Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1872-10-03

| tect personal rights cannot enforce them
selves, and without legislation to that emf
would be dead letters upon the statute book
Take, for example, that amendment which
guarantees suffrage to the colored people o
the country. suppose they are deprived o
that suffrage, what remedy have they if Their,
is no act providing punishment for such
violation of the Constitution?
| THE KUKLUx ACT.
Considerable is said about the Kuklux act
When the colored people of the South were
enfranchised. combinations of lawless mer
were formed to deprive them of the right OF
suffrage by terror and violence, and to that
end numberless whippings, burnings an6
murders were committed in different locali-
ties. To abolish this secret. oath-bound and
| insurrectionary association OF persons, and to
| prevent the commission of crime by them
upon persons whose only ofense was devo-
ton to the Union or adherence to the Repub-
lcsn party, this Kuklux act was passed. All
those acts OF Congress, which are supposed
to indicate the Capitalization of power, were
passed to enforce certain provisions of the
| Constitution, and protect the constitutions
! rights of the citizen, and we're therefore not
| only within the power, but it was the duty of
! Congress to enact them. Does Mr.. Greeley
wish to be understood as saying that if he is
| elected President he will favor the repeal of
these acts of Congress, and so allow GRIN es
to be perpetrated upon citizens of the United
States contrary to tbs provisions of the Con-
stitution. with no interposition on the part of
the General Government to prevent or pun
ish them ? All the acts of Congress which
are SO bitterly denounced by the Greeley
party operate equally in all parts of the
| Union. South Carolina and Mississippi have
| the same State rights, under the Constitu-
| ton and these acts. as the States of Pennsyl-
vania and New York. Are you conscious, as
citizens of Pennsylvania that you have been
deprived Of any of these rights and privileges
which are necessary or essential to local self
government ? Do you know of any practical
difference between the condition Of Pennsyl-
vania at this time in that respect, and its
condition during the administration of James
Buchanan? l will tell YOU what makes the
| difference between this State and the States
that were in rebellion. Congressional en-
croachments upon the rights of the State, if
any, are the same everywhere, but in this
State the people submit to and obey the au-
thorities and laws of the Unite States, while
in some portions of the Southern States there
i. a popular element antagonized to the au-
thority of the General Government, ard the
eli ort to repress this element is what makes
1t appear that there is more interference by
the General Government in the Southern
States than in the Northern States
THE MILITARY DEsPoT1sm
Kindred to this is the charge of military
despotism made against the present Admin
istration Nothing can be more unfounded
than this charge, and the only possible coun-
tenance it has is derived from the fact that
the President during the late civil war was.
at one time, in command of the Union army.
To show the falsity of the charge that mill
tary power is employed to suppress the peo-
pie of the Southern States. 1 will state that
hold in my hand record, certified by the
Secretary of War, which shows that, with the
exception of Texas where there are large no.
dies of hostile Indians and an extended Mex
lean frontier to protect. there are only 4,l36
men divided among the other States that were
in rebellion. Virginia has no soldiers within its
borders except the ordinary garrison at Fort
Monroe. There are only 266 soldiers in Ala
bama there are 63 in Arkansas and $40 in
Tennessee. After dividing the whole num-
Der of troops by the ten States you only give
to each about 400 troops, including the garri-
army is stationed in those States. Nowhere
is military power exercised, except In subor-
dination to the civil authorities,
RECONCILIATION.
Reconciliation is one of the watchvords of
the Greeley party. Horace Greeley and
Charles Sumner appeal for reconciliation
This Is one Of the wonders of the dav
Who are the parties to be reconciled. and
what are the existing differences Consider
ing the thousands who were slain in fighting
for the Union, the thousands who were
starved IN the prison pens Of the South. the
coDspracies that were formed to DESTROY
Northern people, without discrimination Of
age or sex, by Greek fire and pestilence. and
all the multitudinous crimes committed dur
ing and after the war, and then considering
that no one has been punished for all these.
and am sure those who have had control of
the Government cannot be charged with
harsh and revengeful policy. Such leniency
and forbearance, undertake to saw is with
out parallel in history. What are. then. the
obstacles to reconciliation? Are not the
men, women and children of the South-with
the exception of few leaders in the rebel
lion, who were guilty of the double crime of
perjury and treason, and are, therefore. ex-
Guided from otfice-in the enjoyment of all
the rights and privileges of American citizens
IN other parts of the Union? Can ANYTHING
be done more than has been done to effect
reconciliation, except to repeal those laws of
Congress which give vitality to the Constitu-
tional amendments, and repress lawlessness
and crime by the turbulent spirits of the
South !? Is this what the Greeley party pro-
pose to do for reconciliation While he was
in command of the Union army is it pretended
that he ever treated rebel soldiers who fell
INTO his hands with hardness and cruelty? Is
1t not admitted on all hands that the terms of
surrender granted to Lee and his forces were
as generous as they could possibly be under
the circumstances Can anybody point to
an expression or act of Gen. Grant since he
has become President, indicating any ill-wlll
OF bitterness OF feeling on his part toward the
people of the Southern States? On the con-
trary, has he not expressed an earnest desire
to have the passions, animosities and preiu-
dlces Of war give place to those offices of
kindness and fraternal feeling which are
requisite to make us united and happy
people?
THE CHAsM BETWEEN THE DEMOCRATS AND TER
OFFICES.
We are invited to shake hands across the
bloody chasm. Dooi.tle is the man. be-
lieve, who invented this bloody chasm.
Elected to the Senate by Republicans, he de-
serted to the Democratic party, since which
tune he has been largely engaged in the
bloody chasm business. Andrew Johnson's
convention here in 1866 was a part of the
bloody chasm programme. with DoolittIe to
furnish tears for the occasion. He tried to
come the bloody chasm dodge upon the peo-
pie OF Wisconsin year or two ago as a Demo-
cratic candidate for Governor, but they didn't
see It, He took his bloody chasm show into
North Carolina, but 1t didn't pay there, and
since he has had it on exhibition in Maine.
Artemus Wards wax fggers" were nothing
IN the snow business as compared to DooIit-
ties bloody chasm. This is all nonsense. To
carry ON this humbug compaign it is neces-
sary to have an awful bloody chasm. Grant
and the bloody-minded Republicans are to
Keep 1t open, but when Horace Greeley Is