American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1869-03-13
All in a Fog.


From Tie Courier olrnal
All in q Fog. !
Almost everything fhat is trans
piringat present in Washington NAV +
be regarded us more or less provision.
al. Any very positive hopes or fears.
based upon the first acts of the new
Administration, are certainly1re- |
mature. Grant has begun, lust as
Andrew Johnson began, to give his
party, as far as he knows how, a !
partisan administration; out. it max
he truly said, he has in four DAYS
created more uneasiness among his
friends and given more dissatistac-
ton to his party, than Andrew John
son did in as many weeks.
The President himself cannot have
the faintest idea of his own future
Never did a President face a Con
eress composed of his political 9Sso~
ciates which presente& a ~nopattsiitss-
promising cOuntenance. There is
the odiOus tenure of Office bone Of
contention then the Treasury en-
broglio ; then the patronage business
ut large, with ten applieantsfore every
office. and no end to conflicting sec
, ito lal, party, and local contention.
Already the Missouri Radicals are
disguised. New York is not only
not satisfied, but could not, from the
very nature of the case, be satisfied.
The Cabinet, unknown 10 the coun-
try, is equally unknown to itself, and
must begin its duties with strange,
unfamiliar, startled, uneasy feeling.
The only self,poised figure in the
whole mass of excited beings that
have congregated in the capital
seems TO be Grant, and he is com
posed because perhaps it is his ma
turp, and perhaps because he is in
different, meaning, as luck has al
ready done so much for him, to let
luck take care of the rest.
AS far as we know, he has no bet
ter friend to trust to. If he will Just
go on, stolid and unmovable, doing
as lie pleases and kindly allowing
his advisers, of whom there will be-
no lack, to go their way, he will at
least be sue of knowing his OWL
mind-a great thing in adRinistra-
tion-and, through his rexcelleDl
medium, of ascertaining pretty near,
ly his true streng h and real status
) Irresolution, which has gone by the
polite designation of "policy,' has
been the ruin of most of our Presi-
dents. Grant should beware OF
everything that looks like policy
His SAFEST route lies straight before
him, and he is strong enough build
, Il party of his own.
So far, he means nothing at all
, He does not know where he vii
) stand six weeks hence, nor do we
/. all that he does know being that lit
wants to stand well. One thing i:
clear. he need not hope to stand will
, the Radicals in Congress. Satal
himsef could not do that if he shou!t
, suddenly find himself an occupant
. of the White ouse. HThough h,
. should strive ever 81 hard to Squar,
S his conduct by the foot-rule of hi
friends in both houses, he would fine
. that they would always contrive t.
keep few feet ahead of him. The,
). are nothing, these extremists, if no
f radical, and the popularity Of thei
). radicalism is that they must Away
= oppose something or somebody
4 They are best in opposition. Oppo
/ Sition preserves their identity, re
1 lieves them from the restrictions o
!. party drill, gives them chance out
). side of the caucus closet, and, il
e short, enables them to cut tignr
: on their own account. O.herwiS
i they might, and most of them would
: relapse into mere drudge horses t
f the imperial car and accessories il
t the pageant provided for Grant ant
!. a few chosen friends. Hence the,
:, are bound to exact of Grant NOR
e than lie can possibly allow them
G and, if he should accord them al
t they exact, they would still ask more
Y and, failing to receive more, woul
n make tie refusal IA cause of quarrel
e for they must have row. The
;, dOte on disturbance. They ar
e lost if they can not produce a cor
a troversy. They are like the Ter
f. nessee darkey, who became preach
n er i'll his old age, and who, securin
II 4 greasy copy of the New Testament
O posted himself on the turnpike an
l. stopped every passer-by with til
S. angry and pertinacious query
, "DOn't you want to 'Spute about d
Lord and de Saints p
= Grant may hope to escape, but h
v will not. lie has yielded about a
!, , he can afford to yield in dlsarranG
- ing JohnSon'i military chess mel
. and, if his new appointments do nc
. produce good fruit, as they certainl
= will not, SO much of his adminiStr;
u ton will he a failure. But, as ia
~ as the Radicals are concerned, recol
structiOn has come to be sma
matter. 1t will he still less for the
" are grown weary of the carpet bag
; gers. and the negro does III t pay
# very profitable per centum. Grant
1T danger lies not in the South, but
az the North and West, where til
" great questions of patronage an
il finance, one now upon him and til
10 other looming up in the distanc
J. open their traps to trip his heels an
catch his hlunders.
The course of the DEMO-
easy. They can Ioiter along IL
Or roadside and pick off the enem
Of whenever good chance occu,
IT, Guerilla warfare will be most ei1c
r. tive for them, and, of course, the
IT will employ it efficiently. 1t require
IL only fair craftsmanship, ami is e.
a cellent sport; will relieve Il
II monotony of defeat; will open Il
bowels of good nature. In shor
the situation is mixed, confuse,
., foggy, and the dim figures that, Ill
w. river craft, move about in the mis-
H. know as littlcaS we DO Of thenselv,
" or OF each other.
- EF The Cincinnati ERgHtfer sd,
II. that Mrs. Singer, wife of the SEWN
re macnn.e man, learning that her hIl
y band was lying with another W
u man, applied for divorce, and W;
IS astonished to find thai decree III
lie been already obtained, aud hlr hu
rs hand remarked without her knG'