Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-09-04

greS5 who voted for the back pay have
been guilty of stealing, or of intended
fraud upon the Treasury. Those thai
have taken the money received it ac
cording to law; a law they had as much
power 10 enact as any other. Many oi
those who voted for and received thi.
back pay in the last Congress are among
the best and ablest in the land of both
parties, and believed they We're but eX-
ercising constitutional power, had
earEed the money and were following
all example that had been set by many
of the most distinguished and patriotic
men who had gone before them in the
halls of Congress.
BACK PAY WRONG AND DANGEROUS.
But while thus doing justice to the
motives of the members of Congress
who have voted for or received what is
called ''back pay" do not wish 10 be
understood as approving the principle
involved III it. To me it appears to be
plain principle that the increase of
salaries should be prospective only
Had the increase OF the Presidents
salary, or those of the Judges of the
Supreme Court been mode to reach
back two or four years, all could see
the danger of the principle. Yet there
would be as much propriety and JUS
tice in giving back pay to the Presi-
dent, Judges, and all other officers
whose salaries have been TOO low, as to
members of Congress.
The only difference between the
cases would be that the members of
Congress have power to vote them
selves back pay, and the others have
not. When l rendered service during
the Forty-second Congress 1 expected
to receive Onlythe a:f-i!sation then
fixed by lazy, aud when In4t was paid
to me l gave receipt which ! under
stood to be in full; and if now receive
a greater sum for that service, it seems
to me that it would be in the nature of
a gratuity; and this principle admitted
in the general administration Of the
Government would be of a dangerous
character. Where salary, which has
been definitely fixed by law, is in
creased, and such increase is made to
extend back two years, it is hard to
distinguish such back pay from a gift;
and in this case it is regarded by the
country as money paid without con-
sideratiOn, being given for services al
ready paid for according to law.
LOUISIANA.
The Administration and the Repub-
lican party have been bitterly assailed
because of the course of events in the
State of Louisiana. l shall not go into
ii discussion of the political condition
of that State further than to say that
the Supreme Court of the State, created
in 1868. and about the character and
rightfuiness of which there is no dis
pute, has, in at least dozen decisions,
held that what is known as the "Kel-
logg Government" in Louisiana is le-
gal aud valid; that government has
also been recognized as valid by the
courts of the United States in Louisi-
ana, and repeatedly by the President
of the United States; and / have no
doubt, from somewhat intimate
knowledge of the condition of affairs in
that State and the sentiment of the
people, that the Kellogg Government
receives the support and the sympathy
of large majority of the people of
Louisiana. What is called the "McEn-
cry Government" is criminal preten-
sion, attempted to be set up by force,
and having no warrant in the suffrages
of the people.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOUTHERN
TROUBLES?
The Democratic party has been the
evil genius of the South, and is chiefly
responsible for her misfortuneS. 1t in
duced the Southern States to go into
the rebellion by assurances that the
Government would not be allowed to
cOerce them to remain in the Union.-
1t induced them to protract the strug-
gle by protesting sympathy for their
cause and hopes of interference by
changes through the elections. It
urged them after the war not to accept
the situation, and assured them they
had lost no rights by going into the re-
bellion.
1t declared the reconstruction laws
to be null and void, encouraged resist
ance to them, denied the power of
Congress to repreSS the KuKluX disOr-
derS in the South. It has done every
thing in its power since the war to
make the people Of the South believe
they were oppressed, and keep them
sullen and unhappy. Incapable of do
ing the South any good, its influence
has been disastrous continually, and it
is not too much to say that the Demo
cratic party is, and for many years has
been, the worst enemy of the South.
a GOOD TIME COMING.
Reconciliation between the North
and the South must be the work OF
time, of mutual interests, and of the
Republican party.
The Republican party has never de-
ceived the South, and may speak to
her in terms of kindness, and present
hopes and anticipations for the future
that no other political organization can
do. While was willing to go to the
limit of constitutional power to estab-
lish the authority Of the Government
in the South, to give equal civil and
political rights to all without regard to
race or color, to suppress disorder and
protect life, liberty, and property, and
will do so again if necessary, L am
from my heart anxious for the COM
plete restoration of the South, the up
building of her prosperity, and the re-
union of all the States in sentiments of
love to each other and devotion to our
common country. And without stop
ping to consider who is to blame for
the misfertunes of the civil war, and
the evils which have followed in its
train, will, as citizen and Sena-
tor, do all in my power for the return
Of the prosperity and happiness of the
South.
AID SOUTHERN EDUCATION.
The cause of education in the South
ern States has been to me subject of
anxious reflection. The common-school
system upon which the education OF
the masses must depend, in several of
the Southern States scarcely exists, and
in others is in "a very feeble and de-
pressed condition. 1t is a matter of ma
tional importance that the children of
the South, white and black, shall be
educated that they may perform INTEL
ligently and well those political and
social duties which are irreyocably
committed to their hands. The South