The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-29

Editorial Opinions of the Leading Journals
Upon Current Topics Compiled Every
Day for the Evening Telegraph.

THE REPUBLICANS AND THE SOUTH.
From the NJ Y. Tribune
To Major General BENJAMIN f. BUTLER M.
C.-My Dear Sir--Your name, l think you
will have remarked, is very often pronounced,
from one end of our country to the other. /
travelling somewhat, observing little, and
reading newspapers considerably-quiteo often
hear it mentioned, and (it may surprise you to
learn) not always admirlngly. And yet while
have for many years heard and read all
manner of evil said of you-some of it alb
Burdly groundless and false--I cannot recol-
lect that l ever heard or read suggestion
that you were fool. Now, L come before
The public to impeach-not yourself person
ally, but q policy wherewith your name is
popularly and prominently identified, as lack
ing rational motive and at war with common
sense 1 allude to that policy which prolongs
indefinitely the prescription and disfranchise-
ment of large portion of the men of the
South for their part in the late Rebellion.
Understand that speak from the stand
point not of sentiment but of business. L
do not here impeach that policy as harsh or
hateful but as deficient in tact-in gump-
ton impeach it as nursing and intensity
ing enmities certain to subvert, at no distant
day, the party which is identified with it.
/ will not dwell upon the well-hnown fact
that the late Governor Andrew, in his fare
well message or address, put forth four years
ago, strongly urged policy antagonlstlc to
fhis-a policy that contemplated the early and
complete Cancellation of the South, through
the Acknowledgement and magnanimous treat
ment of her natural leaders. Nor need invite
your attention to the fact that General Sickles
Ga shrewd, thoroughly practical politician) Off
cially demonstrated, more than three years
ago. against the prescription of prominent and
wealthy ex-Rebels, as depriving him of the
services of the very men he urgently needed
and could make most useful in governing
South Carolina Nor do 1 care to press home
the fact of which you cannot be ignorant,
that the Southern men of education and pro-
perty are by far more reasonable and less
bitter than their poorer, more ignorant neigh
bors-are less implacable, more rational, and
more ready to unite heartily in rebuilding the
waste places of the land. Nor will l dwell
upon the noble addition made, on motion of
General Carl Schurz, to the latest national
platform of the Republican party-that plank
which declares prescription temporary eX-
pedient, rendered necessary by grave public
peril, and to be abandoned when that peril
shall have vanished. / rest on the naked fact
that the Republican party imminently needs
the good Will which this policy repels, and
must go under if that good will be not Sc
cured
I assume that you realize the absolute ne
cessity of the triumph of the fifteenth amend
ment to the success of General Grants ad-
ministration, and that You must be aware
that the fate of that amendment is yet doubt
full. Ten adverse States suffice to defeat it,;
and seven-New Jersey, Delaware, Mary
land Kentuckp, Tennessee, California, end
Oregon-are already beyond hope. The loss
of Tennessee, was at once a calamity and a
blunder-one of these intense stupidites
which great party is seldom allowed to re-
peat. How Rhode Island, Indiana, Georgia
and Nebraska stand, / need not inform you.
Suffice it that it will require the wisest coun-
4 sells and the best efforts to avert the threat
ened failure of that great and wise measure of
safety, benignity, and peace.
The men now coming to Congress to de-
mand that Tennessee be upset, and Virginia
remanded, and Mississippi and Texas held as
Eatrapies for an indefinite period, unless they
vote as they are bidden, utterly fail to COM
prehend the situation. They evidently sup
pose that qOe have nothing at stake-that we
may keep three or four States unreconstructed
and unrepresented in Congress during plea
sure. hope you know better-at all events,
L do. We do not merely need the fifteenth
amendment ratified before 1S72-we urgently
need it non. If it be delayed one year
longer we shall have more than one State
Legislature besides that of New York as
Stunning to withdraw the ratification already
accorded and, while you and l may rightly
deny the legal validity of such with
drawal, am sure neither of us will dispute
its moral weight. Connecticut is to hold an
election next April, when the votes of hel
colored citizens will be found exceedingly
useful, if not absolutely y.-needed; New Jersey
and Pennsylvania have United States Sena
tors depending on the result of their next
State election respectively, and the like votes
are absolutely needed in the former, and pro
badly so in the latter Several seats in the
next Congress from Ohio and other States
will be won or lost as the right to vote fol
members shall be exercised by their whole
people or only by the whites. Kentucky
Maryland, and Delaware will each be stoutly
and hopefully contested next year if thu
amendment be meantime ratified, while WI
shall not elect one member from all three o
these States if it be not. To my apprehen
sion, the control of the next House of Repre-
sentatives will probably hinge on that event
/ ask you, then, to consider, as practica
man, whether we can afford to pick anC
choose from among those disposed to favo
that Observation-Disclosures it will not be sui
cidal folly to repel any proifered or possible
support. l ask you whether any attempt t,
pry into the motives of those who ma
favor ito ascertain whether they were no
Rebels, and, if SO, whether they have re
pented of having been such--is not a childis
exhibition of that spirit which ''goeth befor
fall" In short, L ask you to consider thi
whole matter in the light of naked, hearty
homely common sense, and act upon it q
the demands of the exiSency shall seem
require.
The urgency of the case must excuse tn
freedom of this appeal. Rightly or wrongly
the country regards you as the leader in Cor
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