The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-02-24
Vnlainy Triumphs.

until now for form sake merely,ls hayes
for President instead Of Tilden, by fraud
and perfdy Of so black character that it
almost staggsrs belief We are not dis
appointed. We had no faith in the Com
mission from its inception, Before the
bill creating il became law we wrote
Without this bin the Democrats had
reasonable certainty of installing Mr.. Til
den into the Presidency. With it, they part |
with that certainty and take the chances
with their opponents with the preponder-
ance against them, for the Commission,
under the bill, must necessarily be com
posed of majority Of their opponents.
But, il was contendcd, by the friends of
the measure, that the Judges of the Su-
preme Court who formed third part of the
Commission, were sworn to settle the mat
ter according to the law and the facts, and
being above the prejudices Of party, they
would do exact justice in the promises.
This train Of argument was cOmbatted by
the fact that these same Judges had shown
BY their decisions in several instances, no
tably in the reconstruction, test-oath, and
legal tender cases, that they could not be
relied on, except to decide adversely to
Democratic views. A decision in favor Of
Mr.. Hayes by Radical Judges would be
no more acceptable to Democrats than If
it we're rendered by Radical President
Of the Senate. The result would be the
same in either case, the different modes
Of reaching it would not change its char
acter in the least. The sequel has shown
that distrust Of the Commission was well
grounded. Would that it had been shared
by Democrats generally, especially those
who had the decision Of the matter in their
own hands in Congress. But they took
alarm at the buster Of Grant Chandler
aud Morton, and the presence Of few
soldiers in Washington, aud, in an evil
hour, yielded all to the enemy The story
is tersely told by Hon. R. Q. Mills, of
Texas--"We had the whole thing in our
own hands, constitutioually and rightfully.
We had all the precedents, but lacked
courage, ard agreed to accept the decision
of tribunal composed of eight Republi-
cans to seven Democrats. We took
chance in lieu of certainly" The right
was unquestionably with the Democratic
party. The constitution, the law, prece-
dent, were all upon its side, and major
ity of quarter of u million of the people.
We then said, if the Democratic party has
not the courage to stand in its own de-
tense upon underground like this, "let
it doff its lions hide and hang a calfskin
on its recreant limbs" The bill creating
the Commission passed, and we know the
sequel; we are cheated out Of the fruits Of
our victory. 1t does not mend the matter
much to reflect that it has been done part
ly by our own act. The Democrats on the
Commission allege perfdy on the part Of
their Republican associates. 1t was agreed
or understood, they say, by both sides,
that the bill contemplated the taking of
testimony and fair settlement Of all ques-
tions pertaining to the election, so that the
conclusion reached might be satisfactory
to the people at large. If that was not
the object in creating the Commission,
what was il created for9 The mistake of
the Democrats was in not having the OBJ
ject explicitly stated in the bill. Nothing
whatever ought to have been left to
agreement" understanding" bubble or
construction. The exact terms of so i'm
portant compact ought to have been
clearly Nominated in the bond" Then
there would have been no chance for per-
idy and the shifts and cxpedients of ras-
Gala. But, to put it mildly, in the Ian
guage Of the Washington Ution, the
Democrats "were magnanimous almost to
the degree Of folly, credulous almost to
the degree Of simplicity, and sanguine to
the degree Of selfdeception." They forgot
that they we're dealing with rogucs, and
gave to their faithless associates advan-
tages, which, however much to their dis
credit, they did not scruple to avail them
selves Of Such victory ought to crisp with
shame the cheeks Of every decent Repub-
lican, and the better class Of that party
are heartily ashamed Of it. 1t is only
''the fellows of baser sort" who exult in
it, the men who consider more the crumbs
which fall from the party table than the
honor and integrity of their party.
Mr.. Hayes will be indicted into the
Presidential chair, but his inward eousci-
BUSINESS will perpetually remind him that
he is filing a place into which he has
crawled ike an abject worm, and which
rightly belongs to another. The same
consciousness viii raakle in the breast of
every Republican who is not lost to a sense
Of shame and deceney, and turn the fruits
Of their victory, like Dead Sea apples, to
ashes upon their lips. 1t must be 50 it
eannst be otherwise. They know, and the
whole eanntry knows, that Mr. Tildon is
the choice of the people, aud that through
the fraud and silIainy Of Returning Boards,
and the peridy Of the majority Of the
Electoral Commissions, he has beenshame-
fully cheated out of the position. Repub.
Eicaa institutions are at an end, free
ballot has been destroyed, force and fraud
arc to take ito place, anarchy and confusisz
are to reign. and blackness and darkness
Lii their horrid ffosfs in the Immediate
future Of our country. Asfor Mr.. Tilden,