Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-12-13

hepuDllCdll uld ,JOIlV1 III OhS ACAD NOA-
gress viii have to deal with and settle
to the satisfaction of the country if in
the future it wishes to maintain the
political supremacy it has held during
the last thirteen years. The gravest
duty that deyolves upon it comes it at
the very threshold of its organization.
Congress meets while the echoes of the
late elections, with al their lessons of
warning if not Of menace, are reverber-
ating from one end Of the country to
the other. 1t is to be hoped that the
warning or the menace, whichever it
may be, viii not be lost upon those
who are charged with the greatest re-
sponsibility that, in a party point Of
view, ever fell upon a party majority.
From one end of the country TO the
other the journals of the Republican
party are apOlogizing for the defeats
Of October. In this State we are told
that it was ''the war of races" in that
the whisky Interest,"" in one the gram
gers, in another something else. These
explanations and excuses are all very
well so far as they go; but the trouble
is they do not go far enough, and if the
gentlemen who are intrusted with the
leadership of the party shall accept and
follow them they will be simply acting
the part of the ostrich. Mr.. Buckle,
in his History of Civilization" says
there is not Oh record a single instance
where party obtainedpOwer and failed
to abuse it. This is not the exact IAN
guage, bpt it is the idea of one of his
tersest and most philosophical senten-
ces. There is not the slightest use in
blinking at facts and poking our heads
in the sand, Any attempt to deceive
the people will end in utter failure and
ignOminious defeat. We admire the
devotion Of some of our contemporaries;
we give them the fullest credit for
their efforts at the present time;
but, in our opinion, their course is a
mistaken one, and their advice, if fol-
lowed, will be an advice of which, IN
the near future, we shall all have rea-
son to repent. Facts-the facts Of the
last session of Congress and of one or
two of the Congresses which preceded
1.-THE dark transactions of some of
whose members only came to light last
spring should be looked fairly and
squarely in the face, and the party
lines should be drawn IN strict accord
ance with the course that duty and
prudence alike command. The great
question that each and every Hepubil-
can representative should ask and an
swer during the next twelve days-be-:
fore Congress meets, a week from next
Mondays, did We blunder in the last
twelve months? did we abuse our pow
er, as every other party that ever ex-
listed in the end abused it, ana, II SO,
what steps shall be taken toward
the recovery Of that public confidence
which was so generously reposed IN the
party year ago!
'e1o our mind the answer is plain as
the sunlight. Personal kindness and
consideration may blind the eye and
warp the Judgment; but the biupder,
if it should be made, will be fatal
blunder. The times in which we live
are full of sternness, and stern acton
is the watchword of the hour. 1T will
not do to depend in the future, as we
have IL the past, upon the errors and
the crimes OF tue opposition. The hour
has gone by when the accidental aids OF
blindness and stupidity upon the part
of our adYersaries can be relied upon
as the sure and certain pathways to
success. There is a feeling abroad
which it will not do to ignore. What
was only six months ago mere sentl-
ment and an abstraction has become a
conviction that cannot be- written out
of the public mind or explained away
by the customary clap-trap OF the Po-
litical orator and stump speaker, The
coming Congress alone has II IL it,
power to remove it. viii the Republi-
can majority in that body prove itself
equal to the party duty of the hour"
Congress has met, and what have the
leaders If The Republican party, who
control both houses ny lars najorities,
done? How have they treated those
guilty of the dark transactions"
to which the Republican alludes?
Of course that journal allu-
ded TO those upon whose skirts
the deflement Of the Credit Mo
bilier was plainly visible. They have
been the honored of Congress. Instead
of being degraded, punished by the
party, they have been pun IL high and
responsible positions-the most honor
able within the bodies to which they
belong. How has this outrage upon
decency and right been met by even the
Republican journals that were most
blatan, during the tendency OF the fall
elections in their denunciation of the
Credit Mobilier and salary grabbers?
Those journals that were lOudest in
their demands that an example should
be mace Of these corrupt members, have
no word of condemnation for the lead
ers who put them in their Odd
places of honor and power, while
ONE Of them are trying to smo othe the
matter over by saying that the party
must avail itself of their experience in
matters Of legislation. Even the Wash
iaqton Republican, which was so en-
phatic as to what the future Of the Re-
publican party demanded Of Congress,
has no fault to find with the shape
matters have taken in that body. The
behcst has gone forth that the Credit
Mobilers and salary grabbeFs, rocking
as they are with tie corruption to which
leading Journals Of that party assigned
the Republican defeat in the fall elec-
tons. must be honored; that they must
be upheld ut whatever cost, and not a
whimper do we hear from those jour
nails that were SO brave and outspokei.
| only few weeks ago. Corruption has
triumphed. and the Republican jour
mails that strove to be faithful to the
| people have been silenced.
A REPORT from the Auditor OF Ken
lucky shows that the white qualified
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