Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-04-26
rHr RULE oF coMMON SENSE.

The people must come back to com
mon sense. Their minds are bewildered
by a thousand things that will never
benefit them. They preserve the ghosts
of things that existed before the North
commenced war against the South to
abolish slavery and enrich an army of
persons whom the decency of the time
has denominated carpetbaggers. 1t is
the part of wisdom to accept, or more
properly, submit with grace to things
that cannot be changed The South is
slow in learning that the old constitu-
tional government no longer exists 1t
can only be restored in one way The
triumph Of the Democracy next year
would not undo all the wrong that has
been done, but il would put us on the
road to the restoration of the old
principles of liberty. The people OF
the North, if they could speak
without prejudice, would plead Tor
the liberation of the South. But they
are the slaves of demagogues and VII
Iains, and simply register their will at
the ballot-box. If a nose is pulled in the
South. the Tribunes of the North and the
New Eras of the South haunt the fact
before the Northern public as matter
of speculation. The pulling of the soli-
tary nose of one Northern sneak, or the
backing of the eye of one impudent
fellow with carpet-bag on his shoulder
and an office in his pocket, will undo
States; and, if persisted in, will carry |
Grant into the Presidency next year.
There are many noses protruded to be
pulled. There are many eyes watering
TO be blackened. Let no Southern man
accommodate these candidates for public
or private favors. Those noses and those
ewes. thus solicitous of attention, mean
mischief. They mean Ku-Klux bills,
standing armies and riding navies.
The true policy of the Southern
people is to ignore them. There
is fortune now in very slight things
Southern indiscretions have made the
fortunes of men in the North, and they
loll back in their cushioned chairs and
clamor for more Southern indiscretions.
Will we have the good sense to let them
clamor on in vain2 We hope so. South
ern indiscretions will put Grant back
next year and elect another Radical
Congress. The Ku-Klux, that monstrous
myth. thus far, has made the fortunes
of hundreds Of Radicals To prove the
truth Of this, it is only necessary to adj
vert TO the fact that they manufacture
Ku-Klux where no Ku-Klux ever existed.
Let them be put to the rack Of inven-
ton hereafter Let them develop their
utmost capacity for falsehood, and take
their highest degree in the art OF lying
The South should be as calm as a lake
upon which no ripple is raised by a
stray zephyr Common sense should
teach a people, under the ban OF
a hostile government, that quie-
tude is the best policy. Has the
South the sagacity to see and to act
from this simple proposition We know
she has. There will be provocations
improvised for effect, but let them pass
by without notice, unless they affect life,
or property, or honor 1t is useless to
imagine that the order Of things that
existed before the war can be restored.
The negro can no longer be slave, ex-
cept to politicians. He is a voter. 1t
is folly TO think of taking the ballot from
him. The Democracy of the North have
no intention Of attempting it. Without
thair cooperation, would it not be the
most transparent folly for the South to
agitate such question: Let our people
discard passion, study the situation
calmly, and make the most of state Of
things they have no power to change