The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-12-05
RetributiVe Justice in The Senate.


1t is not strange that the Republ
| cans are chagrined over the desertiop
Of Patterson and Conover; but they
should consider the sweet uses of adj
versity. These are the melancholy
days OF reaction after a long period of
excitement and brilliant achievement
In behalf of what is commonly called
The progress of the race; and many
useful moral and political lessons NAV
be drawn from current events. The
The enthusiasm of philanthropy in be.
half of the negro has been perceptibly
chilled by the essential failure of the
freedmen to meet in any becoming
spirit the responsibilities of citizen
ship. Men who ten years ago de-
claimed about the African as the hope
OF the South are now agitating and
considering schemes for the colonial
tlon Of the race in Liberia. The pa
tllotIc fervor of the war has cooled,
and 10 its place we have the cynicism
of men made Respondent by the story
of Grantism in regard to the destiny
OF republican institutions, and inclined
to doubt whether our Government was
worth fighting for if nothing better
than Nj. Conkling's duel with the
President is to come of it. The gilt
tering bubble of an inflated and delu-
siye prosperity has collapsed with the
extravaganza into which it tempted
society; and under the stress of their
contracted circumstances the Quixotic
confidence which led the people to be-
lieve that nothing could be easier than
to pay off in gold an enormous debt
created in deprecated paper has been
succeeded by a craven inclination to
shirk honest obligations such as is
manifested in the passage of the Bland
Silver bill. A few years ago every
politician who supported the war"
was considered a Brutus. Now tue
public is ready to believe any evil of
any man who holds or aspires to pub
lie Office. Society is visibly caught 10
a counter-revoluiionary movement
one of those curious eddes 10 the
stream of time, out of his observation
of which Goethe evolved his theory of
the spiral progress of bumanity, and
which enable US to coIlate cause and
effect and trace the course of the logic
of events. AS we would learn moth
ing from the experience of others, we
are now called to learn through our
own experience the truth of the teach
ing of all sound moralists that excess
of zeal in the best of causes is danger
Gus: that resort to temporary politi-
cal expedients to prevent the doing of
things disag' eeably just, entails it's
own punishment. In word, the re-
suits of the last sixteen years are now
putting to the proof, and some of the
things of which the people have been
prondest are in fair way to be found
10 this light, sensible Re-
pubicans ought to get and will get
good deal of valuable instruction from
the loss by their party of the control
of Congress. The House of Represen-
tatives has been made Democratic
mainly through the increase ia the
of Southern members cop-
seqnent upon the provisions of the
constitutional amendments;
and this great increase 10 Southern
strength now appears as a perpetual
menace to the INSCRIPTIONS partisan
supremacy which it was chiefly de-
signed to insure. The Senate, in
Which the Democrats bad not yet Sc
cured an absolute majority, is sudden
Is lost to tue Republicans through the ,
detection 1.-Two of the carpet-bag pol !
ticians in behalf of whom the North ,
,rn Republicans have filed their con- ,
science with so many crimes against f,
eason, justice and the law. 1t is
worse than idle to attribute this sud ,
len catastrophe to Democratic in 9
rigues, and it is worse than foolish to n
nveish against its immediate authors r
IS traitors.
Honest Republicans should bow their j
leads to the blow and confess that f
hey are punished where they have v
inned. Men who consented to the "
citing up of false governments and +
ogus Senators ought not to be sur a
rised when these creatures of per- b
erted ingenuity suddenly become i'm n
lements for the torture and the dis 8
iplining OF their creators. Those who G
elieve that there is moral law in VI
olitics ought to rejoice when they see C.
nat its slow DEGREES are at last being ii
ut into execution, even to their own y
isgrace.--[Wolld. y