The Portland daily press., 1875-03-09
,eedings of which it was its province to give

Ior. IL ls wen tnat tne louisiana compromise
got through. That will relieve us of one ele-
ment of agitation. The finance bill which was
passed early in the session Is working admira-
by, and if we had tariff that would yield all
the revenue required 1t would carry us to a specie
ba sis in much less time than its terms provide
for. And the beauty of 1t is that while it only
t,ob majority to pass it, nothing less than
two-thirds vote OF both houses can procure its
repeal-at any rate not for two years to come.
But as usual the President has deserved the
highest need of gratitude for saving us from
bad legislation. His veto of 1874 protected US
from furtheIvitiation of the currency His re-
fusal to sign the bounty bill has prevented a Sc
rious raid upon the Treasury. 1t required some
pluck to oppose this measure. 1t was ostensi-
bly, for the benefit of the union soldiers who
fought against rebellion, and any scheme which
looked like doing good to them would naturally
meet with favor among Republicans. 1t is Gu
rous to note the extraordinary number who
were accidentally absent when the vote was
taken. There hasn't been such an instance of
general lodging on any previous occasion. The
negative voters are very few.
L was perfectly certain the President would
not approve such bill He never does thing
that isn't right in itself, on the theory that it
may be popular With bis clear, practical
common sense he had no difficulty in forming a
Judgment as to the inception and motives OF
this sop to the soldiers. 1t is job of the lob
byisis and bounty jumpers. The share the act
ual soldier would ever receive of the appropria-
tion would be too trfing to mention. Nor is
that all. The bravest of the boys in bue-those
who hurried to the front before the bounty sys-
TEN was in vogue, do not participate in the
gratuity Gen. Grant Is not The man to be
taken in by any such device for stirring up the
latent patriotism of the country. He cannot
be supposed to feel Indifference to the claims of
his gallant comrades in arms But he has the
frmness. the independence to refuse to allow
thirty million dollars to be taken out of the
treasury in the payment of claims which have,
for the most part, been already bartered away
for trifing consideration by the parties whose
services are supposed to have created them.
look back upon the six years of Gen. Grants
administration without being able to discover
single instance In which he has approved Of
or withheld his approval nom public measure
under circumstances which gave the smallest
warrant for the suspicion that he was influ-
enced by considerations of popular praise or
blame. I do not believe that a more con-
scientious disinterested or ingenious magis-
trate ever ruled a country than he Ia. The
time has not yet come for sitting in judgment
upon his civic career, perhaps, but when it does
arrive his fame will not suffer from the verdict.
One would imagine from reading the asso-
cated press dispatches that the whole Union
was convulsed by the operation of the civil
rights bill What ridiculous nonsense These
stories are fabricated for the simple purpose of
keeping up an excitement. That's precisely
what is the fault of the Associated Press AS
ISOLATION, which has formed subject of just
and general complaint ever since the Presiden-
tial campaign opened However these touch
| ing narratives of the wrongs and outrages in
| flcted upon the poor, unprotected chivaIry by
| their powerful and aggressive colored neigh
| bors are strangely at variance with the assur-
| ances they have borne to us so often of late
| by the lightning that the relations between
| the old masters and their former slaves had
| assumed most friendly and frsternal shape
| that the blacks were finding refuge and
| peace in the bosoms of the Democracy-that
| there was no longer terrorism, Intimidation
| or violence, but the sweet concord that eman-
l ates from mutual tenderness, kindness and in
| ter-dependence. OF course, under these circum-
l stances one would suppose that when Sambo or
Cuffee makes his way into a Richmond or New
| Orleans bar-room, he would be respectfully
saluted by the tender, invited 10 drink by the
colonels and generals lounging about the prem
ises, and that he would soon find himself the
centre of circle of admiring fellow-ctizens
discussing the problems Of government, recon-
L xrb
we are told that the eminently southern privi-
lege of practising at the bar, particularly
| when the practitioner does 1t at his own ex-
pense-is insolently denied to an American cit
izen because Of his complexion, we are forced
to the conviction that the newborn affection
/ of the Democrats for the eolored men is sim
ulated, and that there was urgent need of q
civil rights bill to protect the newly enfranch-
/ lied race from prosecutions which could only
| be practised by people whose notions of civ
l ilization were extremely obscure and whose
prejudices were the more difficult to eradicate,
because founded on selfshness as well as ig-
norance.
There may be those who really believe that
there are any considerable number of blacks
who will avail themselves of this act to obtrude
themselves where they are neither wanted nor
have any proper right to be. have no such
/ apprehension. 1t is not in the nature of men
| to force their presence upon parties to whom
| they are unwelcome. Cold shoulder is not such
an inviting dish that the natural appetite
! bankers after it. But if black man wishes to
| ride in stage coach, rail or street car, to
travel on steamboat or to lodge at an inn,
God Almighty has invested no living being with
the prerogative of withholding from him these
natural rights and if sense of decency will
| not guarantee them to him, IL is essential that
the law should do it AS a rule L sm hostile
to any statutory regulation of social customs.
l don't believe in enforcing politeness by legis-
lation. But having seen and known for years
what a vulgar aud demoralizing sentiment this
color phobla is-how thoroughly it taints the
| system-how much more virulent it is among
the coarse and brutal than among the refined
and gentle and how it generates rudeness OK
speech and indignity of manner, am fain to
| admit that the necessity of defending the per-
sonal freedom of the nations wards constitutes
| perfect justification of the law, which is just
now the subject of SO much manufactured out
cry.
1t cannot be denied that the Adjournment OF
Congress has brought with it sense Of relief.
There are already signs of improvement in 5us-
ness Winter fingers long among us and q
snow storm every other day has grown to be an
expectation and fact. 1t is is generally pre-
dicted that as soon as the weather becomes
more seasonable there will be marked in :
| crease of activity in trade. Money continues
abnormally cheap. Some speculators have
been endeavoring to raise the premium on gold
by locking it up. Saturday the quotation was
115 and the price paid for the use of gold from
Saturday till Monday was per cent? Still it is
| defiance of natural laws to undertake to ap-
| preciate gold at this time. Exchange is SO low
| that no gold can possibly be exported, and a
! very slight decline in the price Of bills would
lead to an importation of the metal. Intrinsi-
cally gold and paper are getting nearer together
every day, and left to itself gold would steady
tend downward. Readers who note the qdo-
tations without being aware Of the cause Will
not take it amiss if inform them, that ac-
cording to the gossip of the street Daniel Drew
| and Russall Sage have locked up some millions