Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-04-14
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lesSnesS and anarcuy III ZIG Oou'n' A0d~
ing extra legislation, and an enlargement
of the Executive powers. General Grant
haa confessed his inability to rule, except
nv tho bavonet. Republicanism sin form"
Is imootent without the aid of the Gen
erals bayonets. This is the legitimate
and exact Interpretation of the PRESIDENT
messages. None other will be put upon
them by the unbiaced. 1t Is the lnterpre'
tation which foreigners put upon the
Presidents demand for imperial powers
TO be accorded by al act Oh congress
The pretext is that in some parts OF the
South life and property arc endangered
The demand is for power which places
within the discretion Of our President
General the power to suppress civil rights
bv an ukase, and suspend the habeaS cor
nus act by q proclamation. The sequel to
the political war-cry, "Let us bave Peace,
is, give Grant power, give him more bay
onets.
This official course of the President IS
not SO likely to work great injury to the
South as to damage the cause OF Repub-
licanism in the eyes Of the civilized world.
Radical Republican tyranny. under Grants
leadership, is the argument to sustain i'm
perialism. The Montreal Nc'cs. OF 3Oth
March, thus contrasts the tyranny OF the
so-called Republic, in form, of the new
world with the miIder despotisms of the
old. The NeaCS says /:
It is sad commentary on General
Grants administration that, alter holding
Office as President for nearly three years, |
he can find no better mode Of governing !
one-third Of the United States than brute
force. Poland under the Cars has now
fit counterpart on this continent; but the
Poles were never doomed TO the hideous
tyranny of being placed under the hoof OF
q freshly emancipated negro, and all re-
monstrance siIenced by the bayonet. We
had hoped that General Grant would have
seen the imperious necessity of healing
civil discord Ia the land, SO that the
United States could present an unbroken
front to the foe. The moral blindness OF
the Radical Republicans who hound him
on is explicabIe. Can they not read his
proclamation in the light that it will be
understood in Europe? Is it not an oti-
cial confession that those who attack the
United States can count on active allies
throughout the United States, where a
gallant people. outraged beyond endur-
ance, will borrow the first weapon to hand
to free themselves from oppression
What o burlesque on principle. what a
satire on the swag gering pretensions of
Cuban hberators, and the calculated ova-
tions to Fenians, this murderous game of
quartering Federal troops in Southern
States There is not one educated man
in the United States who will honestly
declare that the whites can be held in
subsection to the blacks. We have no
prejudice against the negro but we must
forget all that we have been taught, reject
the evidence of our senses, and treat his
tory az a myth and iuggle, before We can
admit that, under any possible conditions,
the white race will bow down before the
negro and call him master Yet that is
the pith of General Grants proclamation
when Invested of official verbiage. The
bloodhounds of the press are eager for the
hunt. Genuine, mawworms, with peace
on the lips pride in their hearts, and the
lust of power and pelf, they implore Con
gress to supplement Gen. Grants decree
by legislation which can torture where
bayonets cannot strike. We may be
asked what concern is it of ours whether
the iron hand of military despotism falls
on the South. We answer Because it is
an outrage against civilization to degrade
free born Americans below the level of
ignorant emancipated serfs. Because it is
Rbhorrent to the conscience and in fragrant
violation of the lesson which history
teaches US. How came it to pass that at
West Point Academy the untameable OH
tagonism of color cropped up, and that
Gen. Grants son was foremost in asserting
the dominance of race Have the North
erners obliterated the distinction of caste
The Northerner disdained association with
the negro. while at the South he was car
ressed and treated as q petted child. The
Northerner would shrink from personal
contact with tho negro, while at the South
he belonged to the family, and went on
terms of Familiarity with tho household.
Southern gentlemen greeted the negro
with friendly courtesy. There may have
been brutes. There are brutes in all COM
uuu1GleSs WIG DGGteEB are NOT extinct
among the emancipationists, but as a gen.
eral rule the feelings of the negro at the
South were not wounded by an avowed
repugnance on account Of color. The in
sidious policy OF the Radical Republicans
has been to build wall Of blood between
whites and blacks at the South, and incite
the latter to distrust, suspect and hate the
former. the vilest motives inspired this
policy. Radicals dreaded the influence of
old associations They feared that the
negroes, whom they needed as their SER
vile tools, would return to their old allie
glance, hence the execrable continuance of
clothing the negro with the franchise, and
closing Senate and Congress on the most
Alustrious names in the South. For these
reasons we denounce Gen. Grants mani
festo as an insult to the age, and a dis