The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1870-12-03
NOD oMaE a3FrRersy,e, saI1ecsr,l,J

,ni@aT St.seosh -CRaElsss, Enati mas. been
hf99gh1f agailaft II aftEi the ,EWPeF1f Napoleon
Is tnas ZOE .ss Sa2TS selfish purpose ,of
atrenRtnenlng htHH egn :aTsSSae. ana EfSS.. iSS.-.
nsssJ, hs plunged France int0 all the
caianhlt!es and iniseries Of the present
war. whether the charge be we'll found.
eh OF not-and it must be remembered
that there is good deal to be said on
the Emperer's' Blde Of the question-in
what respect would his guilt, if proved.
be greater than is involved in the suo.
gestion made by Gen. Butler, that a
warivith iEnglend might be desirable
thing Tor the purpose of consolidating
aud perpetuating the Republican party?
VI the morality of such proposition,
however, We have already spoken. 10
brooch 1t should be enough to excite the
public indignation, and as the New York
Times Justly says, "to incur the exeora-
tion of mankind" But there is another
taiiaoy, if We may cell it by so mild
term, which underlies Gen. Buffers sug-
gestioni and which is not peculiar to
him nor the particular proposition, That
fallacy lies in the assumption that the
preser Walton eof the Republican party
or ofIany party-aside from the purposes
for which 1t exists and the principles
which it aims to carry out, is per Sc, an
object to be desired. This is to con-
found the means with the end. Parties
are bnt the instruments used to attain
certain results. The result attained, the
instrument has done its work. Apart
from the results at which it aims, the
party itself has no value and is entitled
to no consideration. In fact, it is COM
monty admitted that the existence OF
parties in q free government is neces-
sary erA This necessary evil Gen. But
Ter takes for great good. That the
Republican party has out-ived the pur-
poses OF its organization is confessed.
Inc issues upon which it rose to power,
It admitted, are obsolete-in popular
phrase, A'played out" It begins to show
signs of decadence. Discussions are
springing up in its ranks. It no longer
has, according to the declarations of
some of its leading journals, a certain
policy upon any of the great questions
OF tile. day-revenue and civil sarvice
reform, the tariff and currency. 1t is
IN danger of falling to pieces, say these
journals: 1t must be kept together-if
necessary, at the price of foreign war,
snys General Butler. It ia dead and
rotten, and should be put under ground
and out of sight, says Wendell Phillips,
whilom one of its chief supporters, in
his vigorous. rhetoric s'Its glorious
record demands better fate,'' argues
General Butler, and hence the sugges.
tion which he makes with the view of
furnishing the party with new rallyine
point and fresh party cry, in the place
OF those which are worn out and fall
unheeded upon the popular ear The
suggestion itself is simply abominable,
but the idea that underlies it is falla-
cious, whether applied to the Republican
party or any other party which has full
hiied it's mission and out-lived its useful
ness. The preservation of party supre.
macy is neither the end for which the
Government exists nor for which the
world was made. The idea of shaping.
fashioning, altering the policy of the
Government, donestic and foreign, sim
ply in the interest of party and with u
view to mere party needs. is the curse
OF our national politics. Yet it is the
starting point of General Buffers whole
speech, the premises which he did not
think 1t necessary to prove, but which
he took for granted 30 far met the ap-
provai or acquiescence of his hearers,
that he could safely make it the basis
of what further he had to say. When
will the public men of this country learn
" fAOASA oho AhtCACoCo Va LuC pSOpIG 10
those of party? Certainly not until a
profession of patriotism is esteemed of
more account than mere exhibition of
party zeal. General Butler did not even
profess to bo speaking in the interests
of the country at large, but solely with
an eye to the prospects of the political
organization to which he belongs. But
we have bestowed more attention, per-
haps. on the General than either lie or
his views are entitled to. In the present
case, however. We only single him out
san illustration of way of speaking
and writing upon political subjects which
is altogether too common. For the rest,
we agree with the New York Nation,
which pithily remarks that ''the spectacle
of Christian public buzzing about
parsonage like General Butler, waiting
for his views on peace and war and
political morality, is not pleasant. even
when one knows how small his influence
is. - Baltimore Sun.
The shortest name on the roll of the
noulu olaofn1 T,ar;o1ot,ro &c Nor, Nfo,-