The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-07-16
SPIRIT OF THE P0LiTIoaL PRESS.

In Virginia there will be hundreds, if not
thousands Of old Democrats, who will vote
for Grant and Wilson in preference to
Greeley and Brown. Other thousands will
not vote at all, which will count SO much
to the favor of the Republican ticket. Al
though Virginia has heretofore preponder-
ated toward the Democracy, yet the friends
of General Grant have strong hopes of sue
cess, through the dissatisfaction of many
of the most prominent and trusted of the
former leaders of the opposition. Some
of these men who once controlled, to a
large extent, the sentiments of the party,
boldly denounce its late desertion Of prin-
ciplc in the new crusade for the spoils of
office. A grand Republican mass meeting
will be held at Richmond on the oath inst,
under the auspices of the State Republican
Executive Committee, to which Senator
Wilson, Hon. Geo. S. Boutwell,, Frederick
Douglass and other distinguished orators
have been invited. 1t is proposed to make
it one of the grandest ontpourings of the
campaign. The struggle will be q close
one, but with determined work we hope TO
chronicle the eleven electoral votes of Vir-
glnia for Grant and Wilson in November
Next Chattanooga Herald. H -g gea
The wearsom and thankless job of
saving the country" comes up so regular
ly at every Presidential election that one
might suppose, alter an experience of half
century at the business, people would get
tolerably used to it. But it seems not.
Regularly every four years some one is in
agony OF despair over the hapless fate Of
the Republic. Senator Thurman, the Dem
ocratlc member from Oh o, has come to the
front this time, to "saye the country"
In many things Mr.. Thurman is man of
sense. He follows his party standard con-
sistently; he respects his opponents; he is
a gentleman by nature and training, and
his opponents respect him. But then it is
part OF the traditional policy of the Demo-
cratic party to impute violent designs and
usurpations and all sorts of dangers to their
opponents as against the country, and Sem
aLor Thurman takes the stand in the usual
! style. The occasion was an address before
the literary societies of the university of
Virginia, at Charlottesville, and the theme
was The future of our country, or the
dangers likely to menace the existence of
| the Republic, and the means of averting
| them" The WOrd condenses the dangers
| thus:
1.-THE magnitude, The perlous greatness and
| imperial sway of the Republie the diyersi Of
races and languages in the country; the proness
4 TO war of Americans in common with the rest OF
| their fellow men; and the centralizing tenden-
cies of the time as well as of the present officials
OF the central government yg
10 statesman of the school to which
Mr.. Thurman belongs this seems a natural
view of the state of affairs. For he and
all such men have pursued the idea of max
ing every separate State an independent
sovereignty, and have done their utmost to
| prevent the formation of the whole mass
into one concrete nation and now that it
is past their power to prevent; now that
through war and reconstruction the Repub-
| lie has been moulded firmly into one solid
body, and is forever one and indisoluble,
Mr.. Thurman and his friends wish to alarm
the people, if possible, at what is called the
perilous greatness and imperial sway Of
the Republic. All greatness in this world
is perlous. 1t can be maintained only by
constant watchfulness and exertion. It's
magnitude and power serve to create enc
mics. But this is no reason why national
greatness should be avoided; for weak and
inferior States tempt the cupidity of their
more formidable eighbors.-PAiladelphia
| ~ OTtl american. -.st- .sa a4... .r u 7at