The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-04-06
Southern Men of Honor.


The Southern men who bargaincd with
HAYES cmssarics for tho completion Of
the electoral count. are very anxious to have
IT understood that they had taken their
stand in favor of a summary contamination
Uf tho fraud before any pledges Of COM
pcnsation were cNactcd from FOsrrH and
the rest This idea Is made especially
prominent in Mr.. JOHN YoUNa Browns ac-
count OF the intrigue. But it Is u mere
fetch, and as clumsily employed by BROWN.
1t aggravates instead Of softcning the es-
Bcntal features of bargain and sale which
mark the whole transaction.
II Mr.. Brown and senator GORDON were
not aitera definite contract when they sought
FOSTER in that committee room. what We're
they aftcrt Brown talked very loftily. TO
be- sure, about the high sense Of honor
which, according to his notions, required
Democratic Representatives to vote for
the completion of the Returning Board fraud
under the unconstitutional Electoral bill
but he also Informed Mr. FOSTER, pretty
distinctly. that the country did not agree
with him, and among the rest his own con-
Htitucnts were not at all pleased with the
WELLS fraud, although supplemented by
the jog BRADLEY fraud: that the " line
was wavering. and, If once broken, HAYES
was about az likely to bc President as little
CHARLEY FOSTER himself was that in short.
they needed assurances. and must have them.
that without them the southern mon would
break incontinently, and BEowN candidly
acknowledged that even his own superior
virtue wae idlygiving way under the pres
sure Of public opinion. Thcrcupon CHARLEY
FOSTER assured him with oily fervor
that HAYES was all right. But that was
not enough Mr.. BRowN required writ
ten contract signed. scaled, and dcliv-
ercd-and he got it, This being passed
around. stinoned up the men Of nice honor
and the fraud went smoothly on to the end
In short, these gentlemen make a great
merit Of having taken no bounty when
they enlisted with the HAYES ianizarics and
yet they confess that while drawn up in the
front Of battle they cxtorted written terms
under threat Of dcsertion back to the camp
whence they came. They are doubtless per-
fcctly correct when they say this operation
cannot he called n bargain. bargain
Implies equality or something like it. in the
parties to it. But here the gentlemen Of
honor had the HAYES men at il terrible
DISADVANTAGE, and they cxacted, not a bar
gain, it i true, but surrender Ii HAYES
and his willy managers have hitherto with
held the consideration, they doubtless plead
durcss to their own conscicnccs, and sncer
at the simplicity which transferred an en-
pre in spells and plumber 10 defeated
party in return for an cxtorted and
naked promise, which it would bc in
the power of the Fraudulent President
t. keep or rcpudlate a. he liked.
Mr.. HAYES has accordingly stood all these
weeks compluccntly considering whether he
will redeem any one of these solemn pledges
which were made in his name. certainly
with his knowledge, and almost certainly
by his authority. H. has at length appoint
Ell a commission Of his own partisans to as
certain and inform him whether ii will be-
10 his interest, or that Of the Republican
party, to keep faith with the southern pha-
lanx, without whose ondeavors in the last
instance the labors Of WELLS and JOE BRAD
LEY would have gone for nothing. And that
T. not the worst OF it. Mr.. HAYES Is no
kngor under durcss. He has bccn boosted
into the scat of SAMUEL J. IILDEN, and al
though. as Mr.. BRowN might have said, and
probably did, he has no more right 10 it
than little CHARLEY FOSTER, he Yields the
executive power OF the nation, and is fully
determined to eXtort new and different
consideration for each tardy and partial
measure Of Justice 10 the South. lie will
allow the crushed States 10 rise, provided
their Legislatures consent 10 be mlsreprc-
scented by Administration Senators, chosen
nj Washington; and provided also, their rep
rcscntntNcs in Congress agree to another
piece Ol trcarhery, and vote to turn the
Democratic House over 30 the Republican
minority Upon these conditions, Mr.. HAYES
has a vague notion that he may fulfil some
Of his previous promises; and that to effect
this second trade for the same consideration
n the object Of the Louisiana Commission
nobody any longer prctends to doubt
We would modcstly suggest to these
Southern men ~ honor that they make
no more bargains with the Fraudulent
Administration. They have already caused
the defeated Republican candidate 10 be in
iu.guru ~ President, in iurthrrancc Of their
supl ~od local Interests. Let them pause
lh'rc. The betrayal Of the House Of Repre-
snntatives into the hands Of the common
enemy will Ice one step too many. We
d. not believe that even the people Of
Louisiana and South Carolina would be-
IN hurry 10 engage in this vulgar pro-
CO.'S II tlanlc Moreover, it would be- q
perfectly gratuitous act II pcrndy.
GRANT uttered truth which HAYES,
dull as he is, fully comp,ohcnds, when
b. told PACKARD that public scnt-
m"nt would no longer sustain the
ne OF troops to support rascnly carpet-hag
governments, The Democrats defeated the
Army bill in the last Congress because the
Republicans refused 10 accept provision
which forbade the employment of soldiers in
This long since Infamous Partisan work.
When they have organized the next House,
They will give Mr. HAYES theonc alternative
Of using the army for lawful purposes, or
having no army at all Iut il these men If
honor Of course they are all honorable men
who stood by for n price and saw the cinc-
rial count completed, shah also a. i-t the
Republicans IN stealing the organization Il
inc lloo-" from the hands into which the
F"il' gave it, Mr.lIAYEs will got his army
h'il passed To -ut himself Then, when they
have parted finally with the power Of sell.