New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-07-21
General and President ,
From the Golden Age. 1

Our opponents will save a deal of angrv
rhetoric by remembering that the Liberal
! movement is not waged against General
Grant, but President Grant. Against Cen.
eral Grant we have nothing to saw. "a
fought well. Hodisplayed a high order of
| generalship. He earned an enviable diz.
| tinctiOn by military talents and bril1iant
success. His sOldierly qualities and achieve
ments are matters of fact and history An
! honor to the brave soldier, the victorious
| generaly the competent commander. whose
| resources, persistency and determination
! were equal to the emergency, and achieved
| a lasting triumph to the Union arms No
Liberal Republican has ever tried to pIuek
| a single leaf from the laurel that crowns
the nero OF our great war, or to detract one
| iota from his deserved distinction and hon
Orable fame. And we all united to show
our gratitude and respect to General Grant
by eleeting him to. the highest ofice oDr
republic knows. Against Grant the soldier
the successful leader of our armies, the ana
and victorious General, we have never
lisped syllable nor suggested an accuse
ton.
The question Of General Grant'smilitsrv
abilities and record does not enter into tbs
present campaign. 1t is not, with General
Grant, but with President Grant that wa
have to deal When he became President
he ceased to be General, and shut the do0r
upon the achievements and record of bic
military career. He entered upon the new
and untried field of civil adnfninistrat6p.
Aud the sole question before the American
people to-day, so far as he is concerned, ia
whether his course as President has been
wise and successful enough to Justify his
reelection. Had he failed at Vicksburg,
had he been disgracefully defeated in
dozen of the earlier engagements of the war
had he selected'a staff of miserably ineOm
petent officers, had he been more eager to
get presents and reward the donors than to
win successes over the common foe, had he
used the army and all his military prestige
and influence to secure his own promotion,
and reward his own relatives and friends.
who is insane enough to imagine that the
American people would have ClamOred for
his advancement, or that the government
would have placed him at the head of our
armies And shall we re-elect President
whose administration is a confessed failure,
and whose entire civic career is a succession
OF blunders, If not something worse?
1t Is with President Grant that we have
to deal. And it is because he has iguo-
miniOusly failed to fill his high office as
chief executive of the nation, and has de-
graded that office in the estimation of the
people and the eyes of the world, that we
oppose his re election. His civil career has
the expectations. of his best
friends His Cabinet has not a single first
class statesman in it, unless it be Mr.. Bout
well. His chosen associates are men whom
lew OF our best citizens would invite to
their tables. He has billeted his personal
relatives and fayOrites upon the country by
them to offices for which they
are VIGOROUSLY unfit. He has used the
Tast patronage of the government as
hOugh it were one of the perouisites of his
position, without regard to the public ser
nee or welfare, pledging every appointee to
abOr for his reelection. He has accented
PRESENTS from all sorts of persons, and re-
yarded the givers by official hOnofs. He
las filled the Southern States with his
FEATURES, and enforced their .extortiOns
With the military power until one-third of
4 the Union stands to-day on the
erge Of ruin and anarchy. He has
ullied Congress into the support of
is pet measures; winked at corruption and
raud, retained infamous officers long after
heir unftness was demonstrated, sur
Ounded himself by a staff of military off
ers in violation OF the constitution, low
red the standard of our public service
broad, compromised the national honor in
is dealing with England, insulted honor
bic and patriotic public servants who have
opposed his wild and wilIful schemes. and
nally divided the Republicans party by in
sting upon his own denomination, and
sing all the power and patronage of the
OF6rnm6uC TO secure IL. Nothing he has
yer said or done gives the impression that
g knows or cares anything about either
le letter or the spirit of the constitution,
Re genius of our institutions, the great
Cinciples on which the welfare of the re-
lblic rests, or the policy of a sound, CON
stent administration of public affairs.
IS government is a complete failure in
'ery respect, and its failure would have
zen disastrous but that the country has
en- at peace. 1t is such President, whose
FITNESS for the chief magistraey of the
.tlon Is striking and notorious, whose re-
7ctlon we oppose on every ground of ma
lnaI policy and honor.
1t is no answer't to these solid objections
tell us of General Grants noble exer-
ms and heroic exploits in the war. Admit
that may be claimed for him on that
0re. 1t Is not General but President
at we are to elect. General Grant was
'cteG TO the Presidency in 1868 solely on
military record. His election was an
pertinent, and the experiment has dis
4c9IuIIy failed. He comes before the
OpIe now and demands reelection, not as
neral, but as President, and on a civil
ora which should cover his name with
loqq1y, and make every patriot hang
"n MS mead for him in very shame. And
5 TINS lncompete nt President, who has
single quaIit cation for the trust he
US, ana whose unfitness has been demon
deed Oy over three years Of corrupt mis-
{, whose reelection we shall do our ut
st to prevent.
The Adyantn1e Of, C,~o,D;,o