Wilmington daily commercial., 1876-11-18
ANOTHER wAR'-THE IMPRoPRIETY
OF LOOSE TALK ON SERIOUS SUB


OF LOOSE TALK ON SERIOUS SUB
JECTS.
1t is quite true that, in the opinion of
most people, al indefinite endurance of
great public svils may be worse than war,
and that a people who tolerate them be-
yond the point "where endurance ceases to
be virtue" have not won the praises Of
mankind But, in our own country, the
situation is such that to talk familiarly
of the possibility of war is proceed
ing utterly to be condemned. The
evils that may come upon us by
consequence of the uncertain election
cannot possibly be of such a Character that
" another war" would become their appro-
PIRATE remedy. II Mr. Tilden should be-
come President, elected, as he would be, by
means OF intimidation and outlawry in the
South, and manipulated ballots in New
York, it is impossible that there could be,
even under his administration, any
such condition of things as would Justify
an appeal to arms. And so, on the other
hand, il the result OF the election, legally
and regularly sscertained and declared,
makes Governor Hayes President, there
will be nothing in his election, nor, we may
say absolutely without qualification, in his
administration, to give reason to any man
for fomenting or undertaking war. All the
evils that can flow from the civil govern
ment OF this Republic are, after all, light
by comparison with those endured by the
people of many other nations, and they can
have, in short time, their remedy at the
hands of the people, by legal, peaceful, and
proper means. Our elections are 80 fre,
quent, and the franchise of the people is
80 unqualified, that when great wrongs be-
come apparent, they can be redressed both
speedily and thoroughly.
What we need to do, at this juncture, es-
pecially, as, generally,at all other times, is;
l. To cultivate friendly feeling amongst
the American people. To divide them into
parties bitterly hostile to promote section
al hatreds; to encourage the further growth
of race prejudices and antagonisms lis the
work of the enemy of the Republic.
2. To cultivate the habit of obedience to
law. If the law be onerous, the need of
its change is the more quickly felt, but, ex
cept in legal manner, it must not be an
nulled. The laws are the safeguard of the
weak; they mark the difference between
civilization and sbarbarism; they must be
respected and obeyed. The remedy against
wrong law must be its repeal or modifica'
tion, and not an appeal to force.
8. To cultivate in the people that intelli'
gent and just Judgment upon public affairs
which will perceive evils, will condemn
them, and will at the proper opportunity
remedy them. Any obscuring of the judg-
ment by race prejudi,es,b by partisan lnfam
nation, by sectional hatred, tends, oi
course, to defeat this, and an habitual ides
OF appealing to arms instead of the due
processes Of p87Hiar government destroys
It altogether.
Perhaps it is unnecessary to moralize anC
discourse with even an appearance Of elab
Grafton on such a subject. But everybod!
knows that there has been, in the mouth
of many people, talk of " another war, al
though there was something in the presen
or prospective situation that would or tina
ought to bring it upon US. Such talk is a
wrong and as dangerous as playing witt
fire. 1t is, when we remember the horror
and the hacdships that ended only elevel
years ago, criminal for the American
people to think of civil war as
thing possible. The great mass G
them, We are sure, do not. Their
has been, throughout all the earnest fee
ing of the last ten days, manifest sent
ment, underlying all surface talk, that col
demned and rebuked the idea that any pull
lie evils we're at hand great enough to d.
mand bloodshed as their remedy. I'll
American people are their own governor
They are their own lawmakers. They al
responsible only to themselves and Higl
er Power for the results of their system
Patriotism, with intelligence, will easi
lead them out Of temporary troubles
The political division of the next Hout
of Representatives will be very close. tt
New York Times counts it, to-day, l43 r
publicans to 147 Democrats, with the thr'
New Hampshire members to be elected ne
Spring. The Western district of Marylan
il now appears, has chosen McComas, Rel
NJ