New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-05-26
The Liberal Reform Party.
From the Golden Age. ]

From the Golden Age.l
More than a year ago the Golden Age, in
speaking of President Grants administra-
ton, characterized it as "tOO good to be
bad, and too bad to be good" From that
time to this the good in the administration
has steadily grown less, the bad grown
more. At last the Presidents misgOveTn-
ment stands arraigned under the solemn
charges preferred against it at Cincinnati.
These charges are that he has wantOnly
disregarded the laws of the land; that he
has usurped powers not granted by the
constitutions that he has used his high Office
for personal ends; that he has kept corrupt
and unworthy men in high places; that he
has officiOusly interfered with the affairs Of
States and municipalities that he has
given political rewards to men who had ae-
CURED his favor by valuable presents; that
he has opposed investigations and indlspen-
sable reforms; that he has kept alive the
passions and resentments of the civil war;
that he has been, to a disgraceful degree, a
nepotist; and that his administration has
forfeited the confidence of the American
people, and is unworthy of continued
lease of power.
In our Judgment, the Cincinnati indict-
ment of President Grants civil career, IN
stead of being too strong and cutting, was
too mild and moderate to be commensurate
with the truth. Had the accusation been
still more direct and ringing, the case
would have been more justly met The
administration might rightly have been
smitten with still harder words. To tell
the plain truth about it's misdemeanOrs
would be the surest way to overthrow It
before the people.
This indictment is the more necessary to
be now made in view of the extraordinary
pretenses put forth in behalf of the admin
istration by its partisans. These men point
to the President, and with uncommon. ef-
frontery say he has paid the debt; he has
reduced the taxes; he has collected the
revenue; he has tranquiliZed the Indians;
he has settled the Alabama claims; and he
has restored the South. On the contrary,
not one of these allegations is true; each
and every one is false. Has he paid the
debtq The people-they alOne-have paid
it. Has he reduced the taxes Congress
not the President-has reduced them. has
he collected the revenue His officers have
fattened themselves upon it. Has he paci-
fed the Indians This pretense was lately
washed out In the blood of massacre on
the frontier. Has he settled the Alabama
claims They never were so unsettled as
at this moment. Has he brought back
order and prosperity to the South Dis
| graceful to civilization is the existing type
| Of those Southern State governments
which, in the name of liberty, tread justice
| and equity under foot.
| Against all the frauds and shams in
| spired or fostered by the administration
| the Liberal Republicans protest. They de-
mand a new and nobler regime. They want
! order instead of chaos at the South; hon
esty instead of corruption at the North.
| They ask for a government OF civil suprem-
| acy instead of military caprice; a govern
ment whose President shall be the servant
| instead of the master of the law: govern
ment under which the people shall rule and
the ruler be ruled; government whose ex-
! ecutive shall no more dare to cross the
! threshold of the legislative chamber than
! chief captain of the Jews would dare to in
/ trude into the holy of helies in the Temple at
/ Jerusalem; a government that shall re-
! gard dishonesty as treason and a pO-
| litical ring a conspiracy against the
! State; a government which shall be
| as guiltless as Jeffersons not only
! of the fact but even of the suspicion, of
| nepOtism; a government in which the civil
service shall be reformed at the Presidency
! itself by a wholesome limitation to one
| term; government which, at seven years
! distance from a civil war, shall doff its
| helmet, sheathe its sword and hush It's
brazen trumpet of military menace; a gov
| ernment in short, which, by a humane
| policy, shall incline the North and the
! South each toward the other like the two
| cherubim over the arch of the covenant,
| and shall in some sense realize the prophecy,
| Mercy and truth have met together, and
| Righteousness and peace have kissed each
! other"
| Such is the spirit of the Liberal move
ment. The new party does not propose a
! campaign based on free trade or protection,
nor on any nice balance between these; nor
! does it in anywise concern itself, as a main
! issue, with any vexed theories of commerce
and finance. It's cardinal principles are the
| equality of all men before the law; the
| sanctity and inviolable security of the thir-
! teenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amend
ments; the removal of all political disabili-
! ties; immediate and universal amnesty for
| all political offenses; local government,
| with impartial suffrage, including the right
| Of the States to manage their affairs in their
own way without federal intrusion; and
civil service reform, including las its primal
element and chief illustrative instance) the
| limitation of the Presidency to one term.
| Such is the scope of the new movement.
| Is it not true craftsmanship Does it not
| minister to the national need of the hour
| Can it be that its appeal viii be made in
vain to the common sense of the American
| people Should not all just-minded citi-
! zens join in its ranks and consummate its
| success