Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1876-05-25
POLITICAL:

1i>lS only once II 1Ou1 yctIs luat tHc peu-
pie arc calico. upon to decide who shalt be
President! Ordinarily our conventions
have. 10 consider those questions alone,
which grow, out Of tic, policy of the :Ah-
ministrationt and such as affect US as a
State or as n County. The work Of po-
1itical gatherings his year. is more extern
dcd and comprehcnsivc,-embracing =
field which has TO be seeded quadrennial
~. After; an hundred years ofcSperieucc
it is admitted to he fact that this govern
mcnt must be controlled by those citizens
who never believed slavery to b right.
The late reasonable attempt to destroy
the union OF States was the result Of the
restriction placed upon the traffic In hu.
man beings. The advocates of the old sys-
tenn will never yield any r,orc than an en-
forced obedience. 10 the constitutional
amendments ralirylng emancipation nor
to the. laws comforting the right Of suffrage
upon the negroes. Loyal men, must sus-
tain the government until treason shall
have died with the generation of traitors.
This is the main ques,ion,-How can we
tho most certainly and the most advan-
tageously save the natione The answer is
plain, and it is his,-selcct to fill the high
Office Of Prcsidsnt-a. man whose birth
place, whose impulses, whose education,
and whose life are such Us 10 afford q sui
ticicnt guarantee that he will always be
true to the principles OF liberty and equali-
ty,-onc whose integrity has meyer been
weakened by contact with corruption, and
whose familiarity with public men and
whose knowledge Of public measures, are
such lis to enable hin, to judge rightly and
to administer fcarlcssly. With such a
man in the executive chair, the govern
lncnt will not only continue, but it will
continue to prosper. If the will is loyal,
anu the heart is right, there is no occasion
for fear There arc but few other qucs-
tions which may properly engross the at
tention Of political bodies charged solely
with the selection Of Presidential candi-
date. It should he understood that the
President does not make the laws. 1t is
. his duty to execute them. lie cannot shape
he can only indicate the policy of the
government. Congress has that power
chiefly, and it is to our Senators and Rep
rcsentatiyes that We must look the adap-
tion Of measures tending to the relief Of
che people from injustice and oppression.
The President cannot decide whether VIC
shall have tariff or free trade, whether
acoin or q specie currency, whether legal
tender or greenbacks, whether resumption
upon a gold basis or 4. system of paper
money without any provision whatever for
,edemption,-these are matters calling for
The action Of Congress, and they are I,rup.
ce to be considered BY the people when
they arc called upon to choose their Rep.
rescntativcs. The Constitution wisely pro-
vides that the duties of,he President shall
be almost entirely executive, and hat,hose
Of Congress shall be legislative. This d.
vision of 'abor,-while it docs not disrupt
the coordinate relations Of the Depart
m"n's, seems to make each independent
Of the other, and responsible: wholly for
whatever it does 1t should be borne in
mind then that when we approach the
work Of selecting Presidential candi date
We should not confound the duties Of his
office with those of another branch Of the
government, aor should we seek to regu.
late the workings OF the whole machinery
BY choosing an engineer who can have
control Of only small part Of it. We
have been thus explicit and elaborate in
distinguishing between the corselative
duties OF nominating conventions because
there are some delegates who do not seem
to have learned that all things desirable
cannot he accomplished BY the use Of q
single fundamentally.