The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-09-09
The Foot Of the Throne

Baltimore 0azette.
The apathy with which Judge Taft's
revolutionary order has been received,
Is almost as astounding as the order
itself. 1t seems strange that the people
and the press can SIT quietly down and
talk over pronubciamento which
strikes at the very existence of the re-
public. Surely, people cannot know
what this thing means. 1t means that
the policy, traditions and statute laws OF
the United States are to--be set
aside, and the military force of the
federal government employed to
control the elections of tho party IN
power. 1t means that the rights OF the
states may be contemptuously tossed
aside or trampled under foot at the beck
or call of an underling of the Federal
courts. 1t means, for the Grst time in
our history, that the will of the people is
to be openly and defantly put down BY
brute force. 1t means the first undis-
guised step toward military usurpatlon,
And vet people sit silent, and the press
has no voice of indignant protest The
voters have become strangely Indifferent
TO the value OF their liberties. Ii they
are willing to sit quietly under this, then
thew are ready for anything. And we
ask what the gentlemen who sit IN apathy
now would propose to do should Grant
get up election disorders in all the south
ern states, Snd declare, through his at.
torney general, that there has been o
election, and that he would hold
oil N nc
own good time? What would they do?
Would they then protest? Possibly, but
it would then be too late. Suppose
thereafter General Grant should begin to
increase the army and officer it with ad-
venturers who would support him IN
everything, what would the spa-
thetic gentlemen do then? Protest?
Pooh. Then suppose that Grant
should begin to station his halt
millions of men all through the country
with military occupation, compelling the
payment of heavy taxes to support Them,
and Furnishing with swift and ignomini-
Gus death all who attempted to resist
them. What then? By this time he
will begin to make mis- generals field
marshals and dukes, and his sons princes
of the blood-well, what then? Is it
time yet to begin to object? All, yes, it
is long ago too late e'
This is no fancy picture. This is what
has happened. 1t was by just such means
that the glorious Roman republic was
was overthrowD, and the Caesars brought
into power, and the swift decline of
Rome begun; thus also fell the liberty
loving English commonwealth under
the dictatorship of Cromwell; thus fell
the French republic under Napoleon,
and thus fell the second republic under
the second empire. The apathetc gen
tlemen must read history. 1t Is simple
fat-witted, laundering, iadOlcft stupidity
that fails to see in this infamous pro.
nunciamento of Judge Taft the open de.
fance of the republic and the first step
planted on n bloody and filthy throne.
If the people endure this tamely, all the
rest will follow as of course
We do not believe that an American
empire would long endure. No hall
million or whole million OF troops could
long hold them down. This race is too
well accustomed to liberty of thought,
speech and the press, to endure the shack.
les. This generation is naughty, brave
and IN the main honest. They are not
ready to be slaves quite yet; but they are
strangely and blindly insensible to their
present danger. 1t will take them
about year to find out what
military empire means. But then the
thing that opposes their will, will be
ground into powder. Yet it would be
we'll for the American people to think
little over the lull significance of this in.
famous manifesto of Judge TAFT. lfthey
do so, it may save them the degradation
of the empire and the D'oodshed OF the
after revolution that will grind it into
dust and ashes.