Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-03-26

He who expects to appease fanati-
Cism by humiliating concessions is
most egregiously mistaken. For five
years the Democratic party has acted
on the defensive. For the sake Of
! peace it has submitted to usurpations
and outrages Of the most startling
atrOcity. This timid and suicidal
policy has only served to invite new
a~ggressions and to inspire the Radicals
with renewed energy in their work Of
Capitalization and despotism. So
soon IS the Democrats yield to one
outrage by recognizing it as an FAC
compIished fact" a ''dead ISSUE" the
Radicals hatch another still more
mOnstrous and a~bOmiDabIe. We DO
not discover a single issue between the
accept-th e-situation Democrats and
the Republicans, for one has accom-
plished usurpation by military power
and by trampIing upon the ~constitu-
ton, and the other recognises these
infamies as settled facts. sThe Demo-
Gratis who propose to gulp down what
the Radicals have accomplished,
occupy pretty much the same position
which the Radicals assumed three
years ago. The Convention that nom
mated Gen. Grant Tor the Presidency
declared as follows:
81. We congratulate the country on
the assured success of the reCOnstruc-
ton project Of Congress, as evinced by
the adoption in a majority of the
States lately in rebellion, of cOnstitu-
tious securing equal civil and political
rights to all, and regard il as the duty
OF the Government to sustain these in
stitUtiOns, and to prevent the people
Of such States from being RENTED TO
q state Of anarchy
Such is pretty much the position Oc-
eupied by the Democrats who twaddle
about " accomplished facts" and "ac-
cepting the situation" The Radicals,
In their National Convention held at
Chicago, on the 10Th of May, 1868, re-
gard "the reconstruction project of
Congress as an " assured success"
and a small faction of unreliable DEM
Ocrats regard these same measures as
an "assured" fact. If a Democrat
believes, with the Radicals, that the
a. reconstruction project of Con-
grcss" is constitutional and an
IS assured success" of course it
is his duty to sustain them.
But if be declares they are unconstitu-
tiOnal and a failure, and not an "as-
sured success" how in the name of
honesty can he accept them as Sac
cOmplished facts" without advertis-
ing himself as a liar and knave? The
cuckoo steals the nests Of other birds
in which to deposit its eggs and hatch
its young; but God forbid that the
Democracy of the Union should,
i'm its next National Convention, turn
to a." foul toads," steal the cistern f"
belonging to Radicals, in which to
"knot and gender" principles OF
+" pure and undefled Democracy!
There is a little bird on the Nile that
is said to subsist by picking food from
the teeth Of the sleeping crocodile,
and renegade Democrats would have
the country believe that the Demo-
cratic party is so hungry and poverty
stricken that it cannot subsist without
raking up the scraps which the Radi-
Gals have left in their advancing
march over the Constitution and the
Liberties Of the country. Read the
above extract from the Radical plat
form, and see how perfectly it CORES
ponds with what the trimmers pro-
pose for the next National Demo-
cratic Convention:
BesOlUed, That the Democratic par
ty, in National Convention assem-
bled, regard d" the reconstruction pro- /
jeCt of Congress as an &" assumed
success, an +" an accomplished fact.V
and that in characterizing It four years |
ago as "a usurpatiOn, and uncOnstitu- /
uOnal, revolutionary and void we
uttered f~alsshOOds which are hereby
recanted.
Wouldn't such a resolution place
the Democratic party in a pitiable
position? Yet it is precisely the posi-
ton the political gamblers are seeking
to place &c in. But the great Democratic
party Of the Union is too lofty and
possesses too much integrity to COM
NIT such damning infamy. The next
Presidential contest will not be made
in the interest of Office seekers, or a
Daltrv scramble between the "ins" and
the outs" a contemplate struggle
for place and pelE The Democratic par
tn recognized the only issues that are
dead when in itslsst National Conven-
lions it declared that "the questions
Of slavery and secession are forever
settled.D But it has not and cannot
withoutdefeat and disgrace pronounce
issues dead which are fundamental or
Indispensable in any free system of
government. II the party in power
has been guilty Of any usurpatiOn; If
it has changed or overthrow the con-
situations Of any Of the States by the