Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-02-16
The Old Tune.

The Old Tune.
In reply to a speech of Senator Nor !
tons the other day, Senator Thurman, of
Ohio, who is the ablest of the Democrat
ic leaders in the Senate, said that it had
become the, custom for Mr. Morton to
sound the keynote of the Republican
campaign. He added that Mr.. Morton's
speech against universal amnesty was the
beginning of the campaign of 1872. "It
is the same old note again." said Mr.
Thurman; lit is the same old tune
again; it is the same old horrors of the
rebellion; it is the same old wickedness
of the instigators of that rebellion; it is
the same old terrible suffering that that
rebellion entailed upon the country; and
it is the same frightful array of ghosts
found nowhere except in the Senator's
imagination, of what is to result to this
country should the Democratic party ever
get into power" Yet, ut the moment in
which Senator Thurman spoke there was
a practical "terrOr" in very many parts of
the States lately in rebellion; an organ
lied and far-reaching conspiracy, the OBJ
ject of which is to menace and punish
white men who would not Join the re-
bellion, and colored men who are the
perpetual symbols of its failure.
The old note is therefore inevitable, for
1t is the old danger. What was the sub
iect upon which the Senators were speak
ing? 1t was the Amnesty bill, as amend
ed by Mr.. Summers Civil Rights bill. 1t
was bill which released the late rebels
from certain disabilities, and which also
secured the protection of the late slaves.
And Senator Thurman and his party
friends, loud for amnesty, opposed the
protection. They demanded the utmost
generosity for the slave-holding class,
which, to perpetuate slavery, had at
tempted, without cause, to destroy the
Union in blood, and they refused justice
to the late slaves, whom the nation had
freed. Senator Vickers, indeed, a col
league and party friend of Senator Thur
man, had, the week before, virtually reas-
serted the dogma of State sovereignty,
and had painted, in glowing words, the
delights of slavery. Senator Blair, an
other party friend and colleague, had
justified the forcible dispersion of South
ern Legislatures, and was Immediately, at
the last election nominated for the Vice
Presidency by his party.
The revolving crimes of the Ku-KluX,
which make loyalty to the Union and
Government perpetual cross to thou
sands of American citizens in the South
Senator Thurman's party. 1t has never
yet acknowledged the conclusive validity
of the new amendments. Its last national
declaration is that the reconstruction of
the Union is revolutionary and void. 1t
declared for virtual reputation. The
Senator's party is to-day passive, hoping
to find i'll the dissensions of the Republi-
cans breach through which it can press
to the citadel of national power. But it
does not heartily pronounce for justice
and equal rights. 1t still mumbles the
refrain of State sovereignty. His party
is the hope Of every man in the country
who hates the Union, and who prayed and
strove for the success of the rebellion.
The tune of the party is still the old tune.
Its professions and practice are substan-
| TALLY unchanged, and, of course, the at
titude of its opponents and their declara-
tions can not be the same as before.
The denunciation of the Republican
policy in the Southern States like that of
England in Ireland, is unfounded There
is in some quarters strange slowness and
apparent reluctance to understand the ac-
| tual situation, and the evidence and the
| report of Senator Scott's committee will
doubtless do much to give truer view of
the facts While there is no contiscation,
no disfranchisement, no penalty of any
| kind visited upon the late rebels, the col
! ored and white Union citizens are in con-
! slant peril. We do not say that all are
! 50, and at every moment, but it is not to
! be denied that whole sections and large
communities are subject to that terror.
! The only excuse is that certain leaders of
rebellion are ineligible to office. Does
| that fact make an Ireland of the Southern
States? Far from it. AS Mr.. Shellabar-
ger truly said in the House, when the
| Republicans began to reconstruct, it was
not by resting the pyramid upon the apex
of a privileged class, but by planting ii
upon the equal rights of all the people.
And if, as Senator Thurman and his
party friends now claim, there is no rem
edy for the outrages practiced upon. a
portion of the citizens in the Southern
States but appeals to courts which will
not protect, and to juries drawn from the
Ku- -Klux, then it is time that the United
States hastened to provide remedy. The
tune of the campaign is an old tune, be
cause this protection is still necessary
1t is idle to say that the laws against the
Ku-Klux produced the Ku.KluX. 1t is
equally idle to say that citizens of the
United States must submit to the Ku
KluX until it disappeares in returning
peace and assured prosperity. There
have been Republican mistakes in recon
struction. The situation in Louisiana
and the financial crisis in other Southern
States, are not defended by any sincere
Republican. Rut whatever may be thu
perplexities of the situation arising from
Republican mismanagement and corrup
ton, the tap-root of Southern disorders
is the sympathy with the doctrines anC
the leaders of the rebellion which is still
! constantly manifest in the Democrat,
party.-Hdrper'S Weekly
1T is easy, no doubt, to journey alone il
the broad sunshine and on the beatel
| l. IL .s-l.