The New York herald., 1874-09-14
Southern Troubles and the Prospects
OF ReconstructiOn.

, these facts would be without parailei III .ne
history of humanity. Where has it ever hap
pened that, with the social foundations broken
up by war which desolated every hreside'
, with millions of slaves, not merely made iree'
but endowed with political rights OF whose
limitations they could have but vague CON-
nrebens;on. with the enfranchised class ia
yored bv the protection and countenance of
the conqueror whose generosity Is so far
abused by his functionaries that he becomes
an oppressor-where with these elements has
it ever happened that the people have taken
their places again in the new order with such
good will, such content, such acceptance OF
incalculabe changes as to leave nothing fur
ther in that way to be desired? 1t has never
happened and never will happen while men
are affected by the common human emotions
and passions. Furthermore. we do not be-
lieve it has ever yet happened in the world
that people accepted the hard consequences
of disastrous defeat with even so much OF
heroic patience Us has been shown by our own
people in the Southern States.
SO far, therefore. from seeing any just
cause for surprise in the occasional ebullitlons
of fury that disturb the South the greater
reason for wonder is that such events are the
exception to the general condition that the
people, with such widespread unanimity, have
returned to their everyday life, to the occu-
pations and pursuits Of peace, and that the
restoration of order and industry measured
by production is well nigh complete and that
crimes are no greater in number and no worse
in character than rum and idleness will account
for in any community equally free. One
might fancy, from the attitude the government
assumes when it hears of Southern riot
and it never hears OF such an event save with
the characteristic exaggeration of the politi-
cal adventures with whom it is affiliated
that it expected the energetic and hot-tem-
pered people of the Southern States to assume,
in the presence of apprehended outrage, the
placid demeanor of procession of little
Sunday school saints brought up to receive
the gift in each fat little hand of nice
orange and a pretty picture. But governments
wisely administered consider the character
of the people subject to their rule and en-
deavor to control them such as they are, and
do not put in their places an imaginary people
to be ruthlessly crushed if they are not found
ready to adapt themselves to some arbitrary
standard of good behavior Judged properly,
it is as clear as MONDAY that not an event has
occurred in the South that We had not abund-
ant reason to expec; would occur-that was
not in fact prepared and made inevitable by
the government and its creatures; and also
not an event has occurred that would not have
occurred in any Northern State in the same
circumstances. Do we at the North in times
of disorder control our tempers and our
tions so we'll that we can afford to threaten
military occupation to districts where popular
apprehension takes the form of administering
some swift Justice? If in the rural districts of
any Northern State it was confessed by ind-
viduals of any particular class Of the people
that scheme was on foot among their fellows
to spread fire and slaughter through the whole
community, who believes that anybody but
the coroners would ever have occasion to in
vestigate the case?
Prepare deliberately the events that will
irritate and excite people and that must
provoke them to violent acts if they are
human; then wait till the violence you have
prepared for occurs, and send your troops to
occupy their cities Is this the spirit of
reconst ruction that is to make the country
one again? This is the plan that seems the
wisest to General Grants Attorney General-to
the head of the national department Of
justice. If Mr.. Williams proposes to himself
results such as were secured by q distinguished
man in another department of justice in a
former age, he chooses his means accurately.
If he wishes that his illumination of the
national justice shall become as famous in
this country as was that of Jeffreys in Eng
land, he will continue as he has begun
Already he has narrowly missed the splendid
reward of the Chief Justiceship-the price of
his services in such reconstruction of
Louisiana as has accomplished the worst pur-
poses that the worst of party plunderers could
possibly propose to themselves. And again,
he lends himself as the ready tool of further
application of similar projects. Grant,
Indifferent as he seems to opinion, keeps
himself out of it, and stays away
as if thereby the results might not
fall on his record. And the commander
of the army as clear-headed in politics as he
is in war, though ousted from the national
capital by On intrigue, that he might not be in
the way of projects to which he could never
assent, protests that there is no occasion to
send troops into the Southern States. But the
man who reconstructed Louisiana and who
would if left alone, have reconstructed Ar
Kansas is evidently ready to reconstruct as
many other States as the wicked designs Of q
plunderng clique may require. But even
Jeffreys, with all his atrocities, was at last
compelled to say, 81 was not halt bloody even
for him that sent me-" and let Williams be-
ware lest at last he shall find himself unequal
to the infamy demanded, and so lose not