Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-10-20

impending danger, shook their heads
grayely, and regarded the situation
with keen anxiety. na.ls
THE GREAT MISTAKE. -
1t was the great mistake of those
who, conquered the rebellion and
overthrow slavery that they did not.
SO hedge about their work with stern
precaution that it should endure for
ever and ever. But 1t was the ear
nest desire of those who conducted
the work of reconstruction to be gen.
erous and lenient, even to the extreme
limit OF safety, toward those who had
sued for peace. Experience has
shown that the limit of safety was
overstepped; and the very men who
were conquered in 1864, are now rul-
ing us with the dread scepter Of ab-
solute and irresponsible power
This serpent of rebellion should new
er have been left stunned and doubt
fully dead. Its venomous head
should have been forever crushed be-
meath the iron heel Of an inf1exible
justlce-the leaders in the great re-
bellion should have been disfranchis-
ed and made ineligible to any nation
al Office for all time.
THE TILDEN REGIME.
The election occur ed in Novem-
Der, and Tilden assumed the Presi-
dental Office in March Of the follow
ing year. In December following
the election, the Confederate Con
gress assembled and began its work.
The preceding session of the lower
house, largely Confederate, had dis
charged from subordinate offices
within its jurisdiction large num-
Der of persons who had served in
the Union armies during the war,
and supplied the vacancies with ex-
rebels. The Congress of 1861
grew shamelelessly bold, and carried
this disgracetul work to the utmost
limit OF its jurisdiction-causing
all the Union soldiers to be super
seded by ex-rebels, in offices or civil
trust, wherever it was possible
When Tilden took the Presidential
chair he pursued the same policy, ex-
ercised the appointing power belong
ing to his high position, in every pos
sible instance, in favor of known
friends of the rebellion.
During the first session of Congress,
under the rule of Tilden, there was
little important legislation, and the
measures introduced were mostly of
a conservative nature. Great re-
trenchment was simulated, and the
appropriations for many Of the exec
utive departments were greatly re-
duced; but large sums were appro-
priated for purposes easily divertible
to illegal uses, and into hands which
would not scruple to use the money
for the vilest partisan purposes
Thus they deceived the people with
show of great economy, and at the
same time used the peoples funds to
secure a perpetuation of their power.
In the South, the Confederate ele-
ment had become exceedingly dicta-
torial and lawless. After the third
year of the reign of Tilden, the lite OF
a Northern man was not safe in any
State South Of the old slave llmits.-
The negro race was reduced, virtual
ly, to its former condition of servi-
tude, chiefly from the alternative of
absolute starvation, nearly every
acre of land being under the control
of the Confederatcs.
The Tilden government scrupled at
no measure, however vile, to advance
its party interests or augment its
power. In the headlong zeal of its
adherents the Constitution and its
laws were trampled down without
compunction. Theinexhaustiblevig
lance of Tilden and his mercenary
minions was perhaps the most mary
elous exhibition of persistence and
activity in cvil-doing that has ever
been witnessed. AS a result, the
power of the corrupt Tilden govern
mcnt steadily increased, and the
masses of the people were deceived
as to the dangerous agencies work
ing at the heart of the national gov
ernment.
CONFEDERATE WAR CLAIMS.
The Confederate Congress became
more reckless as the reign of Tilden
drew toward a close. Early in 1879
a law was enacted providing for the
reimbursement of all Confederate
losses by the war of the rebellion-a
law very far-reaching in it's inclusive
ness, throwing open the National
Treasury to those who had fought
against their country, and paying
them handsomly for their treason
granting pensions to all who were
wounded in the Confederate service;
remunerating all claimants whose
territory was occupied, property de-
stroyed, or slaves emancipated du-
ring the war. These measures, it is
true, were in direct antagonism to
the Constitution of the republic; but
that was the last consideration to
have weight with those blind and
rapacious partisans who engineered
the scheme and shared the spoils.-
The aggregate of the sum thus plum
dered from the Treasury reached the
enormous figure Of TWO AND A HALF
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, and its weight
was as a milestone hung about the
neck of the people.
PREPARING FOR WAR.
From the hour when Tilden took
the Presidential chair preparations
began for grand coup d'etat, to be
carried out at the earliest practicable
moment. These preparations were
something marvellous in their elab-
orateness, and in the indomitable en-
ergy which was brought to bear in
their completion. The adhcrents of
the "lost cause" had, outwardly,
seemed to accept their defeatas final,
but beneath this calm exterior was a
fierce volcano of desperate passions
working with unceasing and tren-
chant energy, and urging on these
men in their never-yielding determin-
alton to be finally triumphant in ac-
complishing the overthrow of the re
public. The preparations which