The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-12-20
CORRESPONDENCE"

ferent THANH President Hayes and Andrew |
Johnson. johnson had no Republican |
convictions, sympathies, or mutual intel |
Iigence with other Republican. He was |
an ignorant, stubborn country politician
full of vanity, personal ambition, and
bitterness-a man of curiously fatu-
lent mind, and brought into national
prominence solely by logged and hon
orable adherence to the Union IN a re-
eion of its malignant enemies. Mr..
Hayes is natural Republican, so to
speak, of a singularlY just and upright
mind, of a perfectly tranquil temporal
ment, resolute i'll opinion, but uncertain
III action, modestly forbearing and toler-
ant. Some defects of his administration
we discuss plainly elsewhere IN these
columns. But nothing is more amusing
than the snpposition that by any Cap
tain Bobadil tactics he could be forced
! TO s.Johnsonize. The President IS, and
We presume will remain, a Republican,
as the French might say, not OF yester-
| lican Senate Will not confirm his nomi-
| nations, he will make no party bargains
nor enter into any party understandings
with the Democrats. Yet by tempera
ment he can not be violent partisan,
| and he IS perfectly able to distinguish
between party spirit and patriotism.
This is the most striking distinction
of his Message. The first impression
| is that it is the work of a man chiefly
| bent upon the common welfare by COM
nor cooperation. Party appeal and
party argument are wholly wanting
Upon two of the three great questions
that he discusses-the Southern situa-
ton and the finances-his views are
perfectly clear and firm, but they are
the views of patriot, not of a partisan.
We are not now considering whether he
ought not to be, in the usual sense, a
partisan, or whether the government can
be carried on except on a party basis.
We are simply stating the fact, and the
fact is most significant, because it sug-
gests that parties are exceedingly dis
turbed The President is a Republican,
yet what he says upon the vital subject
of the finances, of resumption, of re-
nonetization, is unqualifedly condemn
ed by many Republicans, and unquali-
fedly approved by many Democrats.
Yet it is also notorious that unsound
views upon paper money and repudia-
| ton owe their SUCCESS to Democrats as
party, and are resolutely opposed by
| Republicans as a party. The Southern
question is substantially closed, but that
| of the finances becomes more and more
prominent. No one will ac-
/ cuse the President in the financial part
of his Message of s'Johnsonizing, or
deserving his party. He is, in fact, in
no part CT It more Republican.
Viewing the Message, then, as the
paper of Republican President, what
DO we find to be his view of Republican,
ism? Constitutional self government of
States resumption of specie payments.
with gold standard; and reform OF the
methods of appointment and of political
dictation in the civil service. Those are
| the three subjects that are paramount in
| the Message and in the public mind.
| Could the Republican party, could any
| party, occupy tirmer ground. Even If
discussions among Republicans as to
methods and details should rupture the
| party, q new political organization would
| certainly gather about those policies.
/ No sane man believes that the success CT
the present Democratic party would
secure honest money or administrative
reform. They are essentially Repubi-
can demands, and if they can not be OBJ
! tanned under that name, theS Will be
sought under another. The non-parti-
sanship of the Republican Message is
gymbolical of the great relaxation Of
party spirit. The chief aiment of that
spirit has recently been the sectional
/ hostility that sprang from slavery and
the war, carefully stimulated by parti-
san appeals for the protection of the
negro by force of arms. But there is an
undeniable and rapidly growing Repub-
lican conviction that the military force
not only can not and does not remedy
the wrongs of the negro, but that it has
| been used for the selfish purposes of
| those who make the wrongs of the negro
a cloak for their own advantage. OBJ
viously the Republican party can never
again be rallied upon platform, direct
or indirect, of military control of any
| Southern State, If that be so, can any
platform be proposed more truly adapt
! ed to the time and the public interest
| than that indicated in the Message2
| Grant that the Administration does not
itself consistently stand upon it. That
may be regretted, but it does not affect
the platform. Grant that civil service
reform is much more radical and COM
prehensive than the Message suggests.
| That may be true, but it does not touch
the point. The Message takes ground
upon which every patriotio Republican
can securely stand. Should tue presi-
dent himself be driven from If, aud by
any sophistry should he be induced to
surrender what he regards as the Execu-
tive right and duty of nomination, his
/ view of that right and duty would still
remain unassailabIe, and his conviction