The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-02-18
A.lunpr.

lt may be true that the conspiracy
: contrtved by Chandler, Morton and
, Hayes, 10 count In the Republican can
atdate fer the Presidency, mag be
credited with the result Of reversing
the decision Of the people. and OF the
legally appointed electors but there ID
reason 10 believe that, without the
strength conferred by the possession of
; nh unlimited supply Of dlittnaes, the
! scheme would have failed. II The Dem
oefatio party had been alive 10 the re-.
condlte dangers and the potent perlls
OF weapons furnished from the aflnory
OF the dead languages, they would have
tried 10 anticipate this result but, an
happily. The general deficiency of the
party III classical lore made them insena
sible to tho Importance OF this
point. ia Louisiana We have had some
experience OF the efficacy Of this kind
OF weapon. 10 be sure, louisiana In a
narrower field than the Union. and
hence the people Of this State have
J never before been assailad with aitttndss
An instrument which seems TO have
been reserved expressly for the tire.
mendous issne OF the Presideney--bu
they have been attacked and defeated,
and kept In situation Of repression by
the free use OF de faeios, for the last
four years, on the part OF their adver.
satieH. Beyond the indisputable fact
that dltttuaes are conclusive OF the
presidential. question, we are doubtful
as 10 their nature, except that they ere
very mitch like dc faetos. only more 30.
but what are de factos THAT. Too,
ID question involved In mystery
more inserutable than the doetrlnes
OF the Hosioruoians. Judge Cooley, OF
| niivs,,ss.lp, In the latest edition
OF his famous work, grappled with tho
problem, but was forced to conclude.
after searching examination OF the
Kellogg case. that de faetos were too
much for him. All that he could regard
az established wac that this remarkable
engine seemed to confer q sort OF om-
Impotence on the party by whom ii Ii
used. Tho experience OF Louisiana
seems to confirm this conclusion. We
have had d State government for four
years which was set up, maintained
and supported by free and unlimited
use OF dc fnctos. But what serves for
one State might lose In potency when
applied to thirty. eight States. De
factos might do for a State government;
but they might fail II relied on to set
up national government.
Hence tho Republican party have had
recourse to attttnde, d cognate, but fur
more potential agency. Where they
obtained IL we are unable to shy. We |
may conjecture that they got II out OF
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, whore, how |
ever, Il Is defined as an innocent and
innoeaous elsewhere" Now, nobody
would be afraid of man with On else
where" or any quantity OF 'elsewheres.
In fact, by d process OF verbal trans
mutation an dltuade translated into |
English and back again into Latin be.
comes an alibt; and everybody knows
that man with an alibt IL not an object
OF terror. But m altttnde ID more terri
BILE than o de facto; more potent than q
nisi prius; more mysterious than n
status quo; moro mighty than ne ereas
more taking than a capias. Here Is the
great mistake committed by tho |
Democratic party. Whilst they were
relying on the amount OF testimony
they had secured to prove that the Re- |
publican Returning Boards were en-
gines OF fraud, OF falsehood and vii
lainy: that the Tilden electors were
duly chosen In Florida and Louisiana
and were drawing the differences that
elections elect. the Republicans were
quietly amassing stock OF aliundes.
Fatal blunderl Why Is 1t that the
Democrats have permitted their adver-
saries to gain the tremendous advan-
tage arising from the exclusive posses
sion OF de .fdctos, status quos and
ali4ndes ? To this judicial blindness
the success OF the Hayes con-
spiraoy IL due. There was abso-
lutely nothing to be said and nothing
to be done by the Republicans, until
Judge Bradley drew forth his aRunde
and fiourished 1t In the astonished faces
Of the Grand Commissioners. But that
was enough. The battle had been lost, |
but, as Napoleon said to Desaix, on Il
memorable occasion, there was time
enough TO win another. With one
sweep OF his terrific aliunde, Bradley
routed his opponents. Aljnde was as
deadly to the Democrats, as fatal to
Tilden, as Kellerman's charge at Ma
ranpo. or McDonald's at Wagram was
deadly and fatal to the Austrians.
In view Of these revelations, it be- |
comes every man to take immediate |
measures to procure supply Of this
omnipotent article. The consequences
OF neglect or procrastination may be
dreadful to contemplate. It 10 truethat
we are little late as to the question of |