Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1873-10-18
YoTR ATTENTION.

tAaAAIAA eAbAA 7A.A &c A-AsfJ am w v aN-
tire to the interests Of the South i,
and will continue. to be, our control
ing motive. We think that the South
has a future full Of hope and promise
"a future that can only be blasted by
rekindling the dying embers of parti-
ian hate. Every word uttered, every .
sentence written, calculated to stir /
into life the slumbering ashes Of old |
party antagonisms, deserves to be |
mathematical. Lost to all true re-
gard for Southern veal, all real inter
est in the preservation Of republican |
government, must be the heart that |
would, in an hour like this, disintsr
passions that should sleep forever !
passions which, if revived, would only |
contribute to make the political wreck
more complete. The columns Of the |
WIG AND TRIBUNE shall never be |
prostituted to an end so reckless, so !
criminal. /
What has the long suffering South |
! what have the people of this great !
republic to gain by digging among |
the bitter ashes of long slumbering |
party hates? What matter is it which |
of the old parties are most RESPONSE |
bic for the evils Of the past ten years: |
Is it probable, is it reasonable that |
either will humbly assume the whole |
blame and upon Blended knees ask to |
be forgiven? Think Of this, answer
this if yoa can, ,ye grave yard ram
blers, ere you build a tomb which
will claim you, as well as those You
so fippantly criticise.
Why, old Democrats conscientious
" believe that the compromising pol
icy OF the old Wing party, 50 elo-
quently, ably, yea, grandly urged by
by their great leader, the immortal
Clay, was the foundation Of northern
sectionalism, the main stimulus of
northern aggression, the great enter
ing wedge which finally split the
Union. Old wings as conscientiously
believe that the repeal of the Mis-
souri, Compromise, the passage Of the
Kansas Nebraska bill, ana the agita-
ton incident thereto, laid the foun-
dation of disunion, forced upon the
country the isms of 'G0-6l, and pre-
cipitated our great civil war. Now,
how are we to reconcile these con-
| hicting opinions? Can they be re-
cOnciled? Is it necessary that they
! should be reconciled? Neither of
the old parties will ever acknowledge
that it was wholly to blame. 1t is
not human to confess unreservcd, po-
litical error, Such thing wsuld be
an anomaly in political history. The
history of parties in all ages and
countries, fruitful as it is of startling
precedents, furnishes nothing of the
kind. But on the other hand the his
tory Of parties epitomized from the
great store-house of the past, teach
that all efforts at reform, all move
ments in the interest OF imperiled
liberty, based on the selfish idea that
"ioe were wholly right and you were
wholly wrong" proved fatal to the
great cause, however vital, held in
common.
Then we repeat, Is it necessary that
the conflicting opinions entertained
by the old parties, as to the causes
which have produced a common disas-
ter be reconciled, and is it possible to
reconcile them? To both questions
we answer, no 1t is impossible to re-
concile them, because prejudice and
pride of opinion are common and
controlling attributes Of our human
organism. 1t is unnecessary to re-
concile them, because they are irrel-
eVaut to the issues of the present,
questions that were blotted out in
blood, and which, for the good Of the
living, should forever sleep with the
dead of our fratIicidal war. Hence
: those who recklessly delve amid the
parched and blackened ruins of the
past, those who would dig up the
CHASTITY skeletons OF old party preju-
dice, and inspired by the sleepless de-
mon of party hate, essay to increase
the wild fury of the storm which has
so long beat upon the barred head of
the helpless and already too much di-
vided South, deserve the reproba-
ton of patriots everywhere.
II the South is to be redeemed, if
the Republic of our fathers is to be
saved, old Wings and old Democrats,
Conservatives and Liberals must lock
shields and move together upon the
common enemy. In unity, complete
and enthusiastic, lies our common
salvation. If elimination and re-
elimination is INDUCED, unity is i'm
possible. Let us bury out of sight
and forever the animosities of the
past and make n common cause for
our country's good. We cannot af-
ford to quarrel by the way, as to the
banner under which we are to march.
If the flag chosen by the majority of
those opposed to the deadly princi-
pies of radicalism bears upon its
folds, State equality, local self-gov-
ernment, honesty, justice and equal
rights to all, that is sufficient for true
patriots. To this noble work of uni
tication, the blending together of all
the political elements adverse to radi-
calism the WIG AND TRIBUNE will be
devoted.