Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-05-06
The Coming Presidential Struggle.

think seriously of the impending crisis:
The prelude to the quadrennial political
battle is like the hush that precedes great
contests of arms and great commissions OF
nature. The American people have put
on their thinking caps" and the ques-
ton is: Shall the Republican party be
continued in power, or shall the control
of affairs be intrusted to the Democracy!
There is no longer any thought OF new
party; the Democratic party has thrown
off its DISCUSSES and comes to the front
holding aloft its old banners. AS Tar as
possible, it has placed on guard It's old
leaders, and rewarded with the most re-
sponsible positions its old standard-bear-
ers. Eighty odd ex-Confederate officers,
the flower Of the rebel armies, will take
seats in the Forty fourth Congress, and the
Congressional Directory will contain &C
counts of rebel victories and defeats, with
minute descriptions of the bloody scenes
in which rebel Generals Colonies, Ma
iors and Captains, now transformed
into lawmakers under the Consti-
tuition they fought desperately to
destroy, figured The presence in the halls
of Congress of so large body of the
late enemies of the Government is a fact of
great significance 1t is an evidence of
unexamp Piled magnanimity, of a spirit of
forgiveness almost impossible to compre-
bend. That the Republican party should,
in the short period of single decade,
have been able to bury all its righteous
animosity toward treason of the blacklist
character, and toward its human instru-
ments, impelled not only to war but to the
most horrible deeds OF brutality in the
pursuit of their fell purpose, is almost be-
yond belief That it should have so
shaped its policies as to permit men so
lately in rebellion TO absolutely control the
legislative branch Of the Government Is
an evidence of frank good faith above and
beyond question. 1t is almost an offer to
submit to rehearing questions decided by
the arbitrament of arms. In the presence
of this unprecedented spectacle OF gen
erous confidence, who dares doubt the
honor and patriotism of the Republican
party? 1t is, in fact, SO thoroughly con-
WINGED of the justice of its course in the
past as to be willing to submit its work to
the decision of its enemies, who were also
lately enemies of the country.
That the situation is exceptional; that it
is even startling, no man in his senses can
for a moment doubt The people are
bordering this novel situation. They are
asking themselves whether the Republi-
can party has not gone too far? When
they note the fact that the trend OF the
Democratic sentiment is toward reasser-
ton of the dogma Of State rights, which
was so lately settled adversely to the DEM
ocratic view by the trial of battle, the
query naturally arises: Is it wise to re-
open a question which it cost hundreds OF
thousands of lives and thousands OF mill
ions of money to settleg If the theory
that we are not nation but Il mere con
gregaton of Independent States is to pre-
vail, the last war was Il needless eXpendi-
ture of treasure and lives. More than
this If the Democratic doctrine of
State rights is to be rcsuscitated and be
come guide to the policy of the country,
the recent amendments to the Constitution
must be declared void and the Reconstruc-
ton laws unconstitutional. According to
the Democratic idea the act of emancipation
was void because it trcnched upon
a State right, namely: the right of the
States to manage their domestic affairs in
their own way. In word, the return of
the Democratic party to power, pledged as
it is to the old doctrine OF States rights, is
"A return to the ideas which controlled the
country up to the period of rebellion and
the attempted disruption of the Govern
'N''''' '''''''-,
acar. OF course the country will not
knowingly take this step. That it is step
in that direction has not yet fully pos
sessed the minds of the people. The peo-
pie are in reflective condition. They
scarcely realize the force of the astounding
fact that majority of the Democrats in
the lower house of Congress are eXrebel
officers. They as yet fail to comprehend
the significance of the fact that all the new
Democratic Senators are either nonentities,
to be nodded into any desired political
shape. or pronounced Bourbons, possessed
byall the worst Democratic instincts of the
ante-rebellion period. Wallace, Of Penn
Sylvania. is type of the nonentity class,
and Eaton, of Connecticut, type OF
the Bourbon class. The question the peo-
pie are now considering is whether or not
the country is safe in the hands of such
men, Eaton was sympathizer with the
rebellion in 1861. He declared then that
troops should not march to the rescue OF
Washington except over his dead body.
He declares now his adhesion to the doc
trine of States rights upon which the re-
bellion was undertaken and secession
was attempted Is Eaton TO be esteemed
any more trustworthy as "a political
guide to-day than he was in 1861
This question agitates the minds OF the
people. They do not discuss it loudly
but they ponder it in their innermos'
hearts. As the year rolls round the sig
niticance of the election of Eaton and men
of his class by the Democratic party will
become more and more apparent to a re
Elective people; and to reflection there car
be but one conclusion, namely: that there
is danger to the country in the elevation o.
N . g,
The Democratic party changes its method.
but it adheres to It's principles, sucl
as they are, and to its old standard-b bear
ers Ii talks of economy and reform hn