Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-08-22


stroying angel of slavery from the terri
tories. As soon as it came of age it
grappled with the demon of treason, and
slew him who sought the young nations
life. Beneath its divine displeasure, hu-
man slavery disappeared from our land
forever. Of four millions of bondmen
it made freedmen Of four millions of
freedmen it made citizens. Divine in its
compassion as in its anger, no soldier Of
slavery was punished for his unmanly
crime. He was treated as an erring
child. Treason was not made odious by
national decree. One by one, platoon by
platoon, state by state, the dastards who
fought fiercely iii order that they might
safely enslave weaker race; that they
might rob the blacks of the fruits of their
toll, and sell the fruits of their love, with
out rebuke or retribution-were rapidly
restored to their civil and political rights
The prOdigal sons were welcomed home.
They were trusted. History has no sim
liar story Of magnanimity to tell. No Or
ganiZatiOn Of men, whether religious or
political, has more lustrous record then
the republican party. Other parties have
blessed their friends; this party alone
showered benefactions on its foes For
once only on this planet the Hottest teach
ing Of Christianity was practiccd by a
political organization.
ENEMIES TO GOOD GOVERNMENT AGAIN
UNITED.
With what result? There is a solid
south. That solid south has allied its pO-
litical fortunes with the democratic par
ty. They are as Eng and Chang, one and
indivisible. Without the solid south the
I faal,1a Foo
tion-a moral night-scavenger's cart, la
den with the otfscourings of Tipperary
civilization, instead of a war-chariot
armed with disciplined and eXultant SOL
diers, confident of an early victory over
their benefactors.
No man denies or can deny that the
south will rule the republic if the demo-
cratic party succeeds at the next presi-
Dental election. By "south" [ mean
the old rulers of the southern confedera-
cy-the bourbon demOcracy-not the peO-
pie of the southern states, but the present
controllers of their political organiza-
tions. For, the eX-cOnfGderate politicians
and the democratic leaders of the south
are the same men, inspired by the same
spirit, teaching the same ideas, cursed in
soul by the same prejudices of race and
of creed, which caused the old south TO
linger so far behind the north in the
march of civilization, and flung her at
last into the arms of civil war.
Are these men fit to govern the nation !?
/ answer, no. Is this, then, a time to de-
spair of the republican party? l answer,
no.
/ do not say that the south should not
rule the republic solely or chiefly be-
cause its leaders were traitors to the re-
public. That, surely, is a sufficient rea-
son. A protest against the rule of the
runners is the dictate of prudence, not the
utteranCes Of hate. We did not let the
south 90; we cannonaded it back into
the union; we compelled it to lay down
its arms. We did not dream of concili-
alton until resistance ceased. And now,
| hold, the cure for all the evils we en-
dUre-all of them spawned by rebellion
is not to be found in conciliating the
men who owe their lives and estates to
our compassion, and repay the debt by
undying hatred and ceaseless obloquy,
but in maintaining the ideas and by
sustaining the party that restored the I'M
ion of the fathers, clad now in the white
robes of freedom, unsullied and ire
prOachable. 1t is civic blasphemy
against the memory of the glorious hosts
of young men who went down gladly in
to their graves that the union might live,
to compare them, even for a moment,
with the dark legions who preferred to
risk their lives rather than part with
their unhOly power to enslave and traffic
in the flesh and blood of their fellow-men.
Such comparisons are odious in the
sight of God and men. They obliterate
the distinctions between right and wrong.
They abolish all the heroisms of history.
They put crowns on the heads of persecu-
tors and martyrs alike. There is only one
phrase that correctly describes this theo-
ry and, although, it is not classical, it is
pictorial; that phrase is, moral n1uSh. 1t is
the philosophy of bats and owls-the
blindness that comes to the purblind by
an excess of light And whatever the
blind leaders of the blind may say, his
tory will record that the great struggle of
the rebellion was not contest of ''Greek
against Greek" but of the powers of
darkness against the powers of light; of
ancient barbarism against modern civil
ization; of despotism founded Gas AL
eXander II. Stephens stated that the
southern confederacy was to be founded)
on the slavery of the black race against
free republic, based upon the sacred
brotherhood of man.
INCAPACITY OF SOUTHERN STATESMAN
SHIP
But apart from its crime of rebellion,
the south should never rule this republic,
because it has demonstrated It's incapaci-
ty to govern republic. Craftsmanship
is a physical science. A youth asked
one of Plutarch's heroes if he could
play flute "No" was the statesman's
naughty reply; "but / can make a little
village great city" That is the test Of
craftsmanship. Tie south can play on
the flute of its own vanity, it can blow
the trumpet of its praises admirably well,
for egotism is the distinguishing trait of
all semi-civilized and uneducated men
and nations. But the perpetual vaunt
about southern craftsmanship could
be silenced at once in any grand inquest
by the simple demand for a solitary
proof of it, Where is that evidence to
be found?
Southern craftsmanship had an easy
task Nature gave New England rocks
and ice as its chief natural products ;
and New England is now fertile, intelli-
gent and rich. Her colonies are the
most prosperous commonwealth that
the sun looks down on, and their people
are educated, industrious, and humane.
Nature gave the south an earthly para
disc, with a sweet climate and affiuent
lands, and royal harbors, and great riv.
erS that arteried every state, and mines
of more than imperial wealth. What is
the old south today as compared with
the old north? A bowling wilderness,
with people ignorant, indolent, and
poor.
If it is answered that the present pow
erty of the south is the result of the war,