Wilmington daily commercial., 1872-05-06
THE uONQuEsT or AMElll0A.

N'A+ANNNN
about him, thus related the history OF the twenty
years just passed -14
THE CONQUEST or AMEnIoA.
You ask me to tell you, my children. Of the
events which Immediately preceded the de-
struetion OF the once great American Union, and
the capture of the country by its present Euro
pean rules. and to say something also OF the
causes which led TO these deplorable results.
The story is short one. In the fall OF 1879
Horace Greeley, the editor Of a newspaper in
New York was elected President OF the United
States. The people voted for him because they
believed him to he an honest man. But he wah
vain and weak, and he entertained certain ran
atical and p loHterons notions about agrloul-
tura matters. for nstauce-wlilch lie was de-
termined to force upon the people at all hazards
and despite all opposition. He believed, among
other things, that every man ought to go TO the
West to earn his bread. and long before he was
chosen President he used to advise ever body to
move to that reg Oh ~ a cure for all the disas-
ters which could befallthe human family.
As soon as he reached the executive mansion,
which we used to call the White House, Presi-
dent Greeley organized an army Of two hundred
Thousand meu and proceeded to force the entire
population of the seaboard States westward at
the point of the bayOnet. The utmost violence
was used Those who resisted were shot down
and their dead bodies were carted OIL to a
national factory which the President had estaD-
lished for making eome kind Of humorous feTtil-
izer. All the large cities Of the East were
depopulated and towns we're entirely empty The
army swept before il millions OF men, women and
children, until the vast plains west OF Kansas
were reached, when the pursuit ceased, and the
army was drawn mp in continuous hns, with
orders to shoot any person who attempted to
witt the East. OF course hundreds OF thousands
of these poor creatures periRhed from starvation
This seemed to frighten President Greeley, and
he sent message to Congress recommending
that seven hundred thousand volumes q comic
book OF his, entitled what Know about Farm
ing should be voted for the relief OF the starv-
ing sufferers. This was done, and farming
| implements and seeds were supplied; and then
the millions of wretched Outcasts made an effort
to till the ground. OF the result OF this will
| speak further on.
In the meantime the President was doing inf
| mite harm to- the country in another way His
handwriting was 30 fearfully and wonderfully
bad that no living man could read lt. ANA 30
when he sent his first annual message to Con
| gres-the document was devoted wholly to the
Tariff and to Agriculture--a sentence appeared
/ which subsequently was ascertalned to be
| Large cultivation Of rutabagas and beans Is the
| only hope of the American nation, l am sure.
| The printers not being able to interpret this
| put ii in the following form, in which it went
| forth to the world: 1.-THE Czar of Russia couldn I
| keep clean il he wa shed himself with the who {
| Atlantic Ocean once dayl This .perVersion Of
| the message was Immediately telegraphed tC
| Russia by the Russian Minister, and the Czai
| was so indignant that he instantly declared war
| Just at this time President Greeley undertook
| to write some letters to Prince Bismarck upor
the subject of potato-rot and after giving hit
singular views at great length, he concluded witt
| the statement that If the Emperor WiliAm sale
| that subsoil blowing was not good in light soils
or that guano was better than bonedust, he wal
Ia liar, villain, and slaYel" Of course thl
| Emperor also Immediately declared war and
became an ally of Russia aSd of England, against
/ which latter country Mr., Greeley had actually
begun hostilities already. because the Queen, il
| her speech from the throne, had declared th'
| IriJune'S advocacy Of a tariff on pg-iron incen
diary, and calculated to disturb the peace OF ma
| tions.
| Unhappily this was not the full measure o
| our disasters. The president had sent to the
Emperor of Austria copy Of his book What
| Know" &c with his autograph upon tiyleaf
The Emperor mistook the signature for a carl
cature of the Austrian eagle, and he readil.
| Joined in the war against the United States
while France was provoked to the same act b,
the fact that when the French Minister came Il
| call on Mr.. Greeley to present his credentials
the President, who was writing an editorial a
the time, not comprehending the French Ian
| guage, mistook the ambassador for beggar
and without looking up, handed him quartz
| and an order for clean shirt and grubbing
hoe, and said to him, GO West young man-g
Vest
So all these nations Joined in making war upo
the United States. They swooped down upol
our coasts and landed without opposition, TO
these exposed pOftlOnb OF OuT unnupp1 couhbi.
were absolutely deserted. The President wa
afraid to call away the army from Kansas, a
FIRST for fear the outraged people upon tn
plains would come east in spite OF him. But a
last he did summon the army to his aid and
moved to meet the enemy. 1t was too late
Before the troops reached Cincinnati the fol
eigners had seized Washington and all the coul
try east OF the ONO. and had hung the Presi
dent (whose loss was not regrettedD, the Cabine
| and every member of Congress.
Ths army disbanded in alarm, and the inya
ders moved to the Far West, whore they foun
the population dying Of starvation because the
had followed the advice OF Greeley's book I
"Try, for your first crop, to raise lines; an
don't plant more than oushel Of quickime i
hill {" OF course these wretched people wer
at the mercy of the enemy, who-to his cred
be it said-treated them kindly, fed them, an
brought them back to their old homes. 70
/ know what followed-how Prince Frederick Wi
liam of Prussia assembled the American thron'
J and the other humiliations that ensued. 1t wa
fearful blow to Republicanism-a blow frol
which IL will never recover. It made US, WI
4 | we're freemen, nation of slaves. 1t was all u
, | result of our blind confidence in a misguide
old man who thought himself philosophe
, May Heaven preserve you, my children, fro
: | the remorse | feel when l remember that
voted for that bucolc editor
Tho Rrianda