Des Arc weekly citizen., 1868-06-06
Gen. Grant and nuls Prospects.


 test amount of enthusiasm the evi dences of it have not yet appeared That Grant would be the candidate fol President has long been known, ant this fact being recognized, it was not . matter of much importance what othel Radical was placed with him upon thu ticket It was known that Gen. Gran' would be the candidate, because there was no other material in the party tc make an available candidate of A succession of circumstances had made him prominent and famous. and il seemed that with him as the candidate the glamor of military glory could bt thrown over the canvass. His military achievements, which, when fairly cx- amined, amount 10 but very little, il was hoped could be magnifieu into something grand and startling, and the gratitude and admiration of the people be excited thereby. It has not been pretended that outside of Gen. Grants military record he possesses any merit whatever. The leading organs of his party are already preparing the minds of his followers for the expose which they know will be made of both his want of experience and his intellectual deficiencies. They assume that there IS but little in the present condition oi the country which requires any high degree of statesmanship, and that Gen, Grant will therefore be found equal to any demands likely to be made upon him. They do not assume that he possesses more than average intelli- gence, or that he has any experience or En la1 sp afoto hsa deficiencies are too well known to justify an exalted eulogium upon his abilities. The absurdity ofsnch thing would be too manifest. His party is therefore compelled to fall back upon what they are pleased to call his wonderful military achievements. Il was his good fortune to be able, with an overwhelming force, to compel the surrender of Fort Donelson, Vicksburg and Appomatox Court House, and to have been in command at the battle of Missionary Ridge, but his eulogists, and the defenders of his military re- cord will find more difficulty than they imagine in showing that in any of these successes he exhibited any remarkable amount of military genius or skill. That he was lucky, no one can deny, but that he ever displayed any general ship cannot be shown. The details and secret history of all of these operations will be made public during the can vass, and when they are the people will be able to see how little credit he was entitled to for the results achieved.
 :. We think that in throwing themselves entirely upon the supposed popularity and strength of Gen. Grant as military man. the Radicals have made great mistake, which will rebound to the ad- vantage of the Democratic party. The masses of the people are, and always have been, sufficiently intelligent to pay more regard to what they believed to be the true administrative policy of the country, than to the fighting qualiti- cations of any man. It is true, we have had for Presidents several men who had distinguished themselves as military commanders, but the facts will show that their fighting record had but little to do with their success as candi- dates, and that il brought but little if any strength to the party which relied upon it. In no instance has the candi- party or secured larger vote than MOuiu liGt tc bCtH tdrb lOi soHC " lO uCt CT s,nelled gunpowder or "set squad ron in the field" We are well aware that the popular belief is that military candidates have always added strength to their party, but it is delusi0n which the facts can easily dispcl. Prior to Gen. Grant no purely military man, by which we mean man without extensive experience in civil affairs was ever run for the Presidency, ex- cept Gen. Taylor. Washington was made President by grateful people, because of his great services and sacri- fees in the revolution, and because of his purity of character and acknowl- edged abilities. Andrew Jackson was defeated in 1924, when the recollection of his great military services was treshcr than at any subsequent period, and he was elected four years after. He had large civil experience, and had held some of the most exalted and responsible positions in the govern ment. He had been known as q law yer of distinguished ability: as an able judge, as member of the Constitu- tional Convention of his State, and as q United States Senator. That his high character added strength to his party, we do not deny, but that charac- ter was gained as much by his civil services as by his operations ii the field.
 The next military man was Gen. Harrison.
 The services which he had rendered the country with his sword were made prominent in the canvass, but his civil experience was quite as much extolled. He was not man of much ability, and it is probable that if he had lived his administration would have proved a failure. But he died few days after his inauguration, and his deficiencies disappeared under the sod which cov- cred him.
 Next in order came Gen. Taylor, who had achieved his military reputa- tion in the Mixican war. It was sup posed by the Whig party that he would carry them on the high tide of success and achieve brilliant victory. The result showed that he was only a minority candidate, and that if the Democratic party had not been split to pieces on the free soil question he would have been terribly beaten
 This is the history of military candi- dates. The American people respect brave men and admire military sue. cess, but they have contempt foi humbugs, and will not indorse or sup. port them. The history of all military candidates proves what we have said that the tinsel and glitter of shoulder straps have but little influence upor the people, and that the political issue, to be decided are the controlling points with them, and the personal character or the achievements of the candidates are not matter of much consequence
 From all these facts we arrive at thu conclnsinn that we have not much tl