Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-06-23
YOUNG MEN OF THE SOUTH.

never harm them, opens up tne way lot
a change Of base, and we will be sur
nrised Il il. does not follow. There is
nothing in the platform adopted by the
Republican platform at Cincinnati to
which an ex.Confederate can object, and
to support the nominees Of that party
does not subject such an one to q charge
of inconsistency. i,
The Democratic party is purely and
strictly sectional. A Democratic victory
would be construed as a triumph IN a
sense of the "lost cause over the North,
Int a Republican victory does not mean,
in any sense, a triumph of the North
over the South. Prejudice, combined
with the Democratic love of office, is the
cohesive power which holds the party
together, and there is nothing in the
future outlook of that party which should
encourage the young men of the country
10 attach their fortunes to it.
The above tender counsel comes
from Brownlow's Knoxville Chron-
icle, and is addressed especially to
the young men of the South. The
invitation thus graciously extended
to them comes at a rather late day.
When the war closed such a policy
was adopted by the party in control
of the government that the young
men were driven into the Demo-
cratic party. There was no other
place to go. They were denounced
for the alleged sins of their leaders;
no distinction was made. The
whites of the South were indiscrim-
inately abused as a rebel horde
by the politicians, press and
pulpit of the North. The
negro, just emerging from
two hundred years of slavery,
was made the controlling class and
placed in power. Negro Legisla-
lures made laws governing the
property of the people, and assessed
enormous taxes to keep an unscru-
pulous set of ofice-holders inpower.
This state of affairs had the sane
ton of the entire Republican party
North, and often the active support
of the Washington government
The negroes, after being usedas base
tools for several years, and robbed
Systematically of their little earning
through the agency of the Freed
mans Savings Bank, grew NOR
enlightened they became disgusteC
and in some localities helped throw
off the Radical yoke-as in Missis
sippi. Arkansas, Alabama and othe
States-and wherever they hay0
done so have incurred the displeas
ure of the sectional party that con
trolls the country. 1t may be sal,
that carpet-bag government an.
strong denunciations were mere in
cidents following in the wake of
civil war. But people have ha
eleven years to cool off, and yet tn
chosen representatives of the 81
called national Republican party 8
Cincinnati last week stood up b.
fore the country and added insu
to injury by wholesale defamatic
of the Southern people. Every a
fusion of this sort was greeted vii
thunders of applause, as the edit,
of the Chronicle knows, for he W
there, and may have Joined in t
deafening uproar. The sixteenth
ticle of the Cincinnati platform
serts that the House Of Represen
tivesi is a triumph of the nations
cent foes;that there the sentiments
unrepentent rebels are applaudc
Union soldiers sent to the rear, a
Confederate soldiers promoted
the front. We have heard of a e
such noble soldiers as Belkna
Harrington and Avery being Sc
to the rear, but as a matter of fl
more Union soldiers hold positio
under the House of Representa-,
than ex-Confederates, and no
knows this better than the edi
of the Chronicle. Very few
Confederates hold positions th
at all, but the sixteenth article
the Republican platform refers
them as enemies Of the governm
and their appointment a cril
This is the party that invites
young men of the South to j
its ranks. They cannot honora
or consistently do SO. They h
been as a class law-abiding, Ii
citizens, observing the spirit
letter Of their paroles received ele
years ago, yet hear themseI
denounced as traitors and enen
to the government. They VIC
resent an insult to the Amer