Bloomsburg democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1867-1869, 1868-04-01
The DUTY Of Democrats.

ys The Duty Of Dem ocrats. Il aa'
We adopt the language Of the Baltimore
Gazette, Expediency is very good thing
in its way, and there arc times when it is
our duty to take counsel Of it. But these
are times also when it becomes us to consult
higher principles, and to endeavor to vim
dictate the right at whatever cost. That it
is expedient, and properly 70, to equiesce in
some wrongs no one doubts. tits equally
clear that others ought to be vigorously and
sternly resisted. We believe that the Radi-
ical party owes its present strength altogeth-
er to the fact that it has definitely and en-
ergetically tramplcd over every obstacle that
stood between it and the ends it aimed at.
We are satisfied that the present supineness
Of the Democratic and Conservative ele.
ment Of the country has been superinduced
by the habit contracted Of late years Of
indingit expcdient to accept the situation, no
matter what that might be. The consequence
has been that the Radical faction has gen.
orally managed in the end to make the stu
alton to suit itself. The Democratic party
Of the North thought it better some years
ago to tolerate the arbitrary arrest of citi-
zens living peaceabIy hundreds Of miles
away from the seat Of war and the suppress.
sion Of freedom Of speech on the borders Of
Canada. 1t has done little more than muir
mur against each new and violent infraction
of the Constitutionsoy Congress since the
close of tho war, and it is rather calmly
watching now the result Of the infamous ef-
forts which are being made to eject the
President from Office, and to set up Wade
in his place. Mr. johnson, with the law,
the Constitution, and, we believe the MAORI.
ty of the people on his side. has been listen
ing solely to what he takes to be the die
tates of expedicncy. He kept thousands Of
men in Office who were daily endeavoring to
thwart the only policy by which he thought
the country and the Constitution could be
saved. He retained as his confidential i'd
visers, politicians whom he did not trust,
aud whom were but SO many spies in the
interest Of the Radical party. He carried
out law after law, which he and every hon
est citisen knew to be to glaringly unconsti-
tutional to be decently defended, and, gen.
orally, when he removed one extremeist on
account Of his lawless proceedings. he put
another and worse one in bis place. And
now, while mad revolutionists are battcring
down 1.-THE last barrier which stands between
the people and the arbitrary and absolute
domination Of the Rump Congress in Wash
ington-vhile tho voice of their leaders has
proclaimed in the Capitol that they are
"acting outside Of the Constitution" the
President is obodiently enforcing their ille-
gal and despotic DEGREES; is paying from
the public treasury large sums Of money on
the requisition Of their creature who claims
to be Secretary Of War but has not the
faintcst right to act as such, and is talking
as confidently about a Qto ,carranto, a man
ddnsw and kaLeas corpus, as old Mr..
Weller did about an oH5i ,d so,,, ,,r...J
We do not mean to jest or to dencunce.
We are In no mood for either. But we
must speak in such language as We believe
the exigencies Of the times demand, and
we feel that we have herein spoken only the
sad, but necessary truth. Recognizing the
fact that tho country can be saved only
through the Democratic party we would aid
in the work Of exciting it to life and action.
The New York tribune and tho other, lead.
ing Radical journals are already pointing to
the spathetic attitude Of the great Demo
cratic party in the. North as conclusive evi.
dence that the people arc in accord with
Congress, or are at least Indifferent to its
usurpations. Daily and hourly are the ex.
tremists urged on to the completion of their
designs by the assurance that no matter
what they may do they will meet with no
serious resistance. That there is something
10 the aspect Of affairs to warrant this con.
6dence Of the Radicals. who can galn-say
IF the Democratic party hopes to stay the
curento of revolution it must meet II, and q
once, with . mighty counter tide such a
surges sometimes in from the ocean and
browns out the clamor Of noisy river. Thu
tTnxnnd;.ut', s,,d tha Ur;Shk,' n In sljfsnrI