New Orleans Republican., 1875-09-29
THE SOUTHERN WHIGS.

COutueru druy. n great SoCluI IeNotu-
ton which shook the Union to the founda-
tions, which dissolved parties and divided
Christian churches, suspended all ques-
tions of constitutional construction and
compelled every man to side with bis sec
ton, as matter of duty or of safety
paramount to all others. The war
having ended, it has become the right
of the Southern Wings to inquire
! whether the party which led the
States into the war is entitled to their
allegiance now that there is no further
danger from the issues of the war;
The. Southern Wings always denied to
the Democrats the capacity to govern hon
estly or we'll. They always condemned
the abject obedience which the Democrats
paid to their President, as relic of the
one-man power to which no Whig ever
submitted They opposed the doctrine of
dividing the spoils which had established
throughout the South the absolute inca
pacity of any Wing to hold Office under
Democratic administration. The Dem
ocracy had habitually slandered the Wings
as Abolitionists, or as the advocates of a
policy which would lead to abolition, and
claimed that Film ore, and even Taylor
were under Abolition influence. The
advocacy Of protective tariff and
of national currency by Northern
Wings was attributed to latitudinous
construction of the constitution, and the
term "Federalist' was applied to Wings
whose devotion to the rights of the States
was proved to be as sincere as that of any
other citizens.
Did these Democrats do anything to
improve or develop the intelligence or
material resources of the South? On the
contrary, they opposed common schools,
canals, turnpikes, railroads and manufac-
tories. They never moved finger to
open mine or utilize a waterfall They
never gave knowledge to ignorance nor
wages to unemployed industry. These
Democrats relied on foreign workshops
and ships from abroad. They depended
upon the intervention of kings and en-
perors, and we've wholly incompetent to
provide for the defense of their own Sec
ton when the Democratic Admin
istratlon left Washington in 1861
Its Southern friends and men,
bers took the lead of the Confederate
government. They were followed by
many Democratic officeholders, under
Buchanan, who came South, and were
appointed to Office under the Confederate
government. Some went into the quar-
tefmasters department. some were cor
respondents at home or in Europe. As
affairs turned against the South some of
these mercenaries commenced a cores
pondence with the federal government,
and one, at least, kept diary of Con-
federate losses and privations, which he
published, at the close of the war, as a
sort of peace offering, to propitiate North
ern favor, upon Lis return from his un-
fortunate expedition and adventures.
Thus, the Democratic party held control |
OF the Confederate government. With, per-
haps, one exception, the Cabinet officers |
of Mr.. Davis were Democrats; the for |
eign ambassadors were Democrats, and a |
of the Representatives were of
the same politics,
Men wondered why such Wing states
men as John Bell, William G. Rives, W. |
A. Graham, of North Carolina, and Con-
rad, of Louisiana, were not called into the |
Cabinet or intrusted with the diplomacy |
of the government. Patriotism and the |
fear of disunion kept the Southern Wings
silent and subordinate. They knew they
were fighting for the supremacy of
clique that had always domineered over
and DETAINED them, but they fought on
stubbornly, with no prospective compen-
sation other than success in the common
objects of confederate combination. There
were, however, abundant vacancies for the
Southern Wings in the Confederate army.
There were Southern Wings who were
admitted into the military service of the
Confederacy, but they did not reach their
positions by Democratic favoritism. Rob-
ert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston and
Thomas ]. jackson were among the more
prominent of these men, and each reached
his position upon the demand of the
ranpla on1 of tho orp,u
The Southern Wings found in the ad-
ministration of the Confederate govern
ment the verifcation of those charges
which they had always brought against the
Democratic leaders. 1. They displayed a
disregard for the rights of persons by
holding in Confederate service those vol
unteers who had entered the army for a |
limited term. 2, They disregarded the rights
Of property. by fixing the price of pro-
ducts, and by seizure of private supplies
for government purposes. 8. They |
so invaded the rights of the States that |
the Governors of Georgia, of Virginia,
and of Louisiana protested against the
exercise OF Confederate authority within |
their jurisdiction. Before the war ended |
those Democratic emissaries, the Blairs
and Vallandighams, came within the |
Confederate lines offering to negotiate |
peace upon the basis of reinstating the |