Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-04-02
American Politics.

remarkable study, ah' A'' -
ture is likely to be as striking. lmmedl-
atelv upon the cessation of hostilities,
Democrats and Radicals We'd with each
other in endorsing President JOHNSON
"policy." Radical Legislatures and Con
press were unstinted in their applause OF
the spirit and action of the Southern Con
st;tHtional Conventions. Ordinances de-
cIaring null and void the acts OF Secesslon'
the abolition of slavery and the repudia-
tion of the war debts were hailed as con-
yincing evidences of returning reason and
the development of loyalty on the part OF
the "rebels, " and il seemed as If the South
ern States were to be received back lnto
the Union as long lost but repentant prod
igals. For them the fatted calf was to be
killed. and the country was again to be
cemented by renewed kindnesses, interests
and sympathies. And such doubtless would
have been the result of this era of good
feeling, had not the dark shadow of per-
sonal ambition and sordid ayarice fallen
across the pathway to peace and good feel
ing.
A Federal officer of considerable dis
tinction, with whom we we're frequently
thrown in official intercourse during the
two days succeeding the surrender of the
Confederate army at Appomattox IN ar
ranging the paroles of the officers and men
of the Division with which we were con-
nected, remarked that with this surrender
an ennity would pass away. and that the
North and South would soon be under the
influences of the old feeling of fraternal
regard. While dissenting from his hopeful
predictions, we could not but echo, with
profound regard, his good wishes, for we
knew they came from the heart of a brave
and true soldier, and were induced by the
mutual respect which the armies of LEE
and GRANT had shown for each other-the
admiration with which the vanquished can
only have for their honorable victors, and
the pride with which the conquerors only
can look upon the defeated who had proved
themselves "foeman worthy of their steel"
Honoring these noble impulses, we replied
that If Generals GRANT and LEE were al
lowed to arrange the terms Of the reunion,
and their armies were permitted to ratlfy
them, we would agree with him, and
thought that even before the physical
effects of the struggle could be erased from
the surface of the country, the moral evil
dences would be obliterated from the heart.
But when the question was transferred to
the forum of politics, we believed that pol
iticians could use the prejudices and hatreds
engendered by the war for party purposes,
and that the wounds would not be permit
ted to heal. In this opinion We have been
more than fully sustained.
It would be useless to follow the course
which politicians have pursued in convert
ing these sectional prejudices into fostering
sores upon the body polite. The columns
of our paper bear daily record of each suc-
ceeding step in this journey of hatred and
discord. When their malevolence is reeked
upon Mississippi, Texas and Virginia, the
noble mother of States and statesmen, and
afew finishing touches are given to Georgia,
which are now being prepared in the Con-
gressional laboratory, it would seem, for the
present at least, that Southern RECONSTRUCT
ton is completed. The whirligig of poll
tics, in its revolutions, is bringing to the
surface questions which threaten the rights
of Northern States and involve the welfare
of the citizens. The destruction of the
rights of Southern States and the ruin Of
their people have only served to whet the
appetite of the insatiate monster, and with
gluttonous delight he turns to the rich feast
which is now believed to be in his grasp.
A distinguished leader of the Radical
party admitted that the party was forced
to nominate General GRANT to save it from
disaster. The repeated defeats which they
suffered in the Spring and Fall of 1867
warned the leaders that their only chance
for success was in moderation, not only in
their platform, but in their candidate
also. The reconstruction acts had not
been approved by the Northern people,
while the proposition to confer suffrage
upon the negro at home had been signally
and emphatically rebuked. Under these
Influences the Chicago Convention assem-
bled. General GRANT was nominated by
reclamation, and upon the questions of
negro suffrage and finance the platform
was foggy but conservative. The party
sails being thus set to catch every favoring
breeze, the race was easily won.
The naughty spirit of the party, which
characterized its acts before its reproof, re-
turned with success. In the face of it's
platform, universal negro suffrage is to be
forced upon the people and it declares in
favor of compelling gold to be paid for
bonds redeemable in currency. And what
is little singular, that in Il document re-
markably silent upon all questions OF
national policy, the pledges of the inaugu-
raj are confined to the bondholders and
the blacks, and in behalf of both the Presi.
dent went beyond the platform of his
party and the spirit of the law. In neither
of which is he yet sustained by the more
moderate men Of his political friends.
We are not now prepared to believe that
m partv con no CT, rtoiy,o1 of Tho NorIb 81: L.