The daily gazette., 1876-11-22
THE COUPE D'ETAT.
From the baltimore Ne,cs.

Now let us 60 through the farce of a
plebiscite and make the mighty parody com
plete. The people have decided one way
and their rulers have decided another, but
Mwhat are you going to do about it?'
The new Republic hhs been reared, a
gaudy, symmetrical structure, more fash
ionable than the old weather-boarded.
sharp gabled homestead which nursed our
fathers to hearty patriots and reared us
IN comfort and safety to manhood. A
French roof has been put upon the old
landmarks, and it has been otherwise i'm
proved and modernized, and lust as soon
as the people get used to it they will like
1t far better than they did the old one. 1t
has not been matter of choice with them
but that is of no consequence, the will OF
The people amounts to nothing when .
master turns his bayonets upon them.
We doubt not the President will make
the Southern frauds his coupe d etdt and
plebiscte too. 1t will be the most con-
venent as well as the quickest way, and
he appears to have very little care about
ceremony just now. The people dare not
do more than protest and Indignantly,
denounce him, but that they have done
before and he is rather used to it. He has
the power to seize upon the country and
throttle free institutions if he will and this
is his last and only chance to do it.
One idea seems to have impressed it.
self upon the President, and that is, the
the people of this country are incompe-
tent to govern themselves. He feels and
realizes that they do not know what they
want, and that he has been raised up to
keep them straight, to prevent them from
doing themselves positive harm.
When they voted for Tilden, he knew
they were not doing the wise thing, and
he therefore saw to it that whilst the mas
ses were amused with the belief that they
were running the country by their sut-
frages, competent hand selected their
Chief Magistrate. The popular cry for
economy and reform he looked upon as
foolish and unreasonable and he would
have no such nonsense. The demand
for change he would crafty by substi
tuting the rule of the wise few for that of
| the stupid many.
The new system, the oligarchy, has be
gun it's work smoothly, In South Carroll.
ma 1t was rather troublesome to count the
precinct returns, although they would
make the result widely different, for it
was unnecessary to inf1ct few hours ex-
ira laborupon "Returning Board" when
the sum total had been determined upon
in advance. The county aggregates had
had been made up to suit, and witnesses
had been invited in only to see that two
and two make four, that the result of ad-
ding certain figures cooked up" by coan-
ty Boards would produce certain result.
The precinct returns they had not had
quite time enough to 60 over, and in fact
did not care to give themselves so much
trouble. All they wanted was a result;
they had that on paper and whosoever
questioned those figures was q Ku-Klux.
The same thing is being done in Louisi-
ana and Florida, and then all the Presi-
dentwill have to do will be to see that his
successors inauguIated "A fewregiments of
colored troops at Washington will do for
that. 1t would perhaps be more appro
pirate to have the South Carolina militia
they having done so much towar d the
"election" of Mr.. Hayes and the country
could thus have an opportunity of view
ing under the most favorable circum-
stances, specimens of the character, vir-
tue and intelligence that lwrenched the
election of Chief Magistrate out of their
hands.
If these things can be done with impu-
nifty now will it be likely that an election
will be held at all four years hence? This
one has been made farce and q fraud
the managers of it call out the troops and
defy the people. We have not fair and
honest Presidential election since 1860
Why keep repeating the shameful specta-
Gle? Why need the people go on trying
to deceive themselves? If theyawill not
resist insult offered them to-day for the
fourth time; if they can be bullied and
cheated out of the fruit of their labor and
surtfage thus cody; if they can be trified
with or driven like slaves by a standing
army, which owes its allegiance to the
man rather than to the country, no
great disturbance can be expected if the
holding of an election is forbidden alto
gether in the future. We have come to
| the conclusion that it would be safer and
better for the usurpers that such should
be the case, for the discussions of can
| vass have tendency to pursuade the
people that they have some power i'll
themselves. Such an idea is dangerous
to the powers that be, and the sooner the
masses learn theirplaces and realize their
helplessness the sooner will theyacquiesce
in a permanent Presidency and cease to
agitate about rights and duties which are
no longer respected even if they exist