Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-04-19
kevivlnw the Bloody shirt"

on the part Of many of
the leaders Of the Rep ublican par.
ty to revive the "bloody shirt'
Issue on which Hayes was defeated
in 1875. There is a tone of taunt
and recrimination In the references
towards the South of most of the
noted Republicans in Congress.
This was notably the case in the
debate on the election of Door
keeper. Butler and Hale frothed
over with invectives against trail
tors who ought to have been hung
for their share in the rebellion.
Butler, particularly, grew pathetic
over Gen. Shields, a MANNED
Union General, whom he brought
forward with the view of dividing
the Democratic majority. This
hypocritical pretence was well met
by Sunset Cox, who reminded
Butler that Shields had been a
MANNED Union General for the
past fifteen years, and yet Butler
and his party had never done any
thing for him; and by Clymer, who
reminded the Republican side of
the House of the remorseless way
in which they had prosecuted I'm
ion Generals, like Mcclellan, who
happened to be Democrats.
The "bloody shirt" refrain comes
10 us in the utterances of VIM. E.
Chandler and George E. Gorham,
and from myriad other Republican
spouters and journalists. They
aim at the subversion of the home
rule which is rapidly restoring
prosperity to the stricken South.
The theory of these Republicans is
that they own the negro, his vote,
aspirations, all that be is, and that
they are at liberty to GO and take
possession of him, inaugurating
again hell upon earth, the very
moment the Northern heart can
be fired to the proper pitch of ca.
loric. The welfare of the negro
has no part in their calculations.
They look only to the ascendancy
of the Republican party.
Their modus operandi is simple
one. For fifteen or sixteen years
the Republican party has had
possession of offices which have
grown in number until they
amount to somewhere in the neigh
borhood of ninety thousand. Near
ly every Office has been filled du-
ring that time by Northern men.
Yearly every appropriation of all
kinds whatsoever, for the improve
ment of rivers and harbors, for the
erection of public buildings, for
tresses, and what not, has been
made for N orthern States. Now,
if q Southerner happens to slip into
some unimportant little office, it
anappropriation is made for the inn
provement of Southern harbors or
rivers,o or the erection Of Postoffice
In q Southern city, fearful howl of
rage and indignation affrights the
heavens. 1t is infamous and I'M
bearable that the South should
once more be regarded ss part OF
the brotherhood of States. with q
share in the common patrimony,
or that Southerners should ever
again look upon themselves as un-
shaekled citizens of the United
States, just as free to hold office as
other men. They should be eter-
nally doing penance, and should
stand, robed in hair garments, and
covered with sack cloth and ashes,
for the loyal man to point his fin
ger at.
An immense majority of the peo-
pie of the United States are sick of
this mean little game of Lilliputian
statesmen. Many Republicans de-
spise it, and the whole Democracy
should put their foot upon 1t in q
masculine way. The man who
fought in the confederate army,
who has Loyalty returned to his cit
izenship after having had his disa-
bilities removed. is just as eligible
to public office as any man what
soever. The Southern States are
entitled to their regular proportion
of the money expended by the
United States for public improve
ments of all kinds. South
erners are not suppliants and
they should disdain to fill that
role. The American people
showed, in the campaign which
resulted in the election of Samuel
J. Tilden by an immense majority
of the popular vote, and a large
majority of the Electoral colleges,
that they had no sympathy with
the "bloody shirt" cry. The rule
the apostles of the "bloody shirt"
would like to restore In the South
is well illustrated by an incident
which TRANSFERRED in New York, the
other day. When arrested on
warrant for forgery of the endorse
ment on pr omissory note, the
Ex-Governor of South
Carolina, Moses, admitted that he
had committed the forgery, but
claimed that, as the rate OF inter-
NAT AMMAN ripxr on tba face nf the