The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-10-10

Hcuufseivss-whas'ws'uanado aEsuSfiou.
without the old influence OF the South
SSn mind; without the prstentious
,satahtsalty" and. ..high -aeass, ,ef honor"
ysss which 'theSVArst Rmilias OF VII.
gi1la, aud othaSB Bouthefn StA{es bq4t.
Eed OF. 3 We nAvasnown Vnat Ssne I'd; ttt.11;;
spirit. ,uhcheckad by tie influence ol
such Shivalry. cah d5 when II persaies
the entire nation, dominating national
and State legislation. and touching with
it's golden wand the highest court OF
justice in tho land. We have seen how
thia great republic has been transmitted
into u ring public. while the South mas
been reduced TO political nonentity;
what conoentric series Of rings, what
''wheels within wheel" as in the pro.
phet's vision. have been produced from
the centre to the circumference of the
Union. Look at the succession of these
rings: First, tue primary meeting"
ring. or the village caucus Of hall a
dozen politicians making up their
'slate" aro"Hd grocer's cask of onious
or dried apples. Follow the series of
political rings from that primary meet.
ing of FREQ und Independent, citizeus up
through the State conventions to the
Congressional caucus and lobby at
Washington. Then take the corpora.
ton rings. and follow them from the
centre to the circumference OF their
power. Do the same with land rings,
gold rings, wheat rings, traffic aud
transportation rings aud tariff rings.
Look at tho great railway rings, that
touch with their perimeters either ocean,
at the Credits HMobi!ier they organ
ize, the Legislation they control, aud the
legislators they demoralize and smirch
with the pitch OF dishoucat transac.
tions. See what msn in the highest
places of trust have sold aud soled the
characters the public had given them
by fastening to be rich by treachery or
fraud. See how the fno gold of politi-
cal aud commercial probity has been
'llmmed by these transactions, and the
suspicious they engender. What the
French mean by b0uryeoisie, We express
by shoth!y; aud no word in our language
has u more uniformly accepted meaning
than this Of recent coinage. We all
know what shoddy means in textile fa-
brics. But never did it ill suoh place
or play such u part in IL soldiers coat as
it does in our pnper money, in our pa
per characters on Change. aud in the
piper moralitiss which the last few
years have witnessed.
1t .nny seem disloyal to our repnbli-
can institutions to say it, but when it is
said, let the candid reader see if he can
disprove it: what our country most
needs ut the present juncture is the ele-
ment that has been displaced BY the po-
lItlcal ostracism of the South. I do not
cay that we need Southern aristocracy,
but We need one which shall resemble
and exercise some of it's best character.
lstics, and such we need imperatiyely.
North and South, East and West. We
need class with as fiue ah esprit lc
corps, with as high sense Of honor and
personal and family dignity as England
ever produced or the South claimed to
possess. We want such men as the JEFF.
fersons. hadisons, Lowndeses, Pinck.
neys, Calhouns. CIays and Bentons, and
other statesmen whom the South has
contributed to the structure and glory
OF the nation, whether they come from
one side Of Mnson & Dixon's line or the
other We want men who shall walk
through the lobbies Of Congress and
'wenr the flower of blameless lifu,"
and of blameless thought, though
each hall and every step were beset with
the gift-bearing Greeks of corrnpting
rings. seeking to place their gold "Where
it shuli do most good" You may call
such class au aristocraoy, or by any
other npprobrious name, but it is a
class We most need in every section of
the Union to stand as O bulwark against
the overthrow Of Shod1y, which
threatens to throw down the political
probity aud purity OF our national life
and character.
The GRAPHIC BALLOON. Mr.. Lunt
gives the following brief account Of
what occurred:
CANAAN. Conn, October ca P. NJ
We were attacked by tremendous
squalI of wind aud rain at fifteen mi
nutes past l o'clock, and were driven
near the earth with frightful velocity
Everything was thrown overheard with
out avail, and as we were dashed to the
earth, Donaldson and Ford sprang out,
and the balloon shot into the air, bear
ing me with it, and was speedily in the
storm cloud again, and being whirled
about in the most alarming manner.
shouted to Donaldson for directions,
but could hear no reply, and was left to