New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-12-12
THE NETT- YORK TRIBUNE-lSG9.

Within the last eight years, our country
has triumphantly passed through the gravest ana
most trying perils which have confronted her
since her independence was acknowledged. She
has indicated beyond appeal her right to be
regarded as 10 mere cOnfederacy or league OF
Jealous. envious, discordant States, but as
substantially and permanently Nation,
wherein the pretensions of no part can he
admitted or upheld in opposition to the
integrity. the paramount authority, OF the one
Republic.
The right of each mau, by virtue of his birth
or his naturalization as a citizen OF the unlted
States, to the full enjoyment OF life liberty,
"and the pursuit of happiness" until he shall
forfeit that right by crime, is also established
on impregnable foundations. Our fathers pro-
claimed it in justifyng their separation from
Great Britain it was left to MS to establish as
fact what they merely affirmed rs a prln-
ciple What the cannon OF Saratoga ana
Yorktown proclaimed as an abstraction, the
| cannon OF Gettysburg, Vicksburg and FIVE
Forks established as a living, embodied, enact
ed truth Widely rs our flag now floats, still
more widely rs it may float hereafter, there
is. there can henceforth be, no legal master, no
fettered slave. Wrongs and abuses, servility
and oppression, may still exist; but the Fed
eral Constitution is no longer their shield, and
the folds of our flag 10 longer emblazon nor
seek to conceal lie. The humblest American,
so long as he violates no law, is master OF his
own limbs and the sole owner of all he can
honestly earn.
OF these immense results, the importance and
the benefcence Will become more palpable with
every added year. Distance is required to en-
| able us to measure and appreciate the magnl-
tude of the pyramid of Four Millions of
shackles stricken from the SCARED limbs OF
our countrymen, which form the enduring mon
ument of our struggle and our triumph. New
arts new industries, new developments OF nat
ural wealth, too long UNDECIDED and unvalued,
will year by year stand forth in attcstation
that none of us has yet adequately realized the
magnitude and the benignity Of our National
| victory.
| No great good il ever achieved without effort
or without cost. -Four years of patriotic strug-
! gle and sacrifice Half Million of men slain
| in battle or dying of the prvations and expo
| sures of War, Millions OF bereaved ones, Five
Billions of property destroyed, and nearly Three
Billions of Debt incurred, attest the magnitude
of the contest and the unyielding valor OF the
combatants.
At length the smoke rises from the hard-won
field, showing that the last entrenchment has
been carried The election of GRANT and Col
FAX gives assurance that the storm is over-that
the Bow of Promise arches the sky. There
are still obstacles TO surmount, perils to avert,
noble ends TO be achieved but the ship of
State has ridden out the tempest and has her
haven full in view. The seven States recon
structed under the recent acts of Congress
will stand, and will be followed by the three
that have hitherto stood aloof; the rights of
the Freedmen will be upheld and respected,
aud Impartial Suffrage throughout the land
will soon plant them on foundations that can
not be shaken.
THE TRIBUNE will contend, in the future as
in the past, for Universal Amnesty rs well as
for Impartial Suffrage. Ii has no faith in ven
gcance, in prescription, in confiscaton, nor in
the shedding of blood otherwise than in ac-
tual and necessary war. There IL time for
War and n time for Peace :" and the latter fol-
lows swiftly on the heels of the former. When
over those who fought against the Union shall
have In good faith given up the contest, they
are no longer our foes but our countrymen.
In the joyful trust that Grants election has
given the death-blow to Ku-KluX Klans, and
all manner of outrages on Unonists and
Freedmen IA SUCH and that Impartial Suffrage
will no longer be seriously resisted, we hope
to sec the next four years signalizcd by an I'M
precedcntcd expansion of the National Industry
and a consequent increase of the National
wealth. We hope TO see new cabins dot the
prairie new clearings chequer the forest, new
mills, factories, furnaces, erected, North, South,
East and West until oar annual product shall
DO Hundreds Of Millions greater than ut present,
whilo Mines Of Iron and of Coal, of Gold, Sill
ver Copper, &c, shall be opened and worked,
with an energy and To nm extent that dehes
precedent. Believing that the systematic ell
cicnt Protection of Home Industry is the cor
ner- stone OF WISE benignant National Policy,
and that it is essential to the rapid develop
mcnt of our latent resources, to the prosperity
of our country. the maintenance OF her Credit,
aud the honest payment OF her Debt we shall
give it our most earnest and active support.
The DAILY TRIBUNE has been 30 long known
az the leading political newspaper of the coun-
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