Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1872-08-08

! turned Commissioner 81 unner care
fully omitted, Mr.. Douglass, who was
in Washington at the, time, and thus
repeated the indignity. Other, things
might be. mentioned as showing the
sympathies of the President, but l
cannot forget
THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL,
which is the !, cap stone Of that equali-
ty before the law to which all are en-
titled, without distinction Of: color,
President Grant, who could lobby 80
assiduously. for his Santo Domingo
scheme, full of wrong to the colored
race, could do nothing for this beneh-
cent MEASURE. During a lons. session
of Congress it was discussed constant
ly, and the colored people everywhere
hung uponethe debate, but there was
no word Of" heartfelt sympathy" from
the President. At last; Just before
the, nominating convention, he ad-
dressed letter to a meeting OF COZ
ored fellow-citizens in Washington,
called to advance this cause, where
he avoided the question by declaring
himself in favor of i"the exercise OF
those rights to which every citizen
should be Justly entitled" leaving it
uncertain whether 'colofed people are
Justly entitled to the rights secured
by the pending bill. ~ under t ,tand
that Horace Greeley has been already
assailed by an impracticabIe Demo
crat as being friendly to this bill, but lG
nobody has lisped against President
Grant on this account Among the
antecedents I deem it my duty to
mention the little capacity Of indus
try of the President in protecting
colored people and in assuring peYca
at the, South. Nobody can doubt
that small portion Of the effort and
earnest will, even without the lobby
ing so freely given to the Santo Do:
mmgo scheme, would have averted
those Ku Klux out-rages which we
deplore, so that there would have
been no pretence for further legisla-
ton by Congress. But he was disa.
bled both BY character and the draw
backs of his own conduct. After
violating the Constitutional law to
insult the black republic, and setting
an example of insubordination, he
was not in condition to rebuke law
breakers. .Second-Passing from "an-
tecedents," / come now to the
PRESENT POSITION OF THE TWO CAN
D1DATEs,
which is the subject of your next in
quiry. If in any former particulars
the two are on an equality, yet, in all
substantial respects, the obvious ad-
vantageis with Horace Greeley. Each
was nominated by reform conven-
tion-one at Cincinnati, and the other
at Philadelphia-so that in this re-
spect they may seem to be on an
equality. But it will not fail to be
observed that the Convention at Gin
cinnati was composed of able and ac-
knowledged Republicans, many Of
whom have acted with the party from
its first formation, who, without pre-
vious organization, came together vol
UNFAIRLY for the sake Of reform and
purity in the Government; while on
the other hand the.convention at Phila-
delphia was composed Of delegates
chosen largely under the influence Of
office holders, who assembled to sus-
tain what is known as Grantism, be-
ing the personal Government and
personal .pretensions of President
Grant, involving nepotism, repayment
of gifts by official patronage, neglecF
of public duty, absenteeism, military
rule, disregard ,f Constitution and
law, with general unitness, and liz
dignity to the colored race. All Of
which is so unrepublican as to make
it's support impossible for true Re
publicans, Therefore, the Conven-
tion at Philadelphia, though calling
itself Republican, was less Republi-
can than that at Cincinnati. The
two platforms, so far. as concerns es-
pecially the colored race, are alike in
substance, but that of Cincinnati is
expressed in terms most worthy. OF
the equal rights it states and claims:
We recognize the equality of all
men before tue law, and hold that it
is the duty of the Government in its
dealings with the people to mete out
equal and exact justice to all, Of
whatever nativity, race, color, or per-
suasion, religious or political" In
other respects the platform. of Gin
cinnati is the most Republican, mas
much as it sets itself against these
unrepublican abuses which have been
nursed by the President into perni-
cious activity. From the two nomi-
nations and the two platforms | come
to
THE SUPPORTERS OF THE CANDIDATES,
anc here I look first at those immedi-
ately about them, and secondly at the
popular support behind. Horace
Greeley has among his Immediate
supporters in all parts of the country
devoted and consistent Republicans,
always earnest for reform and purity
in government, on whose lives there
is no shadow of suspicion being
contrast in character to those rings
which play such partin the present
Administration. The country knows
too we'll the military ring, che Sena.
torial ring, and the Custom-house
ring, through which the President
acts. Such supporters are very poor
recommendation. Looking at the
popular support behind, the advaa-
tage is still with Horace Greeley.
Presid ent Grant has at his back the
diversified army of of6ce-holders drill
ed to obey the word Of command.
The speeches praising him are by
ofice-holders and members of rings.
Horace Greeley finds fockinp to his