The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1872-09-26
Andrew JOhnsOn's Virtues and
Grimes.

y
sus tnat rumor makes him. Wit
no feelings of personal animOsity
on the CONTRARY with much ofad
miration for his, success and con
duct in life. we feel the full con
seriousness of owing him Justice
We were to some extent disappoin
ted in the man. He has in the frs
place a sinister expression of cOun
tepancc, particularly about the eyes
and although that is a small matter
| it mars in no small degree the efec
7 of his measured elocutiOn. Thiity
years in public life would make ever
a small man aiI fait in dealing Will
public questions. Intimate associa
tion with politicians for lifetime
might make any man at home II
surveying the trickeTy of our poIiti
cal system. and If the review be-
sprinkled, however lightly with wit
ticisms and rounded with sonorous
oratory, the good natured public
are prone to cry out "Great is Allah
and Mahomet is his prophet" We
listened to Mr.. Johnson through the
long hours of his speech, and We
must confess that we were less SO
| Johnson man" at the close than at
the commencement. Every student
of Blackstone knows everything the
ex-President said the first half-hOur
of his address in reference to sys-
tens of government, while the fig
ures, showing the true condition OF
our financial system under the pres
ent national administration, are to
be found in one or other campaign
documents which have been scatter
ed like autumn leaves through every
hamlet in the land The doctrine
of funding the public debt surely is
not news in Memphis, though Mr..
johnson seems to think so. There
was certainly little informatinn on
this subject here and elsewhere be-
fore the "Great Commoner" directed
our attention to- the matter. On
this subject of the public debt Mr..
johnson was rather Obscure. He
contended that "no nation upon
earth has ever paid a great national
debt without ,repudiation;' that
funding the debt is sin disguise a
proposition to make it permanent"
..that there is no nation upon the
face Of the earth that has a perma-
nent debt that is, tonight, free."-
He denies that he is in favor of repu-
dIation; then if he opposes the fund
ing of the public debt, and denies
the possibility of its payment, how
is he going to dispose of it outside
of reputation? We fancied there
was much Of the ad captanduna UalgQs
in this. 1t was clear tuc,tS a non
Eucendo.. AS Southern men and eX
soldiers of the defunct Confederacy,
we were q little amused and some
times all but insulted by Mr.. John
sons tabored attempt, in that por-
tion of his speech touching seces-
sion, to prove himself right and
four millions of his feIlow-country-
men wrong. While all the other
United States Senators aud Repre-
who retired from the
Congress of the United States, in
to that voice of public
duty and of patriotism, which was
never raised without being respect
fully listened to and,obeyedin every
corner of the United States up to
that time, ttsvoice Of he people de,aad-
ing tie ri9Als Of The Stotes-when these
grave and fevered statesmen and
warriors honOred by the Republic
tor wisdom, patriotism, learning,
and JState-craft, retired
to join their fortunes with their
States, their countrymen, their
lcighbors, and their kindred, An
drew johnson remaining in the easy
elegance and safety of the Senatorial |
the only wise man of them |
all. The State that sent him to the |
Senate he abandoned; the people |
who lifted him from obscurity to |
fame he deserted in their hour of |
lroable; and when the war came and !
The sword of the invader was red |
with the blood OF Tennesseans, An
lreW johnson sat in the Capitol of |
Tennessee as a military chiettain in
5he commission of the invaders. 1t
vas wise, indeed; time and the for
.une of war have shown the wisdom
If his action, but ''neither heights
lOr depths, nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor
hings to come" can show aught
Use than that Mr.. Johnson's decis-
on, then as now, was coWardly,
mean, vile and treacherOus. How
would it have been if the COnfeder-
ICY had been successful? Would it
lave been honorable in Mr.. johnson
hen? IF not, it cannot but be dis
honorable ROW. Mr.. johnson indi-
'ectly insulted the whole Southern
)eople. He proved them fools or
,naves, or both, and traitors to the
while he was the patriot
# forecast, the Christian philOso-
,her, the only Senatorial head from
he South in Congress that preserved
Is balance. There are few men,
1iRus his fine intellect like Mr..
Johnson in the country, who would
ike to impose their intense selfish
less upon the people as wisdom and
,atriOtism; who would rejoice to
ind the people esteeming as a vir-
ure their inability to hear the calls
f their country in the hour of dan
-er. Granting for the argument
hat the State sails her children TO
Ter defence in n doubtful cause,
.oes that excuse abandoning her to
Ter fate, or worse still, joining the
anks Of her enemies? The gallant
nd glorious s. S. Prentiss of Mis-.
issippi, answers this in the senti-
lent' "The State! may she be al
rays right; But RIGHT OR WRONG,
TIE STATEw The man who deserts
is country upon any pretext forfeits
very claim 10 that cOuntry's conf
ence! We cannot indorse Mr..
ohnsCn's secession record, nor
hould he ask Southern people to
ishonor the graves of the COnfeder- /
te dead by voting for a man who
rOnounces the cause in which they
led treason, and denounces them |
elves as traitors. Touching the {
q