The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1876-11-02
THE TWO PARTIES coNrRAsTED.
New York Times, Oct, Is,

rights be established and maintained in
the South? What means shall be taken
to place the finances and the currency of
the country ON sound basis? What
shall be done to elevate and purify the
civil service of the country? These are
the questions which challenge the atten-
ton of all patriotic and thoughtful men.
Which ever party offers the best assur-
ance of their satisfactory solution is
the best entitled to the confidence of the
country. How do the two great parties
which are asking for the suffrages of the
people stand on these vital questions, and
which of them, by its history, its profess
sions, and the character of it's leaders, Of
fers the best guarantee of their satisfac-
tory settlement?
AS regards the Southern question, it
must be kept in mind above all that it is
the Republican party which adopted the
constitutional amendments abolishing
slavery and guaranteeing the right of
suffrage to the liberated slaves. True to
it's traditions, the Democratic party bit
terly and persistently opposed these great
measures, which completed the work the
war began, and for years after the war
closed it threatened to overthrow them if
it came into power At last, taught by
successive defeats that the country would
not permit the results of the war to be
imperllled, it has yielded to them tardy
and reluctant support, as facts accom-
plished, not as things desired. 1t cannot
now claim the confidence of the country
because of this grauging acquiescence in
results which it did its best to thwart.
Surely, no sane man can say that the en-
forcement of the constitutional amend
ments could be as safely intrusted to the
party which opposed them while being
passed, and which for years after their
passage declared them to be of no effect,
as to the party which adopted and en-
forced them.
No one deplores more than ourselves
the sad condition of Southern politics
since the war, but we do not forget that
the trouble has been the direct conse-
quence of the action of the Southern
Democrats, abetted by their Northern
brethren. Had the Democratic party
given sincere support to the cOnstitu
tional amendments, had it treated the
freedmen with common justice and hui
mainly and respected their newly acquir-
ed rights, had it endeavOred TO fit them
for their new duties as citizens, it might
have won their confidence, and at least
have divided their votes with the Repub-
LEANS. In that case the Southern ques-
ton would long since have disappeared
from politics, and the wounds of the war
would have been happily healed. But it
treated the blacks with such bloodthirsty
animOsity, and showed so utter disre-
gard of their constitutional rights, that it
drove them en- mdsSe into the ranks of
the Republican party 1t is no wonder
that, with the ignorance and credulity
which slavery had entailed upon them,
they should have become in many cases
the easy prey or the facile tools and &C
completes of designing and unprincipled
Adventures The Republican party, as
national, party is in no degree responsible
for the condition of theSouth. The South
ern Democrats and their abettOrs in the
North are responsible for it. So long as
they continue to torture and murder
black men and NOrtherners, to burn
school houses, and to deny the freedom
of speech and of the ballot, the Southern
problem will remain unsettled. To in
trust the management of that question to
the Democratic party would be to turn
back the wheels of progress, to imperil
the results of the war, and to expose the
Republicans of the South, both white and
black to a terrible danger, which we of
the North, secure in our rights and per-
sons, can hardly appreciate.
On the financial question the records
and attitudes of the two parties are in
equally strong contrast. 1t is the Re
publican party which has stood true to
the public faith, and by wise policy ad
vanced the public credit OF the country
until it stands among the foremost in the
world. 1t is the Republican party which
pledged the faith of the nation to the
payment of the bonds in coin, and which
has stood by that pledge against the
united opposition of the Democracy. 1t
is the Republican party which passed the
Resumption act, and which has maintain
ed it on the statute books in spite of
Democratic assaults The Democratic
party has been the consistent foe Of the
public credit for fifteen years. AS on
the Southern question, it has been forced
by the pressure of events to yield a
grudging assent to patriotic measures
which it originally opposed and still hates.
At first it declared the public debt inval-
id and clamored for its reputation. De
feated in this, it next, as qualified form
of reputation, demanded the payment Of
the bonds in currency. True to its reac-
tionary instincts, it now demands the re
peal of the measure by which the coun-
try has pledged itself to redeem its over
due notes in the real money of commerce.
With its customary fu'ility, it denounced
and opposed the greenbacks when their
issue was necessary to the salvation of
the Union, and espoused their cause as
soon as it found that their usefulness
was gone.
Still less is to be hoped from the Dem
ocratic party in the direction of civil SER
vice reform. While the action of the Re
publican party on on this question has
frequently received our censure, we do
not forget that ninety-nine hundredths of
the sincere advocates of the reform are
Republicans. 1t is very easy for an opposi-
ton party to shout for reform, but the
Democrats are especially careful not to
commit themselves to any particular
scheme. Gov. Tilden takes good care to
keep his own hands freely declaring that
mo reform of the civil service of the
country will be complete and permanent
until its chief magistrate is constitutional
ly disqualified for reelection" which is a
very prettylway of postponing the reform
till the millennium. The average Demo-
cratic idea of reform" is the turning out
of black Republicans and appointment of
straight-out Democrats in their places.
There is no promise in either the Demo-
cratic platform of Gov Tilden's letters of
any definite plan of reform, while the
whole history; traditions and composition
of the party justify the belief that if it
should regain its power, it would now, as
in former times, degrade the civil service
into an abject party machine. The Re-
publican party and candidates, on the 9th
er hand are unequivocally committed to a
definite and adequate plan of reform,
are supported by an educated sentiment.
within the party, which will not tolerate a
violation of the pledge
On every great question of the times, it
thus appears the Democratic party is the
party of reaction. repudiation. and retro