The Russellville Democrat., 1875-03-11
JAMES E. BATTENFIELD, Editor.
THE FORGE BILL, A RE-
 PUBLICAN MEASURE.

THE fo0CE DILL, "A IGE1-
 PUBLICAN MEASURE.
 The force bill is dead, and it is useless now to review the proyis- ions ofthis ''liberticide measure. but it may be profitable, for the people of this county to re member who were the originators and supporters of this monstrous encroachment upon the liberties of the people and upon the consti- tuition; it may be well to remember that it was a purely republican measure, and found enough re- publican votes in the lower house of congress to carry it through that body. The New York Herald speaking of this bill says:
 It is not probable that this bill will get through the Senate; but the fact that it has passed the House is an alraming symptom of the degeneracy of the times and of the decay of the spirit of liberty.
 The Herald endeavors to lay the odlum of this heinous meas ure to the "degeneracy of the times and the decay of the spirit of lib elty," and therein fails to come squarely out and lay the blame where it belongs-at the doors of the republican party.
 The times are all right, but by republican appliances the voice of the people has been sti- fled and constitutional liberty butchered.
 The Herald had better say it is an alarming symptom of the cor ruption, wickedness and despera- tion of the republican party and a solemn warning to the people to take the government out of the hands of that party which has so little regard for the spirit of liber- ty, as to try to butcher it by such ba 'barous assaults upon the con stitutional guarantees of freedom The Herald goes on to say:
 All free governments have been subverted by stealthy and gradu- al approaches, and the most DOT tentous feature of the present situation is the apathy with which encroachments on the constitution have of late years been submitted to by our people.
 The people of the North who have had their liberty, and who have allowed their wicked preju- dices against their Southern brethren who have had their hands tied, to influence them to not only idly submit to these en- croachments, but to actually ap- plaud them, are responsible for the "degeneracy of the times" " Further along the Herald says:
 It is mortifying and lamentable that, while republican sentiments have been making great progrss in the Old World, the spirit of lib erty is sinking into decay and gives signs of approaching death in this country.
 The spirit of liberty is not dead, but has been stihed temporarily by our great republican party. It is the demand of justice that this party shall now stand aside. They proved themselves compe- tent to put down the rebellion and restore the Union, but they lacked the wisdom to know what to do with the Union after they had it.. They happened to have the mum bers to conquer, but did not have the brains to govern. Their rule has been q failure. There is no use in trying to disguise the fact that the republican party has served its purpose and now the prosperity of the country demands that it shall give way. To sup port it iu pOwer longer is at the cost of all liberty.
 The Herald effected good, and deserves credit for it's vigorous warnings to the people under the head of Casarism. It is to be hoped that that able paper will go on, and taking a yet bolder stand will be the Brutus to the republi- can party, and thus save the eoun- try.
 e--~-~----r.-~---ss----
 It is simply folly to talk of a Democratic President in 1876.