The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-03-05
THE FUTURE.

been elected President Of the United
States for the ensuing four years. He
ok the oath OF Office yesterday, and
will, no doubt, be formally inaugurated
day. There was time when that
O flee assured for its incumbent the re-
speet of every American. and when its
possession might be source OF pride
to the noblest and best In the land. But
when Mr.. Hayes plants his foot across
the threshold of the White House
ushered in by J. Madison Wells. Tom
Anderson and Joseph p. Bradley, he
will certainly become an object Of an
tipathy to the honest and right-thinking
millions OF his countrymen.
He will be asserting title to an Office
| W hich has hitherto been the guerdon of
more or less distinguished public ser
vice, not from the suffrages OF his fellow
citi sens, but from the fergeries and per-
iuries of as vile q conspiracy as has ever
sh AIMED the criminal history OF man.
In 1919 the fell spirit which new sways
the destiny Of the American people first
made Its appearance in their history.
and the sound of lts coming struck upon
the ears Of the wise and patriotic
The mas jefferson like fire bell in
the night" awakening him to the con-
viotion that the labor Of his life and of
those of his contemporaries had been
vain. Then was first manifested the
spirit of sectional domination, de-
termined to rule without regard
to right, justice, or good faith.
The danger was great and
alarming; but compromise was
effected by the sacrifice of constitution
al right, which smothered for time the
fire. leaving it to shoulder and spread
beneath the surface of a treacherous
peaeu. From time to time the flames
burst through and cast their lurid glare
around, but again and again did COM
romise renew its work, and the alarm
wac quieted by promises and pretesta-
ito ne, which were but the snares Of de-
eeit and could not, in the nature Of
thi ngs, add feathers weight to the
force Of the original obligation. which
had ceased to command any respect.
Thus things progressed, until in 1861 1t
br oke forth in q terrific conhagration
which defied any further temporizing
expedients, and pursued it's wild way
until the temple Of American liberty
W az left q blackened and hideous ruin,
and the American government stood a
m onument Of treachery and falsehood.
baS a.,f Al AZ - rnnHftf,Yttnr hu1
been set aside, and a despotism estab-
II shed in the country, which boasted
that IL was the home of liberty. Mr..
8 eward's little bell consigned any eiti.
zen TO Punishment or Imprisonment in
Ill slant fortresses as completely and as
m UGH beyond inquiry or redress as ever
did the tettres de cdchet of Louis XIV.
Thirteen States-as many as had
originally rebelted against the
British government - were strip
ped of that right of self-govern-
ment which the Declaration of Inde-
pendence had proclaimed to be inalien-
able in every people, and without the
recognition of which all government
was illegal and unjust. This was all
done under the specious pretense COM
mon to all tyranny, that the safety of
the people was the supreme law; and to
quiet the public conscience and allay
the alarm which might be occasioned
by this assault upon the traditions OF a
free people, the Congress, during the
war, repeatedly declared by resolution
that this suspension of the constitution |
was but temporary expedient |
rendered necessary by the |
unholy act of the South |
in claiming to exercise the right which |
It believed had been bought with the
blood OF Its people and recognized by |
the fundamental law of America. Mad
dened by q passion wholly unwarranted
by either fact or reason, the people OF
the North abandoned the constitution
to thesemost lawless politicians, under
the fatal delusion that 1t would be re-
stored to them when the emergency
had passed.
But never in all the tide OF time has
a people who committed this extreme
folly ever recovered their liberties except
through blood, and seldom even thus.
From that day the constitution has
been nothing more than a word for
knaves to juggle with. When the re-
suit of the war had left unlimited power
in the hands OF raging passion, these
politicians laid aside the veil of hypocri-
cy, and Thad. Stevens, the bold leader
OF the House, in the frankness Of his
lawless nature, openly declared that
che was d-ned fool who talked about
the constitution. In this he was the |
true representative Of the party the
vital principle of which was q
defiant rejection Of the unquestioned |
Of that instrument Assum- |