The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-09-24

III IEGo government, social OstEaClSm
persuasion and still worse means wert
brought to bear to prevent all who hat
sympathized with secession. from Joining
In restoring order and prosperity in The
reconstructed States. The avoWed pur-
pose was TO leave everything to the
carpet.baggers and the "niggers," as they
called the victims OF their long oppres
sion, in the hope that 10 this way they
might bring such odium on the meas
ures which had given the black loyalIst
the ballot that political reaction at the
north would again seat them In places
from which they have vaulted in rebel.
lion and make them again master Of the
situation. Thus far the plot has
failed. The obstinate obstruction
policy OF tho Southern leaders
missing its aim, has wounded its inVen.
tors, and ignorant men, weak men and
venal men have seized the opportunity to
work their way into places OF trust and
power, and bad legislation, excessive
taxation, unwlsG and proillgste adminis.
tration, with their train Of evils, have
ensued, and now what do VIC seC2 Do
the authors Of this mischief relent? Is it
proposed by lawful and peaceful means
TO right these wrongsS Not at all. But
violence, blOoGshed and revolution are
attempted, namely; white leagues, Ku
Klux Kans and war Of races. These are
the remedies, a sort oi despotism tempered
by assassination. Look at Louisiana and
the unCOunled murders which have
stained her soil since last July. What is
the special complaint there? Why was
1t that Kellogg was counted in as Gov.
error, when in truth McEnGry was elect.
cd. We in New York have known equal
wrongs. |! is an open secret that John
L. Hoffman was counted in as Governor,
when John A. Griswold was elected. He
then institutes comparison between the
course Of New York then and Louisiana
now. He speaks OF Grant as a llrm sOl'
der and quiet magistrate, who when the
tiLiugs reached him Ct the doings in
Louisiana, in few words he gave the iDs
surgents five days to undo their
work as far as their deeds oCuld
be undOnc, and at the same time made
such orders for the disposition Of troops
as gave IL grim warning that at the end
of five days the beak and claw of national
power would tear in pieces the fabric Of
iawlCssness and riot. This warning was
enough. The rebels knew Grant, and
they did not wait Tor even q requirement.
They were willing to take his word for it,
and to stop if he would. Had the insur.
reCtion triumphed last week in Louisiana,
there is not Southern State in which
white men leagues, war Of races and a
bloody grapple Tor the ballot-box and
State Government would not have been
the order OF the day.
Next door TO the matter OF good order
in the South is another question even yet
more direct in its relation 10 the interests
OF every taxpayer in the land. l allude
10 the claims on the Treasury for damage
done during the war. A multitude OF
claimants and claim agents which no man
can number are swarming in the South
and at Washington with demands for loss
and destruction OF cotton and other crops,
timber, buildings and other property, and
for the occupancy of land by the army
during the war. 1t is proposed 10 get
through Congress an act re(unding the
war tax laid on cotton in the early years
OF the rebellion. An organized attempt
is TO be made to have the State debt OF
the States lately in rebellion assumed by
the United States. These and other raids
on the Treasury are a1ost. Who is to re.
sist themY Would the Democratic party
do III Look at the Democratic record
in Congress and out. The Southern
representatives. Of all parties, as d rule,
support every bill for Southern war
claims. The Northern Democrats do the
same, and even Northern Republicans
sometimes yield to the opportunities OF
petitioners Of questionable loyalty, whose
losses appeal rather to sympathy than to
law and justice. Bills have thus been
passed, not so important for the thousands
they involved as for the prCcedents they
set, opening the door for uunumbercd
others. When they reached the White
House for the Executive signature had
they found there Democratic or Liberal
President, think you they would have
been vetOed2 They have found man
not to be cosxed or trapped, and unIcss
the bills tell within certain limits they have
been vetoed. Finding the President lion
in their path the engineers Of these claims
arc batlled, and this relieves the pressure on
Congress, but remains in the hands Of the
Republican President, and with the cat
gone how the mice would play. There
arc many claims that may be paid to
loyal sufferers, and paid by humane ap.
plication Of principles OF public law. l
DO not speak OF such cases when l say
that the liability Of the Nation Tor claims
to be preferred irem the South, IS to be q
serious question in the future and one
which the Nation will settle in time, or
will repent at leisure. His speech was
principally devoted to State politics.