New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-11-28
CONGRESS- AIDsTHB PRHsIDBICY.

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The session just previous to the time fol
holding national convention marks {
critical era in the Presidents term o
Office. His time is short. All the Office!
il his gift Of any importance are filled b,
friends who have usually too little graft
tude to work very hard for their patron
To say nothing of the doubts about thei
reappointment in case of a second tern
for the President, there is the horribl.
fear that they may fail altogether, when {
very little interest on the other side nigh
be found useful. The officeholders of thu
administration have little or nothing t.
hope from this session of Congress- Fol
as the appointing power has been pretty
thoroughly exhausted, there is no patron.
| age for the members to recommend, by
| which to strengthen their influence al
home. Like the counters Of a dying king,
the ingrates who find themselves in Office
toward the close of Presidential term,
accustom themselves to look at the rising
star, with this difference, that in this coun-
try it is not always easy to foresee who is
to be the fortunate successor.
At this time, there can be no doubt.
there is more than the usual dssatisfac-
ton in the dominant party with the man
in the White House. The list of Repnb-
ican Senators and Representatives in
Congress is formidably long, and the gen.
tlemen referred to are most seriously in
earnest. Besides these, there are the
leading men Of the party in
nearly all the States who have
Enthusiastically signifed their determine
ton to elect man to the Presidency who
knows something of the principles of the
party, and who is inclined to respect the
opinions Of its representative men. Com
paratively few men in either Of the great
parties 90 all the thinking. One of these
should be the President. Unfortunately
such is not the case with our party now.
Not that Grant is inert. Far from it. But
his political cogitations are almost en-
tirely confined to the strategy required to
compass the official strongholds for him
self and his numerous relatives for the
four years succeeding the end Of his term.
In this he is opposed by veteran men, who
are accustomed to success, while the
Presidents army is mainly composed of
&c r-ho
dizzy eminences to which they are quite
new.
The Democracy would 10 doubt gladly
take up his cause and give him a lift,
We're it not for some of his unpleasant
In the first place, be has
relatives enough, near OR remote, to fill
the most important positions: and again,
Grant has not very good reputation for
standing by any other class of his friends. |
So that while the Democracy could easily
accommodate themselves 20 any principles
If policy that the President might here |
after imbibe, provided be ever made such |
IN advance, could easily forget his agency |
n driving JEFF Davis into the wilds of the |
from which he emerged in
masked costume; could overlook the cap !
ure Of Lee, and the defeat of Seymour in !
1868, they would not couch lance in his
behalf until they received ample security
or the public offices. And the manner in
which he has treated his Republican
friends is not very well calculated to IL
pire them with much confidence.
The President will, therefore, have 10
}arty in the coming session Of Congress.
IN the other hand, Senators Sumner,
logan, Trumbull, Schurz, West, Fenton
nd others, all men Of note, will unite in
old array agains his plans to secure the
uccession for himself. A propor.;onate
lumber in the House will follow or lead
N the same side, while nearly all the old,
influential Republican jour
.als will sustain their representatives in
be war against the administration. No
President has been able 10 succeed
gainst opposition from Congress since
ackson's time. And the results that fol-
owed Jackson's successes were so de. Ior-
bic and disastrous that they have served
S warning ever since. Tyler betrayed
is party and arrayed himself against the
Congress- Of 1S43 "A. He scarcely had a
vote in the National Wing
convention Of 1914. Pierce did not come
p to the expectations Of his friends, and
was unceremoniously dropped. Mil
I'D Fillmore, elected as a Free Sol,
'hig, attempted to lead his party into
range paths, and he was retired Pres
lent Buchanan permitted the Southern
oliticians to make use of him as bread
oultice to draw the rebellion to head,
I'd lost the respect of his countrymen.
ndy johnson attempted to bully Con-
'ess and the nation, and was rusticated,
aving narrowly escaped impeachment.
ome of the Senators who treacherously
ded his escape are now expiating
leir treason to the party in hopeless exile
And now it looks as though Grant is to
nm no exception to the rule Of Presiden-
al failures. Unlike Mr.. Lincoln, whose
cry thought was true to the great prin-
pies upon which he was first elected,
Id 10 those who so faithfully assisted
m in carrying them into effect, Grant
ems to act upon the idea that it is not
ecesSarv to have a national policy. and I