The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1872-09-13

been sacrificed by those controlling the
government in the effort to perpetuate
themselves In power.
When President Grant was inaugura-
ted there were two great probemes de-
handing solution, as being essential to
any future political or social repose.
Their settlement was a condition prece-
dent not only to the assurance by trade
and finance Of any stability, but slso to q
revival of that national life in which all
constitutional amendments, RECONSTRUCT
tion laws, extensions of suffrage, must be-
come embedded TO have such enforce
ments.
The first of these was a reconciliation of
the sections. They had been estranged by
half Q century Of hostile thought, and by
disappearance Of slavery both sides were
prepared to welcome with gladness a real
peace. That involved, Of course, relin.
quishment of hatreds by all, along which
restoration Of rights toall. 1t implied an
equal freedom and guaranteed common
prosperity. The second Of these was Q
reconciliation of the races. Dwellers in
the same land, no longer distinct as to civil
rights, called to assume jointly many re-.
sponsibilities, il was necessary to have
amicable relations between them, il the
country was not to be again embroiled.
To accomplish this required lesson of for
bearance, recognition Of many mutual
dependencies, the custom Of cooperating
for ends Of good government, and above
all else, strict avoidance Of any such CLASH
fication as should remit them back into
perpetual antagonism.
So apparent to all had become the
necessity for adjusting these two supreme
public demands, that it extorted from both
the rival parties Of 1868 commona cquie-
scence. The fact that the republicans were
most pronounced in declaring adhesion to
such purpose, gave them the victory, and
the further fact that the president in his
inaugural assumed such TO be the task i'm
posed, exalted him greatly IN the esteem
Of all who were strictly partisan. LET US
have peace was the spoken prologue, and
in view of its infinite consequence, the
questions that touched most nearly and
deeply the present administration are
these Have the pledges made by il in
that behalf been redeemed? Have its eff
forts to that end been sagacious as well as
single Of purpose7 Has il demonstrated
itself the best and surest ofall agencies the
people may choose to consummate this
double reconciliation iftrusted again with
that work?
The power OF the administration for
good or evil none will question. Posses.
sed ofthe entire government, judicial, legis-
lative and military, having nearly all the
states north as well as south under repub-
lican control, fortified by every lease of
power demanded, and sustained in an I'M
reserved enforcement, there was neither
check nor hindrance to full development
Of its policies. But that it has n OF yet sue
ceeded in restoring amicable relations is so
plain as to need no proof. Reason about
it as we may it must be conceded that the
exercise of federal authority in the man.
ner in which it has been employed has
tenderd still more TO embitter feeling al
ready exasperated by reverses, whilst the
fact that the luminosity of the sections so
estranged islevelled chiefly against the ad-
ministration, and its following, is strong
| presumptive evidence that its effort has
not been in the direction Of Cancellation.
| In truth, where so swift and cordial res
ponse has greeted every liberal advance
that has been made in any other quarter,
no other explanation can be made Of Q
hostility that discriminates thus between
the people Of the north and the partisans
of the president. How and why has this
been so?
Combining attention rigidly to the facts
Of administration as the have been evolved
at the south 1t will appear in the first place
that although ostensibly republican, it has
yet been substantially u rule imposed from
the people themselves. The
recent legislation of congress
shows this in every enactment, and
even if that were otherwise the interven
ton of national authority in the difieren,
states, designating who should exercise
civil functions, displacing duly elected of
tcers, giving strained interpretations t,
1 the new constitutions, voiding appointed
: times Of election to prolong terms for in
cumbents, all tell Of an external contro
: illegally assumed by the national e ecutive
Its personal and arbitrary character ha
thus kept alive a sense OF subjugation in
curing thereby resentment as from alien
rather than the confidence which flow
from independent citizenship. Again, il
was rule offorce. The support on which
the Interference rested was not the iudicia
branch of the government, but exclusively
the military arm Of the service. The com.
mandant OF the department has been the
authority that, under the direction Of the
president, shaped the civil affairs of the
states even after they were ostensible re-
stored to their place in the union. Ifcon-
troversy ensued the appeal was at once
taken to Washington, and response first
came back from the general army head
quarters. The alarming power thus as
sumed, TO set aside at any moment, under
pretence Of disorder. all civil government,
left no restraint upon those who claimed
to decide what was order. In most
instances, this supremacy of the bayonet
has been silently maintained; in some
cases. however, as in Texas, Georgia,
Florida and Louisiana, it was openly in
voked and ruthlessly exerted. In Arkan-
sas the very officers of the United States
courts were dismissed for venturing TO
question the established regime, whilst in
North Carolina martial law was made TO
terrozc over every vestige ofcivil admins
tration. Still again, it was in almost
every state this rule Of minority over a
majority of the people. Perhaps South
Carolina was an exception, but it was only
SO because still more odious principle of
caste government had been made to sup
plant free government. Elsewhere, how
ever, the spectacle was plainly witnessed,
of large numbers ofthe people Invested of
civil rights, and all of those opposing
thought kept in fear by threats Of substi.
tuting military for civil tribunals, if the
dominancy of the minority was questioned
or overborne Thus the census told one
| story nd tho az ballad .1oa,,r..