Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1876-09-29
JeKE BLACK ON HAYES.

Hon. Jere Black, In a recent letter adj
dressed 90 MIR. Garfield, commenting on
his speech in Congress in reply to Mr..
Lamar, fMississippis ushows what it
takes to make d reformer, and demon.
strates very clearly that Gov. Hayes is
not fthesnan, nor his party the sort OF
support reformer should have. Mr..
Black said {: .5s4zsI Ia =
You would have us believe that
Hayes, If elected, will reform abuses
and give us q pure administration.
Your statement, and that of other gen
tlemen equally reliable. make it Ger
tain that Mr.. Hayes bears an ire
proachable character in all his private
relations. I do not doubt his possess
sion of that negative honesty which 1t
is disgrace to want. [ accord him
those tame household virtues VIII CHI
entitle him TO the respect of his neigh
bors and the confidence of his family !;
but he Can no more stem the torrent of
Republican corruption than lie can
swim against the rapids Of Niagara.
His whole history shows that he would
not even make an effort to do SO. He
has been most happily called a man
of tried subserviency."
A reformer in these times must be
made of stern material. He must
have no connection with, and be u.,der
no obligation to, the authors of the
| abuses which need reform Above.
all things, he must not have conseut d
! expressly or implicitly to the commis-
sion of the public wrongs which his
duties as a reformer would require
him to punish. When he comes to OPP
| pose wickedness i'll high places the
consciousness that he himself is in
p0ri delicto will make even q strong
man as nerveless as infancy.
To show how hard it would be for
a man like MIR. Hayes to resist the
worst orders of his own party, must
cite case directly in point, and GER
tainly within your recollection as well
as mine.
In the case of Milligan you made al
eloquent and powerful speech before
the Supreme Court for those free
principles which I, at the same time
supported in my weaker way. You
showed the indestructible right Of
every citizen to legal trial; yor
proved that Magma Charta did no
perish on the battle field: you demon
strated by Irresistible logic that The
Constitution was as supreme after tn,
war as it was before; you spurne6
with lofty contempt the brutal ide'
that law was extinguished by the vic
tory of the forces called out to defend
it; and you closed with that grand per
Grafton on the Goddess of Liberty
which, if spoken in Athens in the bes
days of her ''ferce Democratic" woul.
have "shook the arsenal and fulmin
ated over Greece" These were no
the words of paid advocate, for yo1
had volunteered in the case; nor tn
sudden emotions of a neophyte, TO
you had read and pondered the sub
ject we'll. You spoke the deliberat
conclusions of your mind, and ther
is no doubt that in your heart O
hearts you believe them to be tru
this day.
Yet when the reconstruction law wa
proposed you suffered yourself to b
whipped in, surrendered your con
science to your party, and vote
against your recorded convictions, TO
a mea ure that nullified every Pre-
vision of the Constitution, whereof
ten millions of people were deprive
of rights which you knew to be sacre
and inalienable.
If this was your case, !what subservi
ency nay not be expected from MI
} Hayes. VIII n the party lash comes t
be laid on his back :? You are his ST
perior in every quality that holds
! man true to public duty. You hav
been carefully schooled in the moral
ity of the new testament, you hav
lived all your life in the full blaze {
the gospel. you are gifted with
and with moral courage far above th
average. If you fell down before th
Moloch of Abolitionism, aud gave u
all principle at once, what act o! VOL
ship will Hayes deny to that gril
idol?