The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-02-14
VIVA. Is y ..Po:i.,eal onsnce,"

part of the Louisiana authorities in the
Board. We fear the President is treading
on unsafe ground, and that unless he re-
traces his steps he is in danger of slumping
into bog. Most assuredly he will take no
cognizance OF any bargain, agreement OF
understanding entered into previous to his
inauguration, since there could have been
no greater breach of decoruin than
for II Presidential claimant to make
himself party to bargains for get
ting himself counted in. In spite OF
all that the notorious W. Chandler
has asserted no fair minded citizen believes
that Mr.. Hayes made any engagements in
the first months Of the year 1877. All that
he authorized Congressman Foster, with
whom he was in correspondence, to say was
that he firmly adhered to the declarations of
his letter of acceptance in the preceding
June. Those declarations, indeed, commit
ted him to the Southern policy which he
afterward pursued; but he pursued that
policy not in consequence OF II bargain but
because he was fully and voluntarily COM
mittod to it months and months before it
was known that an exciting complication
would arise from the closeness OF the
electoral contest. His Southern policy
was not the result of any eleventh
hour understanding with Southern poll
ticians, but the necessary sequel of his
letter Of acceptance and tulfilmcnt Of his
voluntary pledges made in the earliest stage
of the Presid entail canvass. His Southern
policy was OF the result of bargain made in
February, 1877, but Of his own spontaneous
declarations in June, 1876. 1t is incredi-
lie, therefore, that he will attempt to main
tain now that the South has not rendered
the stipulated equivalent on which his nom
interference policy was based. There was
no stipulation, and could have been none,
when he of his own free motion com mitted
himself in his letter of acceptance to the
policy which he faithfully carried out after
his accession to Office. 1t would be pre-
posterous for him to say now THAI the
South has not kept its part Of the
engagement when it is so evident
that his Southern policy was not adopted in
consequence OF an engagement but, rs he
has hundreds Of times repeated, in pursu-
ance of his own absolute committals nine
months before he came into office.
If there was bargain to which President
Hayes was in any sense a party it must
have been made subsequent to his Inaugural
ton. But if there was bargain even then
it was compact which requires explana-
ton. 1t would be awkward for the Presi-
dent to explain why, after pledging himself
in his letter Of acceptance to pursue GER
tain course toward the South, he should
make the fulfilment Of his promise depend
on bargain. 1t is not permissible to sup
pose that he would have forfeited his volun-
tary pledge il. he had found that he could
not entice certain parties in the South into
an offer of equivalents. In connection with
this subject the public will not forget the
numerous speeches made by President
Hayes in his extensive tours in tue North
and the South during the summer and
autumn. In one very emphatic and re-
markable speech he told Southern audi
ence that he had adopted his policy only
because he believed it was fright !" but no
conscientious man exacts bargains or stipu-
lations as condition of doing right 1t is
not possible that President Hayes, after all
his speeches and declarations, can say that
his Southern policy was the result of bar
gain and that he has reason to complain
that the. other party to the compact has not
kept faith. Such position would stultify
not only his letter Of acceptance but all the
profuse speeches he made while he was on
his travels. If he adopted his Southern
policy because it was fright" it would i'll
become him to say or imply that he was in
weighed into bargain which the other side
has not kept. Least of all would it become
him to say or to imply that he would have
violated the pledges Of his letter of accept
ance and inaugural address if lie had been
unable to bind certain Southern politicians
by stipulations dictated by himself
IT is rumored that the President has writ
ten a strong letter to Attorney General
Devens which contains expressions show
ing that he is incensed and indignant
at the Returning Board prosecutions.
lie is represented to have denounced
them in that letter as fragrant
breach of faith, and to have inquired
of his law adviser if means cannot be found
for foiling the Louisiana courts. How did
the administration of criminal justice in
Louisiana come within the official purview
OF the President Of the United States? Not
by the constitution, certainly; not by the
Enforcement law. which is intended merely
to protect people Of color, tor neither An
derson nor Wells are prosecuted on grounds
having any relation to trace, color or pre-
vious condition of servitude." From what
source, then, does the President derive his
concern himself with the administers
ton of penal justice in Louisiana
MI fhnn with The alIfii nj ~ ion