The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1872-10-31
THE DEAD PAST.

The blister that We applied to tn
back of Congressman Eldridge the othe
day, begins to draw, and has brough
out the Ne,cs with the lame and impo
tent excuse that the public record of tn,
great Objector belongs to the 'deat
past and is unworthy of the attention
of the people at this time. This is
convenient way of getting out of a bat
scrape, and any criminal might put il
the same plea; but guilty men are no
always allowed to 20 unwhipped of jus
tice merely because they have been ablt
to evade he officers for time that are
in pursui; of them. DeQuincy imagine:
that one of the severest punishments O
the wicked In the next life will be Vi
VId recollection of the sins committed il
this, and that the dead past as the
Netcs calls it, will be an ever living. ire
pressible source Of unrest. IT is not to. be
wondered at that the Democratic party
should be SO anxious to look forward and
| not back, and get out of temper when
ever Illusion is made to It's for;nor ca
reer. inasmuch as its record through the
war was so black and damEing that the
remem brance Of it can inspire no other
| feelings but those Of regret and shame in
any mind not stricken already with mo-
raj paralysis. This being the case with
| the party collectively, is it rot of course
the case with each individual member OF
it, and especially with such mon as Mr.
Eldridge, who made themselves conspic
uous by the meanness as well as tenacity
with which they opposed the suppression
of the Rebellion. Eldridge belongs to a
generation Of vipers that cannot be al
| lowed to escape the damnation of hell,
merely because they cry dead issues
whenever their past public acts are called
up for review. He has been in Con
gress then years-is public man whose
official acts are the legitimate subjects of
discussion, ,andnow made all the more so
by the fact that he is again a candidate
for reelection. and is asking the privil-
ege of representing the State Of Wiscon
sin in part upon the floor of Congress.
Patrick Henry said he knew of no way of
it is this reasonable rule that makes the
Ne,os squirm when it is applied to FL
bridge. 1t is his past career that carries
now can wash out. and if he shrinks
from the examination of the record be
has made In Washington, il is warning
put their trust in him as their represen-
tative in the future. We undertook to
show, and did show by the record, that
Eldridge not ouly voted against the con-
stitutional amendments, but that he OPP
posed every resolution that was iutrodu-
ced declaring them valid, and every act
OF Congress that was deemed necessary
to carry them into effect. Nor was il
necessary to go back very far in:o the
dead past in order to gibbet the gen
tleman from Fond du Lac upon the hill
top of public contempt tor his actions
upon those important questions. The
hIl. amendment was declared ratified
by MIR. Secretary Seward. December Is.
1865 the XIV was declared ratified
by the same person, July 2S, 1868, and
the XIV was declared ratified On the
30th Of March, 1870, by Mir. Secretary
Fish. Bnt of more recent date were his
votes against declaring the amendments
to be valid and Of binding effect The
first one was on Mr.. Wilson S resolution,
AIKEN in the House on the 18th of March,
1871, which was not very long ago, and
the next was at the last session Of Con
1ress, upon Mr. Peterss resolution,
which was in these words:
Resolred, That the thirteenth, four
teenth and fifteenth amendments to the
Constitution of the United States. having
been ratified by the number of state
legislatures necessary to make their
adoption valid and binding as well as hav-
ing been sanctioned by popular approv-
al, l,thehighest patriotism and most enlight-
ened public policy demand of all pol,i-
cal parties and all citizens an acquIescence
in the validity Of such constitutional pro
visions, and such reasonable legislation
of Congress as may be necessary to make
them In their letter and spirit most eff
fecsual
Which was agreed to-yeas l24, nays
So, not voting 81.
Among the nays on suspending the
rules and adopting the above. is the
name of Eldridge. Mr. Mitchell being
ABSENT and on the 18th If February
last, this resolution of Mr. Stevenson
was voted upon:
Resolred, That We recognize as valid
and binding all existing laws passed by
Congress for the enforcement Of the
thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments to the Constitution of the
United States, and for the protection of
citizess In their rights under the Con-
stltution as amended.
The vote was-yeas 101, nays 65.
Two-thirds being required, the motion
was lost and Eldridge helped to defeat
it.
And the feeble attempt of the News
to screen him from the merited censure
which his wicked official acts invoke,
committed during the present gear, under
the shallow pretence that they belong to
the dead past, is altogether too thin
to suit the purpose. - iSeatiad