New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-08-25

per to speak in the name of the people.
This Democratic idea Of government has
long since been exploded by the people.
THE DUTY OF HEARING THE TRUTH.
Intimately connected with the matter of
telling the truth in politics is the duty OF
hearing it. No man can pretend to be
proper citizen who either refuses to speak
the truth or to hear it, concerning ques-
lions affecting the general interest. Yes
terday we had occasion to criticise the
Citizens Guard for uttering and insisting
upon deliberate falsehood about Gov
ernOr Brown, Of Missouri, wherein it
stated that at a college examination in
New Haven, Mr.. Brown, who was an in
vited guest, committed the ofense Of get
ting drunk. This story was started as a
joke, as thousands of similar Jokes are
started, and though the party that origin
ated it and all who had any knowledge Of
the facts have repeatedly and solemnly
denied it, the Citizens Guard deliberately
Endorsed it as true to its readers. Correct
morality must deprecate any such delib-
crate falsehoods as both damaging to the
public conscience and as insulting to the
public intelligence.
On par with this system Of misrepre-
sentation is the practice which thousands
Of seemingly intelHgentpeople indulge in,
of refusing to hear or read anything the
opposition may say or write upon political
questions. The Citizens Guard justifes
the colored people Of Cincinnati for
threatening one Of their number with vio-
lence if he did not desist from delivering
speeches in favor Of Horace Greeley.
This is as serious an error as its publica-
ton Of the faIsehood against Governor
Brown, under the general rule that it is
as culpable to suppress the truth as it is
to publish misstatement. The same
practice would exclude the Guard from
the perusal Of every man opposed to its
principles, and the enforcement Of such
suggestion would require the friends Of
General Grant to deny themselves
any intimacy or argument with the
advocates of Mr.. Greeley. 1t would
erect a barrier between parties that
would create stagnation at once, for the
Republicans are to hear only Republican
arguments and Liberals are to hear only
Liberal arguments. The relation Of parties
would soon sink into a mere mass Of ma
chinery on both sides The obligation Of
the citizen is the very reverse Of this. The
man whose partisan affiliations are with
the Republicans should be able to defend
his position in the face Of the opposition,
and if he can not do this, he should
change to the side whose arguments over
come his own. Any Liberal Who refuses
to listen to a Republican because he is
afraid he can not withstand the reasoning
of his opponent is not credit to the par
ty nor to himself Free discussion is the
true basis Of liberty, for by a generous
intercourse Of the people the citizen is
enabled to find out the facts upon which
alone he can faithfully discharge his du-
ties to the State.
The colored people Of Cincinnati who
refused to listen to Mr.. Tabbs Gross be
cause he proposed to explain to them why
they should vote for Mr.. Greeley, com
mitted an error which they have since re-
pented Of, as we see by published card,
wherein they invite him to overlook the
iIl-iudged action Of some Of their mem
bers and to consent to address them in q
public hall which they propose to hire for
the occasion. They declare that it is their
duty, as citizens, to hear both sides. They
avow their preference for General Grant,
and declare their intention to support him,
with the lights before them. But they
say they are in duty bound to submit
their Judgment to criticism and open ar
gument il order to test the accuracy and
fidelity Of the lights upon which they are
proceeding. Justice and good govern
ment, according to these colored people,
can only be preserved by being subjected
to the fullest discussion possible The
human understanding is always capable of
Improvement, and this improvement can
be best wrought out by hearing both sides,
and by being told all that can be told upon
a given subject. We submit that the ne
groes Of Cincinnati have reached and de-
clared a broader and more just political
theory than their pretended friend in New
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