The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-04-18
A Croak from Columbia.


that the opposition to Radicalism should De
organized ssupon the basis OF vital ana pro-
.rressive Democracy" These opinions are
expounded in an article as long as ii is doleinl'
the bird OF ill-omen croaking out, at last Il
narrowing prediction that "poilllcaly' Tue
estate must he Radical for several years to
s.comc," and declaring, as well, that 'the
chest poltics-the most reliable politics
sfor the State and the South is, the amPleSt
..material development and the largest flow
s'of immigrants"
How the steed shall live while the grass is
growing the Raenic does not condescend
to say. Its whole policy is to wait! wait!
wait Ito give up the ghost, without strus
Gle fer existence; to engage in no contest
for fear OF meeting defeat; to fold the arms
and bend tine knee, until three-fourths Of
the white people in the State are recognized
Radicals; to utter no word OF remonstrance
until South Carolina like squeezed orange,
is cast aside as unworthy oflonger care; to be
idle until labor is useless, and to labor then
with the ill-directed energy OF despair. A
policy so pusillanimous and so frightfully
Injurious must be, and will be, promptly re-
pudiated by the people OF the State
We, at least, are not ready to admit that
South Carolina is hopelessly Radical. We
dare not admit it,; for that would be to re-
nounce all hope of saving the State from
bankruptcy and the people from ruin. But
we do say, emphatically, that no Democratic
party can succeed in this State either tais
year or the next; and what may become OF De-
mocracy three years hence matters little
now. The debates in Congress uron the
Georgia bill, and the withdrawal by the
President of his amnesty message are
enough to show what is the temper OF the
ruling party, and they justify the belief that,
if Democratic organization did carry the
State, the election would, by hook or by
crook, be made OF no effect. No govern
ment actively hostile to the Republican party
will be allowed to exist in Southern State,
so long as the Radicals have preponder-
ance in Congress. This obvious truth we
must face and make the best Of And we
10 face it, and do make the best Of it, when
We u-ark ,,iih anh snppnrt the grand Crrr-
zENs' REFORM movement, which promises to
extend from South Carolina to most OF her
sister States. The CITIZENS PARrY-if Party
that can be called, which is composed OF all.
and akin to none-is not actively opposed
to the administration of General Grant-its
whole aim is, not to defeat Republicanism,
but to elect honest and able men to office.
1t is not party Of race, for it includes the
blacks and the whites. To the colored peo-
ple it guarantees all the rights which RaGi-
calism acccrds them; and to every citizen
white or black-it assures an honest and
able government, under which trade may
flourish, capital be protected, and every arti-
san and laborer enjoy steady and profitable
work.
But the respectable PAoui:e, which is some
what given to
Damn with faint praise,
Assent with civil lcer,
believes, nevertheless, that Democratic
platform would give the State Democratic
representatives from twelve, thirteen, four
sreeu or fifteen counties" This might be
some temptation, if We did not know that
neither ttvelre, nor sic, nor three counties
arc willing, whatever their strength to make
Democratic contest, and take the chances
that the election will be ma,lr void, us was
virtually doncin the case OF the last Congrcs
sional elections. On the other hand, every
county of which the IHeair speaks can lie
carried, and will be carried, by tn. CITIZENS
Reform PARTY.
Democracy and Do-Nothinglsm in South
Carolina, at this time, mean disaster and
defeat, and go the people understand it.
Wha: the people want is, RETRENcHMENT
and REFORM; and where the choice is be-
tween u good government and bad one,
between failure and success, they do not
care fig for Democracy or the Democratic
party. They intend to win, and they know
full well that if they cannot win under the
banners of the CITIZENS REFORM PARTY they
cannot win at ALL.
The PAenir says that the most reliable
politics is-i,nmigration and material i'm
provement. We do want immigration; but
immigrants cannot be brought here in num-
bers in a day or in 4 year. We want mate
rial Improvement; but this is out OF the
question, unless we have pure and able
men to control our public affairs. Our
contemporary may be so prosperous that
it can afford TO wait! and wait! and wait!
bat this is not the case with the masses OF
the people The whole argument lies IN 4
nutshell. In one year the present govern
ment has increased the State debt-direct
and contingent-from sic million to FOUR
TEEN MILLION dollars This is the whole
case in half dozen words. And it con-
vinces the people, although it may not Con
vince the PhoRir, that an immediate change
OF rulers is absolutely necessary-a change
which is called for, not by Republicans, not
by Democrats, but by Democrats and Re