Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-12-21
WASHINGTON, Dec l6, 1876.
GUST BEFORE THE BATTLE"

maneuvering for position" as military
men call those movements that pre-
cede great battles. There will be no
serious fight until after the holidays.
Both parties are awaiting the reports
of the Southern Investigating Com.
mittees, before opening hostilities in
earnest. Until then, all sorts of "mo-
tons" will be made and all sorts of
resolutions" will be offered, but moth
ing either decisive or important will
be accomplished in Congress. The
Democrats are trying and will try, to
cheat the nation out of its recent VIC
tory; but the Republicans have had
their eyes opened at last to the de-
signs of the rebel leaders, and they
know now that the irrepressible con
fiict between the bandits of the South
and American civilization admits of
no compromise that can endure. So,
they are firm. However numerous
and perplexing the record of congress
sional action" Gas it is called) be-
tween this date and Christmas may
seem, the reader will find a thread
through the labyrinth by re-
Numbering that it means only fight
for more time; and tn It the secret
policy of both parties is not action but
non-action.
TRICKS THAT ARE VAIN"
Thus far the Democrats have been
baffied in every effort to deceive
the Republicans. Congressman
Hewitt, Tilden's Prevaricator.in.
chief, tried to capture the President
i'll the interests of the bandits of South
Carolina. He caught Tartar. Pres
ident Grant has sometimes given his
confidence to unworthy men, and,
having given it, he has been very
slow to suspect them of treachery,
and quite tenacious of his friendships
until the evidence against them was
conclusive; but when he has been
clearly convinced that he has once
been deceived, he has never yielded a
second time to the same class of trick
sters. After the war, Grant made a
journey South, and was thoroughly
deceived by the leaders of the rebel
lion. His report showed two things {:
his own generous and unsuspecting
nature, and the crafty and unscrupu-
lous character of the Southern leaders.
Men who will commit murder for
opinions sake never hesitate at lies
and perjury. The annals of the South
since the war demonstrate that not
less than ten thousand black and
white Republicans have been wanton-
ly murdered for political reasons, in
order that men, whom we could have
hanged for treason, might first domi
nate their own States, and one day
rule the nation that they sought to de-
stroy. President Grant listens to
everybody, but he acts on his own
Judgment. Hewitt's craft did not
move him. But for the knowledge
that Grant would not tolerate rebel
lion, South Carolina to-day would be
wet with loyal blood.
Having failed to entrap the Presi-
dent the next attempt of the Tilden
Democracy was to bully the Senate in
to recognition of the existence of
Joint rules that were no longer in force.
But there were too many Democratic
lawyers, who would not destroy their
reputation as jurists for the sake OF
advancing Speaker Randall's ambition
to render it possible for this scheme
to succeed, and the Senate spurned
his ruling with only four dissenting
votes.
The failure of these two schemes
has made the "Tilden wing" of the
Democracy desperate. On Monday
last the result of their Sunday medi-
tations was seen in an effort to induce
a compromise, by which Tllden should
be elected by the House, and Wheel
err by the Senate! But the enraged
Western Democrats rebelled, and
swore that rather than sacrifice Hen.
bricks they would prefer that both
HAYES and Wheeler should be inaug-
urated. 1t is happy family. AS we
have elected our candidates. and
mean to inaugurate them, these quar-.
rels are quite amusing Republicans
have no intention of being cheated oil
their victory, nor of giving the fruits
of it to the enemies of the nation. The
latest scheme, TO "put such men as
Lamar in the Republican cabinet
means that President Hayes shall say
before all the world that it is iustifi
able and right to resort to the assasi-
nation and terrorism Of Southern Re.
publicans in order to carry Southern
State for the shotgun Democracy
But this is good example of South.
ern political morality. 1t has only
one practical fault-it won't work.
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE.
Senator Morton, every year, and
for five years past, has introduced a
proposed amendment to the Constitu.
ton for the purpose of abolishing the
Electoral College and averting the
evils that occurred under 1t, and that
were likely to occur. He pointed out
the probability of precisely the crisis
that is agitating the nation now. He
could not, to-day, by an exposition of
the actual condition of affairs suggest
single additional danger that he did
not clearly predict in his report last
year. The Electoral College was de-
vised in the dawn of Democracy to
save the least populous of the old
Colonies from the overpowering
strength Of the larger States, and be-
cause. also, at that time, it was be-
lieved that pure government could
be secured only by successive filtra
tons" of the popular vote. The found
ers of the Republic. educated in Eng.
lish political philosophy, and without
the light of experience to guide them,
regarded their work as the "great ex-
pertinent" and could not foresee that
history would teach that all our dan
ger would come, not from the National
Government, but from the States