Litchfield enquirer., 1876-09-28
Col. Fenn and the Democracy.

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 A few weeks since, during the absence of the regular editor, Col. Fenn took charge temporarily of the Winsted. Press. and gave, in an article over his own sigma ture, his reasons for supporting MT. Til den.
 Col. Fem starts with commendation of the political Independent. to much of which we fully assent. The tyranny of parties is one of the worst practical evils that have afflicted republics from time immemorial; and if, by his thew depart ure," Col. Fenn merely proposes to place himself outside existing party lines and to take position of full political inde- pendence, we concede that it IS an excel lent position to take. though an extreme ly difficult one to maintain.
 His article strikes us, however. as the 'confession" of one becoming a Demo crat, rather than that of one becoming an Ipdepe9dent. There is no balancing of right and wrong between the two parties. The Republicans are all wrong and the Democrats all right-a view that a real Independent would hardly take.
 We favor "the bloody shirt" as little as anyone. The prejudices of the war ought not to deprive the South of honest local government. without which there can be no revival of prosperity there. We have seen with pleasure the overthrow. of one carpet bag government after another, and frankly confess tine short comings of the negro as voter. Of those carpet bag governments, however, only one remains, and in that the ascendancy of Gov. Cham berlain gives something more than 8 promise of reform. Is there no danger of such reaction, at the South, as will take away that chance of independence, edu- cation and improvement, which can only make the freedman good citizen? The success of the Democracy will give the country Congress. the majority of whose Democratic members will be the very men who fought the Union in the war. The administration of nearly every Southern state is in the same hands. Would it not seem safer that the national government should be controlled by those who sustained it from '61 to '65. rather than by those who were striving to over throw it?
 Then, as to Reform. We admit that Bristow was the first choice of Republican Reformers. The politicians were strong enough to defeat him, but they were obliged to consent to the nomination of a man committed to his principles. We believe. with Col. Fem. that Gov. Tilden is an able and an honest man "who be- lieves in reform and has proved it by his own works;" but will his party support him in any thorough civil service reform. or will there be such rush of his parti- sans for office as marked the incoming of a Democratic House of Representatives, last winter, and which will result in new division of the spells instead of reform9
 How is the prospect for reform under Democratic auspices in Connecticut? The two highest offices in the gift of the party have gone, one to man whose only claim was for services rendered against the war and the other to a man who paid his cash down-more than anyone else would give and took his United States Senatorship, as cooly as if he had been bidding off the foundry of an insolvent iron company. Has not the judiciary of the State been notoriously weakened since the advent of the Democracy to power? Has not the taint of corruption attached to ouf legis- latures to an extent never before known Indeed, was there ever a more .unpromis- than the Democratic party of the State of Connecticut under it's present leadership
 We have not the least intention of inn pugning the motives of Col. Fenn in talk ing his present political position. but we do not see how it eau lead him to real in- dependence, or to real reform.