The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-09
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.
Editorial Opinions of the Lending Journals
UpOn Current TOpics-COmpiled Every
Dny for the Evening Telegraph
THE ADMINISTRATION AND SOUTH
ERN POLITICS.


Thought proper to write to Tennessee, eX-
I,ressinp their preference for Stokes over
Senter for the governorship of the State
Stokes representing the policy OF continued
prescription, and Senter that of immediate
enfranchisement of the ex-Rebels, numbering
in all il is said, about 100000. The sympa-
Ihies of the various members of the admins
tration in the case of Virginia have not been
SO openly manifested, but whatever Grants |
NAV be-and they are said to incline to
Walker-the relation of the two parties In
Virginia so closely resembles those of the two
parties in Tennessee that we can hardly err
i'm placing Messrs. Boutwell, and Creswell on
the side of Wells.
There are two objections to members of the
Cabinet writing letters of encouragement, or
otherwise taking part in State elections at the
South which are both worth the considera-
tion One is, that the opinion of members of
the Cabinet as to the way in which Republi-
cans should vote in Tennessee, or any other
State. is worth no more than the opinion of
any other citizen of another State, of mature
ace and fair capacity, who has never lived in
Tennessee. and has 40 special knowledge OF
ahe temper of tie people, of the drift of
popular feeling, of the necessities of the day,
and of the character of the local politicians.
Mr. Boutwell, and Mr. Creswell, in other
words, know no more about the way a
Republican should vote in Tennessee than Mr.
Sentor knows about how a man should vote
in New York. They know they don't know
1T, and the Tennesseeans all know it, and in
deed everybody knows it. They have no
special acquaintance with Tennesseean poll
tics, and, per Sc, their letters if they wrote
them in private life, or even as members of
Congress would simply be piece of imperti-
nence to which the State voters would pay
no heed, Indeed, we risk nothing in saying
that Mr. Boutwell, or Mr.. Creswell hardly ex-
poets anybody in Tennessee to vote for any
particular candidate in Difference to his
opinion, as an opinion. What he expects is
that his letter will influence people - but
through their fears, not through their judg
ment.
In other words, the reason why the opinions
of these twogentlemen about the Tennesseean
election are of such importance is, that one
of them appoints all the pOstmasters and the
other all the revenue assessors and collectors
and inspectors, and so forth, in the State
and, consequently, can remove the persons
now filing those places. Were it not for
this, the opinions of Mr.. Fish, or Mr.. Robe
son, or General Sheridan, or Mr.. Hoar would
. be Just as valuable as theirs. What they
really mean when they recommend Stokes for
the suffrages of Tennesseean voters is not
simply that in their estimation, Stokes is the
best man for the goyernorship, but that if
any Federal office-holder in Tennessee fails to
''work' for Stokes, or to use his influence for
in such a way that the Office will become
vacant, and another citizen Of more zeal be
called to fill it. In fact, their letters are
simply threats to abuse the patronage at
their disposal for the purpose of influencing
political contest which concerns them no
more than any other American citizen, and
concerns them far less than it concerns the
voters in Tennessee, and about the merits of
which they are not well informed, and in
which any mistake on their part would do in
calculable mischief We pass over with a
mere mention the obvious fact, that the
duties of those who are charged with the
management-in-chi of the Treasury and
Post Office of the United States are Just now
of such magnitude that it is no disparaoe-
ment to either Mr.. Boutwell, or Mr.. Creswell
to say, that men of twice their ability and
powers of work. great as these may be- would
find in them full employment for all their
faculties of whatever nature
The second objection is that their interfer-
ence helps to maintain and stimulate the feel
ing of antagonism and mistrust between the
mass of the Southern people and the Federal
Government, which is one of the great diff
culties of reconstruction A State once ad-
mitted to the Union, the punishment of any
portion of its population for having taken
part in the Rebellion ceases to be the duty of
the administration or of anybody connected
with it, Even if we admit it is a matter of
concern to the Federal Government that the
franchise in every State should be impartaly
bestowed, it is not a matter of concern to it.
and it ought not to act as if it were, that a
certain portion of the population should be
disfranchised for past Ottenses. In so far as
Congress has not provided for anything of the
kind, the matter ought to be left in the
hands of the people of the State. who under
stand it. Attempts on the part of officers of
the General Government to secure continu-
ance of policy of prescription, against the
wishes and the judgment OF even a portion of
the Republican party, are, therefore, i'll
judged as well as indecent and are calculated
to prolong hatred and distrust of the United
States amongst that immense and influential
class of the Southern peOple-the men and
women who aided and abetted in the Rebel
lion, and their children. If this were des-
potic government, it would make no differ
ence how these people feel or were likely to
feel; but as it is a democratic republic it is,we
submit, our duty and our interest to try to
placate them, and would be- though they were
all possessed by devils. The time for punish
ment of Rebels, as far as regards the Federal
Government, was during the continuance of
military rule, and the place for punishment
was the courts. The opportunities thus pre-
sented having passed away, all talk of the
matter had better cease. We do not expect
Mr., Boutwell, to give offices to Rebels or
Democrats, but we do expect him not to use
his patronage to help to divide the Republican
party at n State election on a question of
disfranchisement.
In this, as in many similar cases, Mr.. Bout
well as well as many other Republicans, does
not seem to have ever asked himself ques-