The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1869-02-15
;TliE LATELY REBELLIOUS
STATES,n


We should like to know just how long
the phrase above quoted is to be part of
the lexicon of loyalty? How loug is the
"lately" to last! 1t is four years old
now, aad yet, judging from the effects of
radical legislation, it is still in its infancy.
Suppose somebody had predic ed, when,
in April, 1865, the rebel arnirs surrcn-
,lerei, tina, at the end of four years the
Union would be further from restoration
than ever, and fraternal peace scarce to
be hoped fer. Would he not have been
howlcd down as a copperhead croaker, or
n rebel sympathizer, or some other epithet
which then rs now formed the staple of
radical oratory and literature Yet, here
we are, at the close of four years Of I'M
interrupted radical rule, and ten States
Of the Union are known as those "lately
in rebellion, with prospcc, Of the title
holding good indefinitely in the future,
if it is to be applied until there is the
least semblancc of that Union which it
vas the ostensiblc object of the war to
restore. Radical legislation has been a
succession of lies, SO far as it pr missed
peace or restoration. Universal suffrage
was to have removed all cause of dissen-
sion, oblitcratod all prcjudices of race,
and united master and slave in patriotic
purpose of good and true citizenship.
Well, they have had universal suffrage in
the Lately rebcllious States" for more
than year, aud with it universal despot-
ism to give it free scope and exercise.
But where are the promised fruits? VIVA.
are the net results Of this ncw panacca
for the ills of the body .poli'ic? Simply
the election to Congress of men whom it
is SANDER on the Internal regions to call
the hell-spawn of civilization. Even that
would be almost tolcraLle, If it could lie
shown to be a natural result Of the extern
sion Of the franchise. 1t might be hoped
that with increasing intelligence among
the constituents, there would be an i'm.
proyemcnt in thu class Of men selected as
representatives. even carpct-buggers
might be looked upon as m evil within
the pale of remedial measures. But the
carpct.bag governments are the product
Of the ahusc of the franchise enforced by
u military dcspotism and ratified by mar.
tial luw. The whole South, from the Po-
tomnc to the Rio Grande, is still under
military control. just rs much as it has
been at any time since 1861. It is idle
to talk Of peace or to hope for it under
the proscrip,iye legislation Of the radical
party. The final struggle which that leg
islation iGvokes and makes certain may
be postponed for one year, or ten years.
just as long as the people arc willing TO
pay for an army, whose presence alone
will postpone 1t. But sooner or later it
will come, and the failure to make the
white people Of The South the political
serfs aud servants of the blacks will be
recorded in tue bloodiest page Of hmcri-
can history. Its the fusl,ion Of late TO
laugh dcrisivcly at the idea Of war Of
races but, unfortunately, the laugh Of
an idiot will not avert the doom Of u ma
,ion. nor change the inczerablc laws Of
nature; otherwise the jcs,ing bufoonery
Of the radical leaders il 1S6O-Gl would
have spared the land the desola,ion Of Ia.
ter years. Tic contemptuous sncer with
which the prediction Of renewed war in
the solution Of the negro problem, is re-
celvcd is but an echo Of that other sneer,
which was still so common in the North
when The flames Of the rebellion lit up the
Southern horizon.-Cincinaai Enqai-