New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-11-30
THE SKELETON At THE BANQUET

According to all the pIeccuehtS' We Supp"Ho
that many clcrgymen will to-day consider the
moral and religious aspects OF our present po-
li,ical dilemma. 1t would have been pleas
anter if Thanksgiving Day had found us in a
situation OF perfect political peace and GER
tainty The philanthrOpist this morning, whlie
observing much to encourage and confirm his
hone for humanity, will still regret the an
orchical condition of Louisiana and South Car
DINA. and will sorrOwfully contrast it with the
peace and the prosperity which Providence has
youchsafed to the remainder of the Republic
The first feeling of the law-abiding citizen OF a
law-abiding commonwealth, is to regret
the fortune which has linked 1t to
outlying provinces in which the forms
and methods of constitutional govern
ment are recllessly and passionately disre-
garded. This, however is selfish emotion,
in which it Is not wholesome for any citizen
of the United States to indulge. The murders
and mobbings, the cruelties and the crimes,
the frauds, the fanatcisms and the frenzies,
the Ignorance and the ignominies which have
darkened our recent dispatches. are morally
no worse than the theories upon which, years
ago, the politicians of the Calhoun school IN
sisted that body politics should he based. In
deed, the evils of emancipation, most OF which
thinking men fOresaw, are blessings, however
disguised, in comparison with the subteriuges
and the sOphistries of prO-Siavcry philosophers
Now we know just where we stand. The lib
Grafton of the blacks has brought with it many
cmbarrassments, but it has immensely slmpll-
fed the problem; for, at any rate, law Is now
upon the side of humanity. We have dis
carded our wild burlesque of democracy, and can
work with hands united i'll behalf OF justice,
and mercy, and peace.
II is. moreover, a cause for warm thanks
giving that the power and intelligence and
honesty which constitute a moral majority, are
upon the right side. Men of conscientious
character NAV for time be betrayed by their
partjsan alliances into the support of dis
reputable political expedients; but it is not to
lie believed that the mass of the American
people. without regard to political distinctions,
is afflicted by that lunacy which results In the
destruction of governments. Nor must the
enormous difficulty of rehabitating the States
which were engaged i'll the Rebellion be over
looked. The process of reconstruction, from
it's very nature, could not be summary one.
Skill. patience, mcrciful consideration, divine
pity and the largest lf-abnegaton were all
| required, with time for the new machinery to
move without the lets and hinderances OF mex
peIience. Blundering, however, was easiest,
and from the first we have Numbered.
AS usual, the measure of fault upon both
sides has been about equal. If the best men
of the South had promptly accepted the inev-
| liable and the accomplished, putting them
| selves cheerfully forward as the natural lead
| ers of the new constituency which emancipa-
| ton had created-if, in a word, they had done
what has just been partially attempted in
South Carolina by Wade Hampton and gentle
men of his class, political power would have
| fallen naturally into their hands; and how
wisely and beneficially they might have used
that power it is unnecessary to say. Sullen-
ness and seclusion from public affairs, dull
and impotent brooding over fancied injuries,
a selfish Sinking of disagreeable responsible
! ties-Heaven knows that it was no time for
| these! Yet these were what the South chose
When they did resume their participation
in national politics, they allied them
selves once more with that old party of re-
action which had tempted them into the re-
beliOn, and assumed an attitude OF hostility
to the ruling party at the North, which alone
could give them help. Not content with fighting
it in the field, they kept on fighting it at the
polls. The North, upon the other hand, did
not find immediate and unreserved forgive
ness easy or pleasant, and forgot that ii
never is easy after either public OF
private quarrel. The South was
sore, the North was suspicious; while a
horde of adventures, aggravated types OF