathers, he should ex-
claim: "They have affected 70
render the military independent of a
superior to the civil power, thew
have abolished the free system OF
English laws and established here an
arbitrary Governments" for the Of
fence of asserting these principles,
he would be tried and punished by q
military tribunal. Having declared
that the principles of the Declaration
of Independence should be made a
Giving reality on every inch of Ame-
rican SOIL, they put in nomination q
military chieftain who stands at the
head of that system of despotisms
that crushed beneath its feet the
greatest principle of the Declaration
Of Independence. To-day, in some
States, it is held by military orders
to be O crime to speak out the indip-
nation and contempt which burn
within the bosom of patriotic men.
If, tomorrow, military order
should be put forth in that State
where the ashes of Washington are
entombed, that it should be an Of
fence to declare that the military
should ever be subordinate to the
civil authority-to speak out the
sentiment that was disgrace to our
country to let hordes of officials eat
up the substance of the people, he
who uttered these words could
be dragged to prison from the very
grave where lie the remains of the
author of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence. From this outrage, there
could be no appeal to the courts, and
the Republican candidate for the
Presidency has accepted O position
which makes the rights and liberties
of n large share of our people de-
pendent upon his will. In view of
these things, can there be one man
in this Convention who can let o.
personal ambition, O passion, O pre-