National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-09-04
THE P0TTTTC4L STTT5 TON

THE POLITICAL SITUATION
Whatever hopes the Democratic party
had of obtaining powersix months ago have
been entirely dissipated We do not give
this merely as our own opinion. 1t is tho
deliberate, expressed conviction Of so strong
and thoughtful and true Democratic or
gan as the Louisville Courier Journal. As
ct appears to our Western contemporary, the
acts of outrage and lawlessness in the South
Chave mainly contributed to this result.
'The next House of Representatives, il
says, ''is, lost to the Democracy. In those
districts in the North and West where
"there were doubtful contests the balance
(which inclined to the Democracy will,
'under the influence Of recent events, be
Thrown the other way" The Courier
Journal is shrewd enough to see this some
what in advance Of its colaborers of the
same faith, and TO prepare them for the IN
welcome news which the closing days Of
the fall will bring. As 1t remarks lone
'darkey murdered in the South is worth
''fifty or sixty votes on the other side Of the
"Ohio river" and the elections may,
GuClClOlGI UG SCI NOhu u NGSANtCN IL AAh Va
Of the Republican party.
The deduction it draws in a political
point of view from all this is that nothing
"can now save the country from the civil
"rights bill except the ambition Of Morton
"snd Blaine, who may come to see that
"its passage will complicate their futurer.
In its opinion they are strong candidates for
the Presidential nomination in 1876, and
the President is their most dangerous com
pctitor. Their policy should be to endeavor
70 throw him in the background, to give
him no more sensational opportunities, "
such as the passage of the civil rights bill
to either approve or veto. All this only
shows how strong the President is in the
opinion of the opposition, and it would not
be at all surprising to soon hear the old OPP
position slogan of 1872 of anything to beat
Grant" Ii they only raise it, his renom-
ination and reelection is n forgone conclu-
sion. The advice to Mr. Blaine and to Mr..
Morton, that the way to help the third-term
idea is to keep General Grant in the fore
ground; to kill it, Ito kill him of with kind
ness and dolessness, may be all true. As
Stunning that it is, and assuming also that
Dir. Morton and Mr. Blaine entertain the
Ideas and aspirations 50 freely attributed to
them, which is by no means certain, the
editor of the Journal ought to be able to
see that the President if lie were so in
clned, could easily defeat the whole scheme.
Any man in his position could keep himself
before the Country in spite not only of two
but Of twenty leaders in Congress, no matter
how great, how able, or how influential.
jackson did it, and so did Johnson, and
nothing would be easier than for General
Grant to do the same thing. The material,
the issues, are all at his hands. There are
the finances, our internal improvement
schemes, the railroad question, our foreign
policy the Southern problem. So that
when Mr.. Wattersol talks about a repres-
sive policy, as it might be termed, upon the
part of the gentlemen named, or upon the
part Of anybody else, he does so without
having carefully considered the matter.
However all this may be, the political
complexion of the next House Of Represent
Etives settles one thing, viz, that the Re-
publican party has the next Presidency in
its own hands.