National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-01-24
PRESIDENT GRANT AND THE RE
PUBLICAN PARTY

ItASs'iDb1L + 49, 49,
.--. PUBLICAN PARTY
We often wonder if Congressman who
,an as candidates upon the Republican ticket
Turing the last Presidential campaign re-
member how much WIS added TO thcil
strength by the fact that President Grant
was candidate for reelection. When the
war ended and he was elected for the first
erm, the strength of the Republican party
vas at its zenith. He was an untried man,
against whom the basest calumnies had
been widely circulated, and whose military
record, while it served to make him popu.
lar with the loyal masses of the North, also
served to furnish grave grounds in the
minds of leading politicians for suspicion
That he was not constituted for the admins
:rstion of civil duties. His election, how
ever, and subsequent record were tri-
umphant vindication of the wisdom of the
impulses of the people which selected him
for the nomination. The Congress elected
at the same time has passed into history,
,csving behind it no act of legislative dis
sinction which docs not bear the mark of
his impress We recall its record as well
rs that of the one which followed it without
remembering a single deed which has re-
bounded to the permanent security and
strength of the party.
Personal chickering's, personal jcalousics,
suspicious of corruption, investigations and
= general exposure of soiled linen in public
are the main points which illustrate the his
tory of the Forty-first and Forty-second
Congresses. The four years of their ex-
istencc, so far as their unguidcd acts are
concerned, appears almost like blank in
the record of the Republican party. The
acts committed by them are only made
prominent in our recollection now by the
fact they furnished most powerful argu-
ments against our success in the campaign
Of ~. But notwithstanding these great
drawbacks that success WAS achieved. 1t
would be manifestly unjust to claim that
without the basis of political platform on
which to rest his claims for election, Presi-:
dent Grant would have been reelected; but
1t is certain that his popularity with the
people added much to the strength Of the
Platform adopted by the Philadelphia con-
vention. With these facts before us we can
not fail to admit that many members Of the
present Congress owe their election to the
strength which his popularity gained for the
party. The elements which served to fes-
ter this strength, and to generate it, are not
alone to be found in his military record.
Like all the great leaders Of the party who
have remained true to its principles, he has
grown with the growth Of his responsible
ties. From the humble walks of private
life he has exalted himself to the highest
honor in the gift of the people. No mere
success as the general of our armies would
have achieved this result. 1t required evil
dencc of substantial craftsmanship to dis
prove the charges of his enemies that he
was man without emotion, without fresh
ness or originality of thought, and without
the ability to produce measures for the pub
lie benefit. That he has met this require
ment no one can now deny.
Ignoring the civil rights bill, and other
purely political measures which had their
origin in the results Of the war, and for the
origin of which no one man can claim
credit, let us glance at his recommendations
to Congress in his annual messages. 1t is
true that they have not been regarded as
they should have been, but the time is now
pending when their most earnest considera-
;ion is required as essential to the prcser-
Walton Of the party. 1t must he remembered
That the people are becoming tired of the
discussion of abstract questions, in which
inc overwhelming majority Of them have
NO dircc: interest. Thus the negro question,
with all its complications, and the recon-
struction of the Southern States, with all its
.ntcrminaole ENVIRONMENTS, have lost much
of the power which they once welded to
rally the voters of the North to the sup-
port OF the party. We do not mean by this
that a single true Republican is alive today
who would do an act to undo all or any
part of what has been done since the war
for the cnfrlncliisem,nt of the colored
people or for the rehabilitation of the
Southern States. Not o man who is loyal
70 the party would dare to dream Of such
hing; but theimpression prevails very gen
orally that we have done almost enough;
That the necessities of the situation will
;orce themselves upon us in due time, and
That we can take care Of them as they
arise. In other words, it is be-
.ievcd, to use homely phrase, that hav-
ing set the machine in motion it will now
.un itself. 1t is also believed that such
measures as the civil rights bill, the natural
Sutgrowth of the war, while they deserve
attention as they arise from natural causes,
arc questions which might he acceptably
gu.,oFdinated to the suffering interests of
.,e overwhelming majority of our people.
t may he called lassitudc, or forgctfulness
If the issues of the war, that this belief
prevails; but this is not a fair inference.
fhetruth is that new questions have arisen,
aew thoughts occupy the minds of the pco-
pie, and that new needs have presented
themselves for immediate consideration. In
anticipating these things President Grant
las proved himself to be the peer of modern
hatesmen.
In the plain, tcrse language character
DIN Va an ms St"tS lfipCiS-I hItu VI ul-
1arnishcd rhetoric, SO to speak, which
commended itself to the masscs-he began
years ago to recommend the building OF
great canals from the middle country to the
ports of the Atlantic ocean His object
xas TO furnish cheap transportation for
agricultural products to the markets of the
world. II was no part of his duty to seek
put the details by which the grand results
were to be accomplished. lie simply com.
mittcd himself to plan, which, in the
language of recent writer, comprises
the dredging and cleaning out of rivers,
and the building Of locks from the heNl-
waters ofthc Mississippi, the Missouri, the
illinois and the Ohio, down to the Delta, In
Louisiana, and the construction Of canals
Trough Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, New