Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1868-05-15
From the New York Times Radical
Wade and the Apple BIossoms.

Wade and the Apple Blossoms.
Prosperity, Gen. Butler thinks, will come
with Wade and the apple blossoms. We
wish that were sure Authorities quite as
good as the General look for something
totally different as the consequence of Mr..
Wade's advent to the Executive Office.
| They discern in that circumstance the alb
| solute domination OF the extreme section
OF the Republican party, and with it rig
orous policy OF prescription.
Let Mr.. Holden, the Radical candidate
for Governor of North Carolina, be called
into Court as a witness on this subject.
His right to testify is interchangeable, and
his testimony is sufficiently pointed to
command attention. With GOODNESS that
on another occasion might be stigmatized
as etfrontery, he undertakes to foreshadow
the course of the Wade Government on
questions specially interesting to the South.
First as to the removal of disabilities
MIR. Holden promises political absolution
to individuals elected to office in his State
| on the Radical ticket, while to all others
worse than purgatory is threatened. The
former class are told that they 'should at
once report their case to the Chairman of
the State Committee, that immediate steps
may be taken for their relief" For them
relief is to be provided as matter of rou-
tine. The rest are significantly promised
| lSOA1oAASAnoAOhJ. n 1hE. DOyU0u, WHO 1mpl-
ously iran against and defeated" the
Holden nominee in one of the districts of
the State, is pronounced " as rebellious as
ever" and the hint is thrown out that
the House will consider his case when he
presents himself for admission" Alto
gether it is plain that, in Mr. Holden's
| opinion, admission to Congress from the
South will go, like kissing, by favor. He
is evidently persuaded that the removal of
political disabilities should be the reward
of partisan zeal, not measure of Justice
or national expediency.
Nor is this all, Mr.. Holden does more
than threaten with exclusion persons elect
ed in defiance of his will. He predicts the
adoption OF policy of vengeance against
| those who have dared to oppose the Con-
gressional measures Abiding to q re-
| ported arrest in Arkansas on charge of
treason, he declares, "there are other
traitors who will be arrested and tried in
| due time. Mr.. Wade" he adds, "will do
| lis duty as President. Justice, though
long delayed, will be done at last" There
can be no misinterpreting these words p
They prove that in the Judgment of such
men as Holden, the advent of Mr. Wade
to power will be the Inauguration of Red
Republican rule. Even at this late day,
criminal prosecutions are to be instituted
against prominent SUutherners who remain
unreconstructed.
We are not apprehensive of SO great a
calamity. We do no, believe that, should
Mr.. johnson be removed, his successor
would signalize the change by any thing SO
| foolish and vlndlctive as prosecutions for
| treason. Mr.. Holden believes and hopes
| differently, and his feelings are shared by
| those OF the Southern extremists who,
| having been cOusplcuOu>lN uIali- naut as
| rebels, feel bound to OuIrun tvert body Ill
| the race Of loyalty. In the miDde of the ST
| men, the accession to power uI Il tdlcl
Executive implies much muro than mere
| political disabilities. While the beuIgn.nt
| Butler associates the triumph with apple
| blossoms as the seasOnable sI mbOl of peace
and prosperity, the ferocious Holden halls
1t as the pledge of prescription aud perse-
cution, of a kind which he calls loyal, but
which to us seems iendish.
| The occurrence of agitation on this sub
| ject would more than counterbalance the
| gain which Is expected to accrue from the
establishment of harmony between Con
gress and the Executive. The promise con.
tlngent upon that event is apple blossom.
| We are to look for the sure sign and token
| of abdndant fruit, ripe, rich and whole
some. But if only Radical Senators and
| Represent ntatives are admitted to Congress,
and if in addition to exclusion and disfran
chlsement criminal prosecutions are to be
the order of the day, the country will be
removed further than ever from the gen.
uine peace which should attend reconstruc.
| ton.
| The possibility of increased severity as a
result of increased power, is an evil not to
be spoken of lightly. The disturbing ele-
ments at work throughout the South are
quite numerous enough already. Gen.
Meade's determination to treat the GeOr
gia Legislature as Provisional only, and to
apply the test oath to all the members,
looks like an attempt to break the force OF
Dem ocratic gains in that State by means
not heard of elsewhere. It has the appear
ance Of device conceived at the last mo-
lnent to overcome an opposition which 4
junction of black votes and wLito votes has
rendered formidable. On rs other hypO-
thesis can we understand the enforce
ment of test as applicable to the Legisla-
ture, which was not applied to the recent
Convention and which has not been main
tanned in any other State. From Virginia,
again, we hear of removals of one class OF
Republican officials and the substitution OF
Hunnicutt's adherents; and though it is not
easy to reconcile extremists plans there
with General Schofelds manly resistance
to the intolerant course of the Convention,
the incident, unexplained, naturally ex-
cites uneasiness.
We submit, then, that if Wade and the
apple blossoms are to pass into history
together, it will be necessary to curb the
fierce spirit which waits but for the crack
of his whip, as President, to fill the South
with bitter and bloody strife. Ifimpeach,
ment ever meant peace, Mr.. Wade, as the
expected product of impeachment, must
fog barking Holdens into silence, if moi
into decency. The pulling down of one
= President and the setting up of another i:
. vindicated on the ground that one hinders
and that the other will help the restoration
of the South to the Union. Should Mr.
Wade reach the White House with an hon
est purpose of verifying this theory, hi
, first trouble Will be with the tiitrasts who
in his name, threaten to prescribe an(
> even to hang opponents, who happen to b'
t inconveniently strong among the people.
The Last Soldier of the Revolution,
The last soldier of the Revolutionary wal
is dead. The fact that all the heroic bano
have passed away is settled beyond contro
versy by little book entitled " History ot
NJ ~ L.,