The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-04-02
CHI Al ES TON.
FRIDAY MORNING, APRIL 2, 1869.
Senator prague on the War PATH.

of Rhode Island, came down to South Car
olina, bought the Colcubia canal and de-
clared that he was willilg to lead the revo-
luton which must take place in cotton spin
ming in America, it was not dreamed that
he would be the first Republican senator to
point out the flaws in the brazen armor Of
his party, or that he would, in his plac. in
the United States Senate. declare that the
subversion of this government was in more
danger from a body constituted as the Sch
ate than from any other source. And yet
this, and more, Senator Sprague has done.
| With boldness which we cannot but ad-
mire, he has de6ed without betraying Zig
party, and is known to-day as q Republican
whose devotion to the Union is unques-
toned, but who has been able at last to see
the corruptions, the blunders and t. e crimes
Of Radicalism, and, seeing, has tire courage
to denounoe them.
At the first. swing of the tonahs gk, he
made sensation by declaring iha. there
were too many lawyers in the government
for the putlic good. OF the sixty-si1 mem
bers Of the Senate; forty:tive were lawyers
and FIVE others had received legal educa-
| ton. There was surfeit of legal lore, and
the Rhode Island sen .lor seemed to wish
that he were second Car Peter so that
he might put speedy end to the quibbling
and special pleading which now take the
place of statecraft. And this WAS but the
beginning; for in regard to slavery he
made this remarkable admission:
'The mainsprings of our prosperity had
sheen slavery and foreign immigration.
sThe former had stimulated the growth of
ecotton and made it an American monopoly,
sand so had built up the manufacturing and
Commercial and railroad interest of the
ssNorth, and these had, in turn, invited and
"grown upon foreign immigration"
It was, however, in reviewing the conse-
quences of the war that Senator Sprague
spoke most emphatically and pointedly. He
said:
81, for one, in looking back upon the past
shistory of this country-and the people,
"whatever philosophers may say, will come
ssto the same conclusion-have come 10
abeIieve that your war has not been won
sfor the liberties Of any class Of people;
'.your war that you have just partially con-
"cluded has had no high, virtucus principle
Sat the bottom of it. 1t has had simple
sscontentions for power, for place, and for
Occupation, commencing here in this body,
'ssnd penetrating throughout the country"
And again:
I--4tva,,- LA.A- >-~~.>i.-!;~-- y I'stun1ng
'shere, through the ambition of one class Of
ssmen, built up two great, two powerful
s'bodies of people; and you have built them
cup for purpose, that they might unite
"with your own ambitious ends for off ;e,
Sand place, and power; and you have gone
..from here to your respective peoples, both
.North and South, in order to create great
opportunities, that you might go on in that
"way prospering in employment and in
ssofice.
"You fight against titles and aristocra-
"cies. There never were titles and aris-
"tocracies that exercised the complete
'spower and jurisdiction over everything
s.that concerned people that is concentr,-
'sted in this body to-day.
"Sir, ell have studied the results of the
.sInquisition, commencing with the fourth
ssoentury and ending in this. Obnoxious
ssand cruel as the result Of that action sug-
"gests itself to every man's mind, I do not
"bslisve that it's action caused more anxiety
"mora trouble, more terror, than the acts
"of Congress applied to the people during
''the war, both North and South, and since
ssthe war has ended"
To these words we could add but little;
for they repeat what has been said in the
South thousand times, in regard to the
war itself and the political party which has
ruled the country during the last nine years.
Ard if any proof were needed Of the ex-
cesses of party dominion, it is found in the
fact that Republican senator repudiates
and condemns them from Alpha to Omega,
from first to last.
The sound sense of which Senator
Sprague gave evidence in his visit to the
South, is now guiding his action as legis-
tor. AS man of large means, as manu-
facturcr interested in the prosperity of the
whole country, he has desired to see the
expenses of the government reduced, its
revenues honestly collected, and its dis
bursements so arranged as to give ease to
the money market,-not for speculative
purposes, but for business and investment
There is but one barrier in the way, and
that is that intolerant, selfish, malignant
Radicalism, against which he has Used his
voice. While the senatorial and represen-
tive rings control legislation, the masses
must and will suffer. We have no faith in
nalf cures; but Senator Sprague may, if
he persevere, shame his party into some
show Of justice and generosity
Whatever the result, we believe that the
condemnation of Radicalism which Senator
Sprague has pronounced, will be concurred
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