The semi-weekly Republican. (St. Francisville, La.) 1872-1872, 1872-05-10
FALSE .PRET,E.N4SES.

One of the conceits that the Dem
ocracy is laboring under, and o
which it should he cured, is this
that the vote which was cast against
General Grant in 1868 can be count
ed upon as a solid and substantial
strength Of its own. Whenever q
suggestion is made that the Democ.
racy had better retire and give place
to some organization in which the
people have confidence, the response
is sure to be made that the Democ.
racy only lacked few votes fou1
years ago of succeeding, and that il
four hundred thousand converts can
be made, this Republican majority
can be overcome, and the Democra-
cy secured Of a triumph. eve can
not disband our army of three mil
lions Of men" says the Mobile Regis
ter, in favor of another organization
that only numbers few hundred
thousand adherents.' This is as
sumed to be q complete and over
whelming answer. 1t is nothing of
the sort. In the first place, the pre-
dictate is wrong. The three millions
Of men who supported Mr.. Seymour
in 1868 were not all Democrats, but
rather q mixture of all sorts of men.
Neither were the three millions and
odd men who voted for Gen. Grant
all Republicans, but rather a combi-
nation of people who proposed to
subordinate their political opinions
to one great end, which was the set
Element of the reconstruction laws
and the ratification of the amend
ments to the constitution. Thou
sands Of men voted for Seymour, not
as Democrat, but as the represen-
tative of the white race against the
colored.
As between Mcclellan and Lincoln
the contest turned upon the con-
duct of the war, and not upon the
prej1lices that rallied the friends of
the Union to the support of General
Grant. Both Of the campaigns i'm
mediate'y preceding the impending
contest were agitatcd by different is
Sues than thoses that now prevail,
and surely the Democracy does not
intend to claim that the same men
who stood with it in 1864, and those
who stood with it in 1868, when the
merits Of the controversies were so
widely different from what they are
now, will stand by it at present up
on platform that it repudiated in
its former efforts.
-Four years ago the Democracy de-
MED the validity of the reconstruc-
ton laws, and rejected the constitu-
tional amendments as being lishon-
est and without binding force upon
the country. 1t appealed to the
prejudices of race and color, and won
to its support thousands of men who
disliked to trust the negroes with
equal political power with tn themselves.
Since that time the Democracy has
changed its front, and agreed to ac-
cept the Objectionable laws, the
amendments, and the negro This
discharges one-half of its supporters
as once from it's ranks. Men who
felt great distress ct voting for a
Democrat prevailed upon themselves
to support the nominees of that par
ty on the sole suggestion that they
were of the White Mans party"
This excuse being taken away, these
men are now without any fixed con-
nection with any organization, and
the chances are that they will vote
for Greeley, since he is the friend of
amnesty and the freedom of the
States, against Grant, who opposes
amnesty, and sticks his bayonets in
to the States.
The Democrat who supposes that
his party is three million strong is
about as weak of mind as the Gus
toulouse faction is, that supposes
because it has hoisted the name of
over its nortals Il hoe