The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1876-10-27
POLITICS.
The Great Danger.

and the Southern Confederates per-
slstently ignore. 1t is the payment Or
non-payment to former Rebels of loss
es growing out of the War. The pur-
pose OF relmbursing the South for its
war losses has been charged upon the
Tllden party, and the charge is sus-
tanned by the attitude of the combined
South, the concession which it's North
ern allies are ready to make to attain
control of the offices, and the bills i'll
troduced at the last sessionof Congress
covering part of the ground. How
has this charge been met! By an ON
inous silence on the part of the South,
and suspicious evasion on the part of
the Northern Democrats.
There are tens of thousands Of PEG.
pie in the sixteen Southern States of
high and low degree who have claims
large and small for War losses, amount
ing in the aggregate to not less than
two thousand millions of dollars, or
more than the present national debt f;
the Republican party has passed laws
prohibiting the payment OF claims for
losses made by men who were dlsloyal
to the Union what more natural than
that the claimants, and their friends,
and all who hope to benefit from the
allowance, should continue to secure
the elevation to power of an OPPOSE
ton party from whom different poll
icy is awaited ! This is what has been
done, and this is why the organs and
Spokesman of the Confederates at the
South dare not, even for Northern eff
feet, disavow the purpose of admitting
these claims if the Tilden party shall
come into power. To do SO sincerely
would be to tear away the bond that
holds the South together in this politi-
cal contest.
They tell us that the payment of
these claims is prohibited by the con-
stitutional amendments. They know
| that this is not true. The only pro.
hibition made by the Fourteenth
Amendment is the payment of ''any
debt or obligation incurred in aid of
insurrection or rebellion against the
United States. or any other claim for
the loss or emancipation of any slave"
This prohibition does not include the
assumption by the National Govern
ment of the State debts of the various
BANKRUPT Southern States,-a bill for
which, ingenious in its construction
and with ample margin for lobby eX-
penses, is in charge of ex-Gov. Walker,
of Virginia, now member OF Con-
gress. 1t does not include the refund
ing of the cotton tax, amounting TO
500, 100000, besides the interest which
has accrued thereon since the tax was
collected. 1t does not include the
hundre DIS of millions of dollars OF
claims for the use and occupation OF
property by the United States army
a bill for the allowance of which was
introduced by Mr.. Riddle. 1t does not
include the other hundreds OF millions
for the destruction of fences, tho
burning of houses and towns, the
stripping Of corn-felds, the .foraglng
on pigs, and chickens, and turkeys,
; and the loss of crops inevitably incl
dent to the progress of large and sue
cessful armies in the enemy'S country,
bills for which were also introduced
; at the last session of Congress.
Thus hundreds of thousands of claims,
amounting to thousands of millions of
dollars, may be set up and allowed
without any violation of the cOnstitu-
tional amendments. But, say the
Northern allies of the Southern Con-
federates, the Republican have allowed
and paid War losses, and why shouldn't
we! The War losses paid by the Re-
publicans have been claims recognized
by international law and approved by
universal principles of equity,-losses
sustained by Union men who suffered
for their loyalty, losses from Confed
crate raids, repayment to States OF
moneys advanced to assist in the pros
ecution of the War, reimbursement to
loyal men for supplies freely rendered
to the Union armies on their march.
But. in the allowance of these claims,
the Republicans have been sustained by
law of their own making, requiring
positive proof before Court of Claims
of the loyalty as well as the losses OF
the claimants s.; this restraint the DEM
ocrats purpose to remove, and bill
for that purpose was also introduced
at the last session of Congress admit
ting all claims without regard to the
status of the claimant during the War.
And what will the people of the
North do about it, if they have volun-
tarily resigned full power into the
hands of Confederates Human ma
ture and self-interest will prompt the
latter to carry out the raid on the Pub
lie Treasury to the utmost tention, and
there will be no lawful means for re-
straining their rapacity. The time
will surely come when the people of
the North will be goaded on to repu-
diation of revolution, or both. In re-
pudiatisn the people Of the South will
readily join, after having had the ben
eft of the sale of the bonds, and the
credit of the nation will be destroyed
forever and the whole country Will be
borne down under panic the like OF
which was never known. If revolu
ton shall be the outcome, then we
must again pass through the terrors.
the cost, and decentralization Of anoths
er war, the scene Of which will not be
bounded by Mason & Dixon's line.
This the perspective of danger, clear
ly outlined though to be some way off,
that can only be surely averted by
refusal of united North to follow the
course indicated by a solid South. If
sectionalism there must be, let it be