Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-08-23
JUDGE BLACKS LETTER.
THE POLITICAL SITUATION.

MY DEAR SIR |: promised the gentle
mar who delivered your letter that1 would
answer it fully and as soon as could con-
sistently with other engagements. am
fulfilling, that promise. Ii take more
time and space than might be expected,
YOU will please to remember that and
great many other Democrats are in posi-
ton which requires something more than
mere definition. We cannot avoid mis-
construction without furnishing rather
full explanation. EE~k
admit that the next President must be
Grant or Greeley. The circumstances OF
the political stu alton limit our choice to
these two men, as strictly as if nobody else
were legally eligible. We must weigh
them against one another, and, like practl-
cal men, decide the case before us in favor
of the best. Even if We find no good In
either of them, we must take that one who
shall appear to be least bad.
1t is undeniable that the leading meas
ures of this Administration are not only
unconstitutional, but Unconstitutional,
showing not merely cOntemptuous indif-
ference TO constitutional obligations, but
settled hostility to those rights OF the State,
and those liberties of the people which the
organic law was made to secure. The
Presidents appointment OF otneers anu ms
general exercise of public authority under
large sums of money, are scandalous out
RACES, and the effort to defend them has
combined with other like causes to extin-
puish among his subordinates all respect
for those rules of morality which used to
be held sacred. When we consider what
these men have done in the North, and add
to it the large-handed robberies Perpetrated
in the South by the retainers OF the Presl-
dent, with his direct aid and assistance,
we are compelled to acknowledge that 10
other government now in the world is ad-
ministered so entirely for personal and par
tisan purposes, or in such complete
disregard for the rights and interests
of the general public. This demOral-
iZation is not confined to the tx
ecutive branch, the tide of corruption rolls
in upon the Legislature, and in some
places it has risen high enough to touch
the feet of the Judiciary. Even the rank
and file of the Presidents party have be-
come debauched, let us hope not altogether,
but certainly in fearful degree. Acts
| which in former times a hardened criminal
| would hesitate to whisper in the ear Of his
accomplice can now be openly advocated
by political leader, not only with safety,
| but with tolerable chance of being suS-
tanned by a sort of public opinion. That
love of liberty and justice which used to
pervade the whole community now creme
ges all temper" and yields without re-
sistance to the unprinciped demagogues
who would enthOne fraud.
IS Make the boar leprOsy ad0rcd place thieves
And give them title, knee and appreciation,
With Senators on the BENCH
If General Grant had been equal III
mind and heart to the eXigencies of the
| times, he could easily have made himself
a great public benefactOr. lie might have
purified official and political morals by
simply setting the example i'll his own per
son of clcan-hAndGd devotion to duty.
His own obedience to the laws would have
! restored them to universal supremacy. All
| tie objects of the Constitution, as recittd
| in the preamble, would have been accom-
| plished but for the Instructions with which
| he himself impedcd them. Unfortunately
| the interests OF certain rings were III con
| tllct With the interests of the country, and
| they, by large presents, scdurcd him into,
| their service. The public contracted To-
| give him the salary which his predecessors
| had been content with; the rings Offered
| him more; he accepted their bounty, fell
over to them, and took the Government
into his hands AS "a Black Republican
| job"
! Now, as to Greeley. 1t cannot he pre-
tended that his political life is very sym
metrcal. He was in the ranks of the
Radical AbOlitinnistS for good many
| years. That is bad; for such associations
| would have 4 natural tendency TO debaeC
| him. But We must not forget that,
| though he was qCiM them, he was not
always Of item. lie refused to be par
taker in their worst iniquiLies; he had none
Of their diabOlical hatred for the COHstihl-
ton he did not lend his lips to their rabid
blasphemies, and his feet were never swift
in running to shed innocent blood. Before
| 10 81 ion IN.
the designs of the Abolilionists against TIL,
Federal and State governments, impellcd
him to the opposite heresy Of the seces-
| siOniSts. Like the Roman father, who
killed his daughter to save her from n
worse fate, he chose to destroy the Gov
| eminent rather than see it-tishOnOrcd and
violated by laWless force. When the war
was fragrant, he provoked tn" EXTREMIST
rage of his associates by eXCrting himself
for peace which would have left all tie
people i'll possession of their constitutional
liberties. After the close of the contest he
was the advocate of regular and legal, as
we'll as honest government for all parts of
the country. l have good authority fol-
saying that he never gave his approval to
any form of kidnapping, or murder, by
| military commission. In short, although
he did join the AbOlitonists in tlieir ''devil's
Dance" he never learned to keep step with
his partners, and We all know that when
he lcOuld not stop it, he left it, and de-
nounced it with becoming Indignation.
On another pom: he ought to have
credit. The friends of religious freedom
owe him an old debt of gratitude for the
zeal and ability with which he resisted the
churCh-burners when banded together i'll
the secret lodges of the Known othing Or
der. 1t is but reasonable to believe that
his opposition saved the country from the
great Canger it was EOnce in of being
subjugated by that Infamous organization.
He has often been accused of completely
in cheats of one kind or another, but in
every case he has triumphantly refuted the
charges. For this, anu Tor other reasons, |
conclude that his personal integrity is will =
| out stain.
He has many times spoken Of the
Democratic party and its most honored
members in harsh and abusive terms.-
These are faults of manner, and Of temper,
which, when mended, are always par
doned. We will not permit our judgment
to be disturbed by considerations so trifling
as this.
l have looked into his past history only
to ascertain what he is now and what he
is likely to be in the future. l am bound
to care nothing for his ''antecadents," ex-
cept as they furnish the means of estmat
| ing his character. l think | have found
out with reasonable certainty how far we
may confide in him. l devoutly believe
that, if chosen President, he will keep his
oath, preserve the Constitution inviOlate,
execute the laws faithfully, restore the
States to their rightful autonomy, protect
individual liberty by jury trial and habeas
corpus, put the military i'll proper subOrdi-
nation to the civil authority, use neither
! force nor fraud to carry elections, keep his