The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-02-23
WASHINGTON.
The Louisiana Prosecutions.
THE SILVER BILL.
Special csrs.pOnd ace q at Inttais@er.
WASHINGTON, February 90.
THE LOUISIANA rRosEcur1oNs.

Special certIpond nee ef tht LnttiliOaetr.
WASHINGTON, February 90.
THE LOUISIANA PROSECUTIONS.
Public opinion Is not always right,
though demagosues are fond Of apostro.
phizing it as the great iniallible; but
public opinion, II properly interpreted,
is very apt to furnish an outgiSing on
any public question that will show how
the wind is blowing. As we read there,
the Louisiana prosecutions are beginning
to sour on the popular stomach. Perhaps
this is all wrong. 1t may be that each
member Of the Louisiana Returning
Board ought to be nailed by the
ears and exposed in the market
place while the people shout "cru.
city him! cruelty him" But who
shall say that even this would satisfy an
impartial justice who shall say
that among the whi.e.souled sta tes.
men who are conducting these Lou.
isiana prosecutions there are not
some who are in the full fellowship OF
crime with the Returning Board men ia
any wrong they may have done? Itwould
be an ungracious task to champion the
cause OF any man who was mixed up in |
that Louisiana affair. This applies
equally to both sides. II is no secret that
Tilden's friends dickered with men who
were thought to represent the controlling
influence 10 the Returning Board. There
was some crooked work down there
which has not yet been Strengthened out
and probably never will be. II set
tling day ever comes It will be found
that It was not one.Rided affair by any
means. This ia the view which public
opinion 10 taking. In his recent letter,
Wells hits some hard blowa, which have
made an impression here. A Southern
Democratic Congressman, who stands
solid with his party when It comes
10 vote, said TO your correspond.
ent to-day, "'rhe country is get
ting sick OF this thing-il's all
bosh anyhow! Our people bad better
stop throwing stones; they'll find II doesn't
pay. The Louisiana Democrats were
glad enough to make promises to get the
troops away and they ought to keep ihem."
This is the point. The Louisiana Demo.
crau pledged them,elves to ''let the dead
past bury its dead;' now they are
raking up the political corpses which |
have strewn their highways since recon-
strnction began. Leading Democrats
who see the hand OF Grammercy Park in
all this maneuveriBg aud bad faith are
not slow 10 vent their disgust in private
conversation. When il comes to field |
day in the House II is very different
matter; then party men must dance to the
music OF the party fiddle. II one thing |
be more apparent here than another it is
yearning and a reaching out alter some. |
thing better in Southern politics than We
have seen for long time. Nobody be-
lieyes that brighter day will dawn while
any set OF men are trying to make party |
capital out Of the persecution OF another
SET. The millennium can't come that way.
A new deal must be accompanied with
fair play or there can be no good In 1t.
The President has slept ou the subject
and concludes that he can afford 10 let
events take their course. The wisdom OF
this conclusion is profound.
H. SILVER Dill.
AZ last we have a silver bill through
both Houses, and soon it will become II
law. What we will do with it and the
way we came by II are matters OF equal
interest. If itfail 10 bring financial re-
lief there will be the shock Of great
disappointment, for much has been made
OF Ii by both sides aud much is expected.
Here Is prediction for what II may be
worth: The law will disappoint its
friends and its adversaries; it will prove
neither 30 good nor so bad a measure as
the prophets have toretoid. Probably
no bill ever offered in Congress made
friends 70 rapidly and silenced opposi-
tion 80 effectively as this same silver bill.
When It was thrown into the last Con.
gress there wero comparatively but tew
who took kindly to 1t. When ringmaster
Bland brought II into the arena this win
ter and exhibited its fne points the re.
ception was noticeably more gracious,
and other gentlemen sprang TO the front
with something of the same kind-all
anxious to coddle the "dollar Of
the fathers" The secret lies on
the surface; whether It be q good
thing or bad thing the people are
anxious to try silver once more rs money.
So It grew in favor with Representatives
and Senators, ever ready to yield what
they think the people are determined TO
have. But the Senate WAS pleased 10
hedge the bill about with safeguards and
restrictions which the House had not
cared TO bother with in its hurry. This
1t was which produced the anomalies
appearing in the vote just taken in the
House. The amended bill caused some
queer discussions, accessions and deser-
lions. There were ultra silver men who
would not touch il; ultra gold men who
gave II their support-the first because
they wanted something better, the second
because they feared something worse.
The entering wedge has been driven in,
and we shall probably see more before
we see less. Men Of the Bland school are
determined to put through bill author.
izing free and unlimited coinage. What
the President will do noone knows, and
speculation is Idle. The most reliable
ou,givings point TO a veto, in harmony
with the declarations OF his last message.
There are, however, those who claim to
know that there will be no veto. There
has been no test vote to show whether the
bill can command two-thirds vote over
the veto. ltthat come 1t will drive away
many hard money men who have voted
for the bill; and 1t is very likely to con-
solidate the whole silver vote. In this
event two-thirds would be assured almost
beyond peradyenture. On this point there
Is much speculation and very indnstri-
ouP, though apparently unsuccessful, at.
tempt to pry into the secrets Of the White
House. No President ever kept his own
counsel better than Rutherford B Hayes.
LEXINGTON.
L a :