Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-10-22
From the Christian Union.
WANT OF THE DISPLACED ELEmENT
IN our RING PUBLIC.
BY ELIHU BuRRrNT.

BY ELIHU nuRRTET.
Now, to thoughtful. observant mind moth.
ing can be more evident and moro dlsquieting
shan the fact that this kind OF aristOcratic
oouIgeOts1e mas como to the front as n ruling
power In this country. It is q mOneyed arIs.
SsOcracy So that thinks, plans and acts in the full
lest spirit of b0uEge0Isie without anv Dreten
sion to that high sense of honor or pnnctilious
esPTtt9e corps which governs the department
OF an hereditary or landed gentry And IL is
naTd thing to say or believe, but an honest
MIND must believe it true, that this "b0urqeO-
ssse Teg'nse only came into power at the sup
preston OF that Southern arstOcracy which
we so energetically denounced when It existed
In the full strength of its influence Scarcely
anything was or could be more distasteful or
even hateful to us than the carriage, senti-
ment ana self-arrOgated position of that
proua and pretentious aristOcracy which adOp-
ted the spirit and department of the English
n0Dllity and gentry. But one who looks back
over the history of the country from its birth
as nation must now see aud own that the
influence OF this Southern aristOcracy was an
| element OF immense value in shaping the char
acter OF our public men and political life
existence OF many things is only realized by
| their temporary absence. For nearly ten
years the south, as political power, has been
Withdrawn from the Union 1t has been ruled
rePressed and stifed In its old character and
influence by the worst kind of carpet t-bagging
60tTgeotsSe. During this demoralizing reg5Dse,
u mas been shorn OF all the locks OF its power
on the national government and public men of
the country. 1t has not sent to Washington a
single representative of its old historical fami-
Ies, no Calhoun, nor Clay, nor Benton, nor
berflen. None Of its old names have answer
ed to the call-rOll in either House at the capi-
tol. None OF its old chiValry, its high sense
| Oh hOnor, mas been represented by the newly
imported men who have pretended to answer
for the South. The spirit which she bOasted,
1 n hnWan O.1 l.
on the political morality Of the Of the nation.
ferhaps the whole Northern mind rejOices at
| this emancipation. We are.now showing the
world, and proving to ourselves, what we are
doing and can do without the influence Of q
Southern aristOcracy, as we cali it.
| Yes; we have shown to the world aud to
ourselves what we can do as q nation without
the influence Of the Southern mind without
the pretentiOus "chiVIlry" and "high sense Of
honor, and contempt of small and crooked
ways which the first families of Virginia"
and other Southern States boast Of We have
shown what the trade spirit, unchecked by
the influence OF such chivalry, can do when
1t pervades the entire nation, dominating ma
tiOnal and State legislation, and touching with
the golden wand the highest court Of justice Ia
the land. We have seen how this great re-
public has been transmitted into a ring public
while the South has been REDUCED to pOliti,
cal nonenity; what a cOnoentric series of rings,
/ what wheel within Wheel" as in the prOpli-
cts vision, have been produced from the cen
tire to the circumference of the Union.
Look at the succession of these rings first,
the primary meeting ring, or the village
caucus Of half dozen politicians making up
| their "slate" around grOcer's cask of onions
| or dried apples. Follow the series of political
rings from that primary meeting of free and
independent citizens up through State conven-
tlons MS 70 the Congressional caucus and lobby
| at Washington, Then take the corporation
rings, and fellow them from the centre to the
circumference of their power. DO the same
with land rings, gold rings, wheat rings, ira
fic and transportation, and tariff rings. Look
at the great railway rings, that touch with
their permeters either ocean, at the Credits
| Mobiier they organize, the legislation "they
control, and the legislators they demOFalize
and smirch with the pitch OF dishonest trans
actions. See what men In tho highest places
of trust have sold and s0iled the characters
the public had given them, by fastening to b.
rich by treaehery or fraud. See how the fine
gold of political and commercial probity has
been dimmed by the transactions, and the sus
pclOn9 they engender. What the French
mean by 0OurgeO1sle, We express by shOtteiy
and no word In our language has more uni
fOrmly accepted meaning than this of recen
coinage. We all know what shoddy means II
textile fabrics But never did it fill such &
place or play such part In a soldiers coat al
it does In our paper money, in our paper char
acters on change, aud In the paper mOTalitie!
which the last few years have witnessed.
1t may seem dlslOyal to our Republican in
stitutlOns to say 1t, but when 1t is said, let th'
, candid reader seq IL he can disprOve it VIVA
this country most needs at the present june
ture Is the element that has been displaced by
, the political Ostracism of the South. do no
J say that we need Southern aristOcracy, bu
We need one which shall resemble and exer
, else some of its best characteristics, and sucl
! we need imperiLiVely, North and South, Eas
and West. We need q class with as fine al
esprit dc corps, with as high sense of honor o
personal and family dignity, as England eve
produced or the South claimed to possess. w
, want such men as the JeffersOns, MadisOns
LOwndes, Pinckneys, CalhOuns, Clays. an,
BentOns, and other statesmen whom the SOutl
has contributed to the structure and glory o
the nation, whether they come from one sid
! Of Mason s. DixOnis line or the other. w
) want men who shall walk through the lob
, bles Of Congress and "wear the flower of
blameless life," and Of q bIameless thought
, though each hall and every step were bese
with the gift-bearlng Greeks of cOrruptin;
! rings seeking TO place their gold, "where
shall do most good" You may call such
; class an aristOcraey, or by any OppEObriOu
! name; but Il Is . class we most need In ever
{ section OF the Union, to stand as Dulkwar
D against the overflow Of shOddy, which thFeate
! to drown the political brODlty and purity 0
our national life and character.