The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-10-19
A Change OF Candidates.


One of the most extraordinary incidents
in the history of party politics is the move
ment on the part of certain influential
Democratic presses looking to the with
drawal of SEYMOUR and BLAIR, and the sub
stitution, at the eleventh hour, of ticket
headed BY CHASE, or some other available
mar. The clamor for this bold and sudden
step was first raised by the New York World,
and has since been echoed by the National
Intelligencer at Washington, and by the
two leadingj urnals Of New Orleans. The
New York Democrat even states that Gov
ernor SEYMOUR has written letter placing
himself unreservedly in the hands of the
Democratic National Committee. That our
readers may understand the merits of this
movement, we give the argument Of the
New York World in its favor.
That journal says:
'sWe have not been beaten in these elections
son the proper issues Of the canvass but by
sthings quite extraneous to the public ques-
"tions The military prestige of the Republi-
scan candidate has really nothing to do with
'the question of policy involved, and yet that
'has deprived us of more votes than were
necessary for our success in each State. But
s'this is an clement which VIC cannot eliminate.
Another thing which has arrested the tide OF
tour gains, and has done us far more injury than
athe military popularity Of General GRANT, is
"the use that has been made of some inconsid-
s'erate expressions OF General BLAIR previous to
s'his nomination. The Republican leaders, who
'sare doubtless good judges Of tho kiud Of ap-
s'peals best calculated to prevent desertions
stfrom their party, have harped upon those ex-
'spressions more than upon all other topics put
together. They have succeeded in filling
setimid or credulous mind, with apprehensions
s'that the election of the Democratic candidates
sswould be followed by the employment of the
'sarmy for the forcible election OF the negro
governments, in rough Cromwe!lian style.
There can be no doubt that the American
s'people yearn for peace and that nothing could
ssbe so fatal to the success of the Democratic
'sparty as q belief that it would attempt to cut
"the gordian knot of Southern politics with the
s'sxord. The use mado OF General BLAIRs let
sster ha ;, of course, been uncandid and Unfair,
sebut what care the unscrupulous Radicals for
siairness or cindol? Enough had been said TO
s.give color to their perversons, and, in point
s'or fact, they have deluded thousands OF weak
s'minds into the absurd belief that the Demo-
s'cratic party is asking the country to endol se
"a ravoIutioary programme. The mischief OF
such representations does no. depend upon
'sthelr being true, but upon their being oetleoed
''They carry an imputation which the party
:'cannot stand under, and unless they can be in
'ssome way effectually rebutted,we shall again
''come just near enough to success to wonder
sthat we failed.
sThe calumny needs to be met by something
s'more effectual than mere argumentatlve
strefutation. Every time it is refuted our OPP
s'ponents slur over or ignore the exposure, and
ssrehearse again their quotations from the
ssBroadhead letter, asserting that it was on ac-
.'count Of that letter, and Of those particular
sspassages in it, that General Blair was nomi-
s.nated. Now, We suppose that anybody can
easily conceive OF ways by which this dam
s'aging libel upon the Democratic party could
s'be summariy e1ploded-so exploded that no
s'1nore would be left OF it than heap OF e1-
s'ploded guupowder. or the two or three ways
s'in which this may effectuany be done, we
edo not feel called upon to particn!arize any;
sfor the individuals are very few in whose
sshands the remedies lie. and the remedies
themselves are not so rccondite as to need
ssany ghost from the other world to reveal what
ssthey are. It is obvious enough what they are
ssnot. There is nothing to be gained by the
s'incessant and endless contradiction by our
ssparty organs Of o calumny which the Repub-
'.ican organs will repeat faster than we can
sprint the contradictions, which never reach
ssHeir readers. The public mind is educated
'squickly By eueats; slowly by arguments. What
us needed is some EVENT, OF such nature
"that no voter in the United States can ignore
'ii; of such significance that it can, by no pos
s'sibility, be misunderstood
ssNo Democrat admits that the success OF
''the party binds it to use the army to disperse
s'the new State governments. And as the
"party has no such intention, why should it
'bear the odium Of the damaging imputation ?
sAs it contemplates only peaceful and legal
'smodes of redress, it is simply justice to the
ssparty that its skirts should be cleared OF as
s'persion which, so far as they are believed,
''repel voters from it's ranks. The party, as
"body, has no other meeus of clearing itself OF
'this injurious imputation than by futile con-
''tradictions in its public journals. But there
"are individuals who can. extinguish this
''calumny in moment, and silence it forever.
Sand this must be done, il we are to win The
selection. This is q time for / lain talk and we
''trust we have spoken intelligibly enough for
s'those whom it most concerns to take our
meaning"