Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1865-1872, 1868-11-20

NV S~"s@~s@$y " @@ss@s"s 1890
Since General Grant has been elected
BY so immense a majority, Il IL Justify
asserted by tho Democratic journals that
he Ia, and always has been, real DEM
ocrat Undoubtedly heis. (says Hapc's
Weekiy,) and that IL his FIRST radical differ.
erence with the Democratic party. Gen.
cral Grant is . Democrat, aud tho. Demo-
cratic party is, and has been for o geuer-
alton, the Instrument Of. an laristoeracy.
For what Is tito DO . Democrat IN the
true sense Of the word? Certainly Il h.
not tn do what slave lords command. and
to vote as Ring ordains. But that is
what Democracy has been for many .
$1,000 bsopolicy q The party was Just
what the slave masters thought the in
ieresis Of slavery required. The great
measures Of the party. during tho twent,
years before the war we're the annexation
Of Texas aud the repeal Of the Missouri
Compromise, while every. minor measure
was tested by lis degree Of service TO the
same great end Of the supremacy Of slsv.
cry IN the government. This system was
the denial ana outrage Of every human
right; but the party exis'ed and struggled
for no other end, and still called itself
Democratic. 10 bel Democrat was to
apologize for slavery, and defend II; TO
sheer at part Of the population as Of an
inferior race to be abused at pleasure, and
consequently to s,ul,ify the moral sense,
to Sophisticated and prevaricate and to strug-
gle epdlessly with every generous human
instinct, with religion and civilization.
This was to be Democrat. IL made
no ditfe renee that there was a plea that II
was subject upon which nothing could
be done, and therefore upon which no
thought should be expended; that there
wns an iuccssant talk about State rights,
and limited powers, and original compro.
n'ises. The one fact that was steadily
clear through all the obscurity and con-
fusion was that Democrat was man
who supported the practical assertion that
some men had no rights which other men
we're bound to respect. And it was this
tragical absurdity which has been driving
the best men out Of the Democratic party
for twenty years. The old and true Dem
ecratic paper IN N. Y. city is the Evening
Post. How long since it has been tech
nically Democratic. pspera In the true
sense OF Democracy, or respect for equal
rights, who are aud always have been
staucher Democrats than its editors, Mr..
Bryant, Mr.. Goodwin, and Mr.. Nordhoti?
But what have they had to do, what could
they have TO do. with "Democracy"
which drew its inspirations,from Calhoun,
with his doctrine of slavery as tho only
sure foundation Of free government;
which followed . dozen years ago the
leadership Of, Hammond and his assoc
ciates, sneering at free laborers as mud
sills; and which accepted in this last cleo
ton the dictatorship Of Wade Hampton
and Robert Toombs, their hands dripping
with the blood Of loyal citizens-of For
rest fresh from Fort Pillow, aud Semmes
from the Alabansai $50
To be true Democrat is TO reject with
scorn every distinctive principle that the
Democratic party has professed for a gen.
GRAFTON, aud to disowu all its ackuowl-
edged chiefs from Calhoun to Seymour.
To be true Democrat is to believe in tie
equal rights Of men, not Of States; and
to organize that faith in law; it is to re-
ject the resolutions OF '98, and to ac-
knowledge the necessary subordination of
the States to the Union; 1t is to oppose
every kind Of hostility of race, Of inter
est, and of section in the country; it is to
Insist upon an economical and honest ad.
ministration Of government; it is to be
neither bully TO the weakest of foreign
states nor asycophant to the strongest,
but reasonable, firm, and self-resPecting
with all; it is to foster to the utmost free
schools and churches; to demand absolute
freedom of speech and action everywhere
in the land; to keep the national honor
unstained; il is, above all. to see that jus.
tice is expediency, and that the mainte-
nance Of the equal rights Of men is iden-
teal with true policy. This is Democ-
racy, or the practical assertion Of the
rights Of man. This is exactly what the
Democrats who voted for Dir. Seymour
have opposed. This is precisely what
General Grant accepts. If be be Dem.
ocrat, Horatio Seymour is not. The Dem.
ocrais Of to-day will find small comfort
in General Grant until they renounce
what is now known as Democracy.