Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1871-1872, 1872-08-15


terms. These are faults Of manner md of
Of temper, which, when mendsd, are always
pardoned. We will not permit our Judgment
10 be disturbed by considerations so trifing
as this.
have looked into his past history only to
ascertain what he is now and what he is |
likely TO be in the future. | am bound TO |
care nothing for his ''antecedents,n except
as they furnish the means of estimating his |
character. think have found out with |
reasonable certainty how far we may con
6ds in him. deyoutly believe that,ii ehoa-
en- President he will keep bis oath, preserve
the Constitution inyiolate, execute the laws
faithfully, restore the States to their rignliui
autonomy, protect individual liberty oy jury |
trial and habess corpus, put the miusSy ID
proper subordinstion to the ol'i Au'uViNy' |
use neither force nor fraud to carry elee'fons,
keep his hands clean from corrrptlnK gus,
set his face like flint against all manner OF
financial dishonesty, purity the Admlnislra-
ton of Justice as much as 10 ham mes, main
lain the public credit by prompt discharge
| of all jusl obligations, economics the reve-
pue and tighten taxation, give to capital the
| ri ght which belongs TO At, and at the same
time see that labor is not robbed of its earn
| ings. He will certainly hold his power OF
appointment as public trust, and not
part Of his personal possessions TO be used
| for the support Of his family, or TO enconr-
age the private liberAlity OF his friends. DE
will go far rs he can without trausgressing
| the limits Of his legal authority, relieve the
Southern States from the gHngs that are
now preying upon their vitals 10 open part
nership with the present Administranon-
I think he will do all this and my faith Is
founded on the testimony Of his friends aud
enemies, on the known facts Of his history,
and on the moral influence which the De.
mosracy will necessarily exert upon his
conduct. The errors of his past life we're
4 caused BY certsin evil communications from
which be has clean escaped. DE heads
great revolt against wicksdness IN high
places, and do not believe he will 20 back
upon Us and be guiltYof the same wickedness
J himselr. The contrast between the two
! candidates being so very strong, no fair
minded Democrat can doubt what ne ought
to do. Yet, the reluctance which many o
Us fee to vote for either of them is hard tC
: overcome, did, and do, most heartily
sympalhize with that class which received
Mr. Greeley S nomination in much sorrow
am sure this feeling proceeded from no un
y worthy passion or prejudice, but was tn
r natural result Of sober thought on the con
u dition of the country and the fitness ofihing
b pertaining thereto.
In our view the controversy between th
a. parties was not all about men, and not who'll
n on quesiions Of mere administration. III
n. Liberal Republicans and some Democrat
n think that we owe all our suifsrings 10 IN
10 corruption or iucapacisy Of General Gran
m and the rings that surround him. But tn
~ prime cause lies further back and deepe
Il down in wrongs for which the triumph {
!. Mr.. Greeley With all his reforms offers q
N immed late atoneneui and only par
, tial remedy. In Eugland, after every civ
IA cOmmotion, the victorious party vented II
AZ rage and grati6ed its rapacity BY pAssin
n billa Of attainder and bills OF pains and pen
"a alties against their fallen and helpless OF
N ponents The best and greateStmen OF the
n respective ages were the victims OF thes
"a legislative DEGREES. 10 all the most no.abl
n cases subsequent Parliaments acknowledge
:. the wrong, reversed the Attsiuders, an
made what reparation they could Oar IA
theirs determined that no such thing shout
v ever be done here, aud 40 they put thei
4 solem interdiet into plain words, and mad
= it part Of the fundamental law that neltbe
n, Congress nor any State Legislature shou
40 ever pass bill Of sttAinder. The recoE
Ia struction act of 1867 was bill Of Attaind'
a more deliberately cruel, and vii
"a pains nnd penalties more comPeud
p. ously unjust than any British b
IA that ever was passed. Blu. its authors we
=, conscious that IL could not stand, and thi
40 must replace it with something else, f
sooner or later the courts would DO sure
NJ pronounce it void Besides, the object b
~ ing TO put the Southern people under ii
"a domination Of greedy adventurous from Il
!, North with unlimited license to Cypress al
IN plumber them. the officers OF the army We
II not very good agents in such nefaE'ol
70 business The negroes would be instr
=. ments Of tyranny much more easily mana
"A ed. But an act Of Congress disfranohisiI
?. the white people for offences real or impute
10 and handing over their State government
= to negroes to be run by them in the interes
"a Of carpet-baggers, would be merely anoth
N bill Of Attainder, or rather q modification
"a the frs. one, making it much worse, b,
- equally within the reach Of Judicial correc
A ion. Ia this strait they resoried to {,
ia expedienE of converting the Constitute
=, itself into bill of attainder. The foul
h teenth and fifteenth amendments were frau:
"A upon the spirit and letter Of the instrumeu
! inSsmuch as they effected the worst outras
n which IL was made to prevent. They We
n, carried against the known will of near
"A every State in the Union by shameless d
~ ception in the North and by brutal violeB,
"a in the South. May this be washed
m Lethe and torgottenf Z" Certainly not,
10 long as any portion Of our people are cor
D cd IN ha 1nt Ia buv Of
yoke thus fastened upon them. ! need n
say how much they have suffered slrssd
nor try to conjecture how much they will
called to endure hereafter but it is certs
4 that any ordinary despoIism would hav
been a visitation Of mercy in compsriso
:, When we reflect upon the number ar
a rapScity OF the thieves that have been ~
:. held in their pillage by means of the neg
2 governments We cannot help but regret Il
!. non adoption fAf Mr.. Stevens's propositio
- atrocious as it was, for universal cou6seAtio
= The pernicious consequences of this ru
y are felt in the general as well as local 20
= ernments. The legislation of Congress
A largely controlled by fit representatives
= the oArpst-bag interest, and the worst &C
q OF the Executive Administration are done
= please the power which corTGLs the negro
10 ~ the msetng-plAces OF the leagues u
!, drives them thence to the polls.
"a Mr.. Greeley's election will not do all th
i we could wish to free us from these evils.
- will not even be a popular condemnation
h the baae means BY which they were infiot'
upon us, but it will begin the process
their gradual extinction. II will give Il
white people a reasonable hope that Il
heritable qualities of their fathers bloc
. may some day be restored. In the mea
- time, if it does not reverse The attainder,
= will at least insure a merciful execution
= it. Democrats who disliked Mr.. Greeley
nomination have reflected WE'LL and / thin
will support him with almost perfect uni
= nimity. The thought that q victory wi
!. not give US everything at once may dimiuis
I" in some degree ''the rapture of the strife
;, but it will not impair the efficiency of the
!, support, for they are impelltd to their uimo