The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1869-12-07
GREELEY E:UTl.EF,.
ARvAppcai fer 'EgsumpiE0n"--PrO-
sCTipliOn Certain 10 S;sbvcct tic
Republican paTty.

To Major General Benjamin T. Butler, Il. c.:
My DEAR SIR: Your name, | think
you will have REMARKED is very often pro
olnccd from one end Of our country to
the other. l--traveling somewhat, oh.
serving little. and reading newspapers
considerabiy-Quite often hear it men
Homeland (i5 may surprise you to learn)
not always admiringly, And yet, while
l have for many yeaIs heard and read all
manner Of evil said Of you-somc Of it
absurdiy gT0undleSs and faIse--I can
not recoilect that | ever heard or read a
suggestion that yOu were fool. Now,
/ come before the public to impeach-
not yourself personally but a policy
wAerewlth your name is popularIY and
prominently identified, as lacking ration
Al motive and at war with common sense
l alude to atpolicy which proiongs in
! -dcHn!teIy the prescription and dlsfran-
chisement Of a large portion Of the men
OF the South for their part il the late re-
bcIion.
Understand that I speak from the
standpoint not Of sentiment, but of bust
ness. do not here impeach that policy
as harsh or hateful, but us deficient in
tact-in gumption. impeach it as nurs-
Ing and lntensliylng Cnmlies certain to
suDYer, at no distant day, the party
which is identified with it < X x
I rest on the naked fact chat the Repub-
lican party lmmineDJY needs the good
Vii, Wnicu th.s policy repe.s, and must
80 under ii That good viii be not secur-
ed
Iassume that YOU realize the absolute
necessity Of he triumph Of the Fifteenth
/ Amendment to the success OF Genct al
/ Grants Administration, and that you
must be aware that. the fate Of that
Amendment is yet doubtful. Ten ad-
verse States suffice to defeat it; and sew
en-Ncw Jersey, Delaware, Maryland:
Kentucky, Tennessee, California and
/ Oregon-are already beyond hope The
loss OF Tennessee was at once y calam-
/ ity and . blunder-one OF those intense
stupidi;ics which great party is seldom
allowed to repeat. How Rhode Island,
Indiana, Georgia and Nebraska stand [
need not inform you Suffice it that it
will require the wisest counseis and the
best efforts to avert the threatened fail
ure Of that great and wise measure of
safety, beHignity and peace.
| The men now coming to Congress to
demand that Tennessee be upset and
| Virginia remandcd, and Mississippi and
Texas held as satrapies for an indefinite
period: unless they vote as they are bid
den, utterly fail to comprehend the stu
alton. They evidently suppose that We
have nothing at stabe-that We may
keep three or four STATES unreconstruct,
cd and u!igepresented in Congress during
pleasure. hope you know better-at
all events, do. We do not merely need
! the Fifteenth Amendment ratified before
/ lS72-wo urgently need it now. II it
be delayed one year longer we shall lave
more than one State Legislature beside
that Of New York assuming to withdraw
the ratification already accorded; and,
while you and may rightly deny the
legal validity of such withdrawal, am
sure neither Of US viii dispute its moral
weight.
Connecticut is to hold an election next
April, when the votes Of her colored citi-
zcu5 will be found exceedingly useful, if
not absolutely needed New jersey and
pennsylvania have United States Sena-
tors depending upon the result Of their
next State election respectively, and the
like votes are absolutely needed in the
former, and probably SO in the latter
Several seats il the next Congress from
| Ohio and other States will be won or
lost, as tue right to yoie for members
shall be exercised Icy their whole people,
or only by the whites. Kentucky, Mary
land and Delaware will each be stoutly
and hopefully contested next year if the
amendment De meantime ratified, while
we shall not elect one member from all
three Of these States if it be not To
my apprehension the control Of the next
House Of Representatives will probably
| hinge oil that event.
! l ask you, then, to consider, as prac
! tical man, whether we can afford to pick
and choose from among those disposed
to favor that Observation-Disclosures It
! viii not lie suicidal folly to repel any
proIered or possible support! l ask
lyon whether any attempt to pry into the
motives Of those who may favor ito
, ascertain whether they were not rebels,
and, ii 50, Whether they have repented
of having been such-is not q childish
exAibit OF that spirit which "goeth
before fall = In short, ask you to
consider this whole matter IN the light
Of naked, hearty, homely common sense,
and act upon it as the demands Of the
exi9ency shall seem to require.
The urgency Of the case must excuse
the tleedom Of this appeal, Rightly or
wrongly, the country regards you as the
Header in Congress of those who have
been most exacting in their requirements
Of the defea.ed re6eIs, andleast inclined
to treat them with confidence or gener-
osity. The reproaches which | have in
cured in this quarter will never attach
TO YOU, and your adhesion to the policy
which the occasion demands will never
| be attributed to weakness or sentiment
tality ask you, therefore, to place
yourself promptly and heartily at the
head of movement looking to the in-
stant and complete removal of all polit
zeal disabilities whatever from any and
every one who favors or shall favor the
fifteenth Amendment, and their prompt
restoration to all privileges of citizen.
ship. Let US have peace p
Yours, HORACE GRIELEY.
! New YORK, Nov. 26, 1869.