The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1869-01-08
THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE FOR
1869.

Within the last eight years our country has
triumphantly passed through the gravest and
most irving pciils which have confronted her
since her Independence was acknowledged. She
has vindicatcd beyond appeal her right TO be re-
garded as no mere conlcdracy or league OF eal-
Uus, cnvious, dscoidant States, but as substan-
TALLY and permanently a Nation, wherein the
prctcntiuns of no part can be admitted or upheld
in opposition to the integrity, the paramount at-
tbority, of the One Republic.
The right of each man, by virtue of his birth
or his naturalization AS citizen of the United
States, to tho full enjoyment of 'le, liberty and
the pursuit Of happiness until he shall forfeit
the right by crime, is also established on impreg-
nable foundations. Our fathers proclaimed it in
justfyng their separation from Great Britain: il
was left to MS TO establish as a fact what they
merely affirmed as n principle. What the can
non of Saratoga and OrktOwn proclaimed as an
abstraction, the cannon Of Gettysburg. ViCks-
burg, and Five Forks, established as living,
embodied, enacted truth. Widely as our flag
now floats, stii more widely as it may float here
after, there is, there can hcncoforth be. no legal
master, no frttered slave. Wrongs and abuses
scrvlllty and oppression may still exist; but the
Federal Constitution is no longer their shield
and tic folds OF our flag no longer emblazon nor
seek TO conceal lie. The humDlcst American,
50 long as hc violates no law, is master of his
OVID limbs and the sole owner Of ali lie can hon
| Cstly earn.
Or these immense results, the importance and
the bcnCiiconce will become more palpalac with
every added year. Distance is required to enable
us TO measure and appreciate the magnitude of
the pyramid Of -Four Millions of shaclles, stlick-
en- nom the SCARED limbs of orr COuntrymJn
which form the enduring monument of ON strug-
! gle and our triumph. New arts new industries
new developments Of natural wealth too long
unhecded and unvalued, will year by year stand
forth IN atestatOn that none Uf lis has yet ade-
| quatcly realized the magnitude and the Gcngnty
OF our National victory.
No great good is ever achieved without effort
or without cost -Four years Of patriotic strug-
| gle and sacrifice. Halt Million of men slain in
| battle OF dying Of the prvaons and exposures
! Of War, Millions of helcaved ones. Five Billions
of property destroyed and nearly Three Billions
Of debt incurred attest the magnitude of the
contest and the unyielding valor Of the combat
ants.
! AT length, the smoke rises from the hard-won
! field, showing that the last inIcDChmcnt has been
carried. Tie election Of Grant and Colflx gives
assurance that the storm is oyer-that the Bow
OF Promise arches the sky. There are still OBJ
staees to surmount perils to avert, noble ends
10 be achieved but the ship of State has ridden
out the tempest and has her haven fqll in view.
| The seven states reconstructed under the recent
acts Of Congress will stand, and will be followed
! by the three that have hitherto stood aOor; the
| rights of the Freedmen will be upheld and re-
5 eccd, and impartial suffrage throughout the
land will soon plant them on foundations that can.
not be shaken.
The TRIBUNE will contend, in the future as in
the past, for Universal Amnesty as we'll for In
partial Suffrage. Ii has no rlith in vengeance,
in prescription. in conGscaiiUn, nor in the shed
ding OF blood otherwise than in actual and nec-
| ssary war. There is II time for War and a
time for Pcace;" and the latter follows swiftly on
| the heels ol the former. Whenever those who
fought against the Union shall have in good faith
given up the contest, they are 10 longer our foes
| but our c0untrymcn.
In Tie joyfHl trust that Grants election has
| given the death blow 10 Ku-klux-lIlans. and all
manner Of uutragcs on Unionists and Freedmen
as such, and that Impartial Suffrage will no Ion
ger be seriously resisted, we hope 10 q the next
! four years signalized by an unprecedented CX-
pansion Of the National Industry and n conse-
qucnt increase OF the National wealth We hope
TO see new cabins dot the prairie, new clearings
| chCqHcr tie forest new mills, factories, furnaces,
erected. North South, East and West, until cur
annual product shall he hundreds Of millions
greater than at present, while mines Of Iron and
Of Coal, of Gold, Silver, Copper %c. shall be
opened and worked, with aR energy, and TO an
extent that d"ics precedent. Believing that the
systematic. efficient Protection of Home Industry
is the cornerstone Of a wise, bcnigant National
! Policy and that ii is essential to the rapid de-
yclUpment of our latent resources ID the pros
| perity of our country, the maintenance Of her
| Credit. and the honest payment Of her Debt, we
! shall give it our most earnest and active support
~ I