The union Democrat., 1871-11-25
a Look Ahead.

| III speaking OF the movements OF Tue <Au
ministration. the other day. we said that it i
the fixed intension-of the President never
qnit the White House if he can help it, eS
| eept upon q streteher, and several of our Re
publican contemporaries began straightway t
pooh-pooh the observation az a bit of exag
gerated partisan nonsense. The illustration
rather than the sense of our remark, ma,
have been oycr-strong for current apprehen
sion. In the North. public opinion has no
been sharpened bv the revolutionary applian
ees which have prepared the South for any
thing and everything. and, when the tn;
comes, General Grant will derive al immens
advantage from the ohtusene's of the Repub
llcan party. Thus far, be has handled tina
party with comparative ease. Nothing cal
prevent his denomination next year. AM
nothing short of great popular reaction
wisely shaped and skillfully handled, cal
prevent his reelection. Securely seated 10
four years more, he can proceed with hi:
scheme so that he may be able in 1876 to die
tate to the whole people the same ahiect sub
mission which he how requires of his own
party. American liberty was proclaimed in
l776. 1t is not unlikely that the hundredth
anniversary of the famous Declaration of the
Fourth of July may be the occasion of its
practical abrogation. There is nothing in
the Constitution forbiddiug third term.
There is nothing in human nature-we mean
the peculiar sort of human nature which is
believed to abound in General Grans-which
is likely to induce voluntary surrender OF
power. Give him third term in which to
perfect his plans, and he will ask no further
odds of parties. A plebiscite will suffice.
Universal suffrage, artfully managed by mar
tial law, will suffice. General Grant will be
substantially Presidential Autocrat, a Mill
tarv Dictator, Proconsul, or an Emperor,
as happens to suit the within or temper of the
times. At this moment he doubtless does
not himself take in the whole idea. His
mind is engrossed with present gain. He is a
greedy, parsimonious man, very matterot-
fact and unimaginative man, who wisely pro-
yides for to-day, taking little heed of to-mor-
row until the exigencies of tomorrow arrive,
when they will find him at least fullhanded.
We dare say that the details of his scheme,
beyond the work to be done next year, have
never unfolded themselves to him. But the
record of his life, and the policy of his ad-
ministration, gives US no reason to believe
that he is possessed of one spark of selfsacri-
ficlng patriotism, while everything that we
know of him points to strong, and by no
means secret thirst for power and plumber.
Nor is this all. The man is able and cour-
ageous. He is the very material out of
which the most dangerous revoiutionists are
ma de. Congress has clothed HIM with mar
IT,, pow ers, and he is using them. His OBJ
iect is to keep the South in disturbed con-
dition unit, he can raise disturbance in the
North. when the m. ,ehinery now provided for
the one section can be applied to the other.
Then when he has broken down the spirits OF
freedom at the South, it is as likely as not
that he will make terms with us ana engage
us as agents to help him conquer the North
precisely as we have been conquered. Andy
johnson tried this once and failed, and as tar
as the South was concerned he succeeded in
bringing to his support men who hated him
worse than anybody hates Grant. But Grant
will have more power and he will use it to
better purpose than johnson. If he is re-
elected President we confidently expect to
see him hand in glove with such adventurous
spirits as he can find in the disordered and
ruined South, who are ready to serve him in
a crusade against the party which now sup
ports him, against the Northern people who
are blind to their danger, and especially
against New England, which will be wither-
ed and blighted before the advancing legions
of Imperialism, pleasantly dubbed free trade.
The Northern people will do just as they
please about it. In the South we have lost
our liberties. There is no longer any free
dom at the South When the combustion
comes we shall take our chance. We are
powerless to avert it. But when it comes
and it will come if Grant is given four addi-
tional years in ofice-the North will expert
ence what the South is familiar whitman
tial law, Provost Marshals, prisons. bayonets
and what not. If the honest Republican, who
now pooh-poohs at this, raises his voice against
it. he will be arrested and put out of the way.
Grant will make quick and easy work of that
sort of cattle. He means business, and he
knows very we'll how far it is safe for him to
90. Just now it is not safe. nor is it neces-
sarv. for him 20 90 further than he is going.
But his is progressive scheme; and, if it
succeeds. the idiots who swear that there is
nothing in all this but lille newspaper talk
will have to thank themselves for it. More
over, they, and not we, will be its first vic
tins. We shall be able to make our peace
with the conqueror. for by that time we shall
be thoroughly subiugated. But they will
have to make fight against well-perfected
military machne-a fight against a power
reinforced by all the mercenaries of the coun-
try and all the malcontents and all the ad-
venture-s-a power which at this time COM
mands both houses of Congress and the Re-
publican party, and four or eight years hence
will be Observation-Disclosures Courier Jour
nal.