The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-07-23
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.
Editorial Opinions of the Leading I, ., 1ourn"'S
Upon Current Topics -Compileu Every
noy for the Evening Telegraph
THE SOUTH AND THE DEMOCRATIC
PARTY.

~ f,,t,,re position of the Southern States.
rTbev have been claimed as States that Will,
of necessity. gravitate towards their old rela-
Eons with the Democratic party. The Vlr-
oinin election has been treated as proof oi
6,ia tendency Some dozens of journals have
Inosted of that election as Democratic vic
torv They have contended that it was the
resIlt of Democratic effort, and have insisted
that that party will once more rule the State.
rho nr6tests of Richmond editors were not
peeded TO demolish these pretensions The
entreaty to be let alone addressed 10y the
IVbio to the World was effective as an Illus
trati0n of the falsity of the exultation in
dnlped in by the latter newspaper; but 1t was
NOT necessary as a rejection of the Demo-
cratic claim That was too manifestly un-
tenable to merit elaborate augmentation.
An event that is distinguished by the election
of Republican officials on Republican plat
form cannot by any ingenuity be tortured
into Democratic triumph Boosting in such
circumstances breaks down under the crush
ing weight of facts.
2verywbere in the South the denial assumes
o more positive shape Ii the G9lnocIacy
might reasonably claim foothold IN that
section. it would surely be in Georgia There,
if anywhere. the Democrats have power, as
tbe State knows to its cost. Yet the prevail
ing opinion, even in quarters lnlmlcal to the
principles and objects of the Republican
party. is decidedly adverse to the Democrats,
their leaders and their tactics. However
strong may be many of their claims upon us,
remarks the leading journal of Savannah,
''the South would be foolish to pin her talth
to the skirts of any such party Why?
GeThey cannot take care of themselves at
home" is the answer, "much less should they
be trusted with the vast interests we have at
stake" This is obvious and positive enough.
But our Savannah contemporary not satisfied
with a general reputation of Democratic
oyertures, undertakes to particularize with an
emphasis which Messrs. Packer Co. will not
consider complimentary. These are It's
words
otis a rare thing for the Northern Democrats to
make a judicious nomination. Indeed, since the
South has been left Of their councils, the party
appears to have lost its brains. There seems to be
fatality that drives them away from every road
that can possibly lead to victory. They appear IN
capable of learning anything from the past dt is Is
their blunders alone that have kept alive the radical
party, which has long since been condemned by the
American people. In the late Presidential campaign,
they not only brought out ticket that was obliged
to be beaten, but took special pains to secure It's
defeat by putting the party on the defensive In long
and silly string Of irrelevant resolutions. In the
States they have been guilty of equal folly. With
the exception Of Hoffman, in New York, and Rose
Grams, in Ohio they have blundered in almost every
nomination made since the close OF the war. The
Pennsylvania nomination for Governor affords
striking example. They could have had the services
of Hancock by anything like unanimous nomna-
tiOn and his name would have put a Democratic
victory beyond peradventure; but no, they must
go Off into a wild goose chase after 'Copperhead'
nominee, well-known partisan who will Keep his
minority party together and the opposition quite as
firmly united"
Hard words, those for the Democracy !
'The party appears to have lost its brains
''They appear incapable of learning anything
from the past" "They must 90 off into wild
goose chase after a Copperhead nominee
The sayings are severe because true. They
are especially severe because cmanating from
source whose natural affilation is with the
party thus roundly condemned.
The terms of the indictment we quote de.
note a remarkable change in Southern sym.
pathy and, by contrast remarkable blind
ness and obstinacy on the part of the Demo
cratic party. To the latter the last eight
years have taught no lesson. 1t has learned
nothing from the war; and nothing from the
course of events since the restoration of peace
When required to nominate candidates. il
persists in giving a preference to Copper.
heads. And to render the preference more
marked, it makes "a long and silly string OF
irrelevant resolutions the groundwork of its
canvass. The candidate, whether Seymour
for the Presidency or Packer for the Pennsyl
vania Governorship, would be more than 6
sufficient load for any party; but, as though
to make defeat inevitable, a. bundle of deaG
yet still obnoxious issues is tie dto its neck
and sinking become quick land sure. Thi
course, suicidal as it is, the orators and Jour
nalists of the party eXtol as the ne plus uItrt
of party management They repeat it on al
most all possible occasions, with pertinacit
which has led many beside the Savannah Re
publican to declare that the party has lost it
brains.
Meanwhile Southern opinion has undergon
a revolution. While Pennsylvania Copper
heads stand where they stood during the wal
those who did the Southern fighting have az
vanced with the music of the times Tire
of battling for extinct ideas and for caus
that is hopelessly lost, they have quietly az
cepted the change which the Democracy
these latitudes impotently denounce Negl
suffrage, which is here assailed as an abom
nation to be resisted at all hazards, is thel
an accomplished fact, and one to which III
Southern whites are rapidly becoming reco1
clled. They are not afraid of it, as has bee
shown IN Virginia, and is now being show
in Mississippi. The fifteenth amendmen
which those who nominated Rosecrans an
Packer decry as intolerable in its iniuuity.
assured of 'atifcation by the South CEN
rally. Anf the whole scheme of reconstru
tion, whiC a the wise men of the Democrat
assall as equivalent to absolutism is four
by expe ience to be the precursor of nea,
and sci government. Between the party
the Meth, therefore, and those who former
belonged to the party in the South, gre
gulf yawns, which not even HancoclS's nan
would effectually bridge.
Having learned wisdom in the school
adversely, the South understands too we
its interests to resume connection with Il
Democracy. Its wants are material. and
knows that these cannot be satisfied by Co
perhead and reputation resolutions.
Graves the renewal of cordial fellowship wi
the Union, and knows that no help can
rendered in this direction by those wi