The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-07-04
politial affairs,


war; u u has one, aud has had one, Is
Il not about time it were changedg III
The present condition Of these States Is IN
any respect tho fruit of that policy, have
We not had enough Of iii Men Of com
mon sense and common honesty learu BY
experience, and try to realize in practice
what they learn.
The Confederate States, or those which
called themselves such during the civil
war, have passed through political, social
and industrial revolution. They were left
at the close Of the war utterly poor, with
their industrial forces and machinery de-
stroyed, with new political element to be
assimilated or amalgamated, their political
institutions to be reconstructed, and their
old political relations to the Union to be
renewed. They needed, in this tremen-
dous emergency, the wisest and most con-
siderate treatment. We have nothing to
do with the question whether they had
sinned, and deserved punishment We
are not called upon to decide whether, in
the great disasters and trials that have fsl-
lowed the war, they have received only
just retribution. We claimed that they
belonged to the Union. We fought for
the Union, and the re-establishment Of
the old relations; and the moment the
military power Of the Confederacy was
crushed, it was the business of our govern
ment, in the kindest, firmest, most sympa-
thetic, and most generous way, to reclaim
their aifectionatc loyalty. Has the gov
ernment done it? Has it tried to do ~?
South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas and Ar
kansas, have an answer to the question
which is pretty well known throughout the
Union.
In some Of the Southern States con-
dition approaching absolute anarchy ex,
lists Carpet baggers, leading host of
black and ignorant men, are, in two or
three Of these, pitted against the whites,
on whose intelligence and loyalty the flu
ture welfare of those States depends. In
others, rebellion against this state Of
things has taken place, which drives two
thirds of the black vote from the polls.
Taxes are heavy, and are too often alb
sorbed by the corrupt schemes Of politi-
clans. Men are not only discouraged, but
are full Of the bitterness that comes from
oppression. They feel that they are wrong
ed, that they have no future, that they
cannot protect themselves, that the general
government does not and will not protect
them. aud that nothing but death OF vol
untary exile viii give them relief.
To say that the national government
cannot constitutionally help this state Of
things, is to acknowledge that the doctrine
of States rights, in whose name, and by
whose authority, the Southern States strove
to throw of the national rule, is a sound
one. The national government can help
it, and ought to have helped it long ago.
By the authority of a constitution which
guarantees a Republican form Of govern
ment to every State, it could have protec-
ted the ballot-boxes Of every State, and
prevented mob from usurping that form
of government. A mob is not Republi-
can form of government Nogovernment
is Republican, even in its form, whose BAL
lot-box is not accessible. to every voter,
and is not preserved inviolable from all
corruption. No government is Republi-
can, even in its form, that is controlled by
mercenary aliens. There are half dozen
States whose governments have ceased to
be Republican, even in form, when We
come down to anything like strict deiini-
tion Of the phrase And these States, or
some Of them, have appealed to the Presi-
dent, again and again, for help, to decide
the questions which their conflicts have
involved, and appealed in vain. Why,
any policy, that would involve decision,
would be better than none. Are these
States to be left forever to internecine
strifesg Give them military govern
ment, until they are ready to govern them
selves harmoniously. They would thrive
and be happy under such government,
because they would be protected. They
can have no prosperity until they are, po-
litically, at rest Does any one doubt, in
the light which the present state of things
throws upon the question, that military
government, In half dozen States that
might be mentioned, would have saved
those States from untold miseries, and adj
vanced them incidentally further towards
sound reconstruction than they stand to-
day. Is our national government moth
ing2 Is our Union without civil power I?
If it cannot control these State strifes,
that, in one State, at least, have gone on
to bloodshed, we are at loss TO know Of
what particular use il is, and we cannot
blame the people of the South for regard
ing il with sentiment more bitter than
contempt.
What are the petty rasealities of two
or three contractors, oyer which we make
such ado, by the side Of the terrible con.
ditiou Of these states2 What Significance
has the maladministration Of the revenue
laws BY the side Of whole peoples, ground
into the earth by poverty, and torn by civil
discussions? We strain at gnat and
swallow cameIs by the caravan Oh for 4
man, or body Of men, who will '.take re
sponsibility r II the old Dutchmen d
Pennsylvania, who are said to vote at every
Presidential aleaf;ot, Ca IA, 1.aL.o,, -.