Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-11-27
liberality with which the North went tc

lux Ahois hc coySs WINS p" FPSN'"N'N
that touched and moved the great So th-
ern heart. and caused it to beat once more
In responsive throbs to the great heart OF
the North" Fine words are well enough.
but the North would think better Of these
responsive throbs" If they Impelled 1.-THE
great Southern heart to try to master the
motives and policy which Messrs. Blaine
and Conkling. among others, have plainly
stated. Without dwelling too much on
the spectacle" extolled by Mr.. Gordon,
it is evident that the North has more rea-
son in its sense of disappointment than
the South. No Interior object detracted
from the merit of what it did. It's
charity was not a matter of cal
culation. But there was a desire, never
theless, that the South should regard the
help rendered as proof that sympathy is
stronger than sectionalism. and that an
appreciation of the fact should bring North
and South to more cordial understand
ing each of the other.
The popularity of all the Southern
speeches which just now find their way
into print is entire obliviousness to the
considerations which are forcing the North
to the conclusion that, unless the South
changes its attitude. revival of sectional
controversy will be inevitable. The posi-
ton of the malignant partisans who cap
tured Wade Hampton and made the m do
their bidding, who in Louisiana frustrated
Gov. Nichols good intentions. and in
other Southern States carried their point
without difficulty. is Ineligible They
are responsible for the outrages that pre-
coded elections and for the frauds that
characterize them. and they are too auda-
cious to be hypocrtical. When the cam
paign opened. they announced a deter
mination to carry everything. regardless
of means or consequences, and they kept
their word. That is the whole story in
regard to them. But the speech makers
who now come before the country belong
to different class. Moderation and can.
dor are virtues they possess to cultivate
And yet. one after another, they 60 on
talking of the North as though it was
wanton aggressor.-ignoring totally the
facts adduced in support of its allegations
and making no effort to sustain the law or
enforce the obligations of whose violation
the North complains. CALCULATIONS are
plentiful. but all of them are leveled at
republicans who venture to insist that in
a free country elections shall be some
thing better than farce. Not one of
these moderate Southerners has word OF
rebuke for the ruffians who ruled in South
Carolina or the scoundrels who finished
the job at the polls. Not one expresses
regret for occurrences that disgrace the
whole South, which makes itself a party
to them. Is this the result of some defect
of the moral vision, or is 1t evidence of
obstinate wrong doing on the part of the
South and an intolerance that exacts SUBJ
mission from leaders whose personal
character should be pledge of better
thingsp
What Mr.. Gordon calls "a policy of OPP
preston" is, according to the Northern
judgment. policy of justice. The only
''reactionary danger" that is to be appre-
hended is that which proceeds from usur-
patton unchecked and lawlessness unpun.
ished. The North asks that the changes
wrought and the privileges conferred by
constitutional amendments shall be reali-
ties; the South. while pretending to recog-
nize the amendments, practically nullifies
them. The North asks that colored voters
shall be as free as white voters to nominate
candidates. conduct canvass, and to vote
and count votes the South insists that the
whites alone shall rule, and that the
blacks shall either be democrats or sub.
NIT to virtual disfran chisement. Mr.. Cor
don is pious man. but with all his God.
like sympathy" and all his hatred of Cd.
preston. he upholds this atrocious con.
dItion Of affairs and identifies himself
with the brutal elements that are RESPONSE
BILE for it. The piety of the South, in
slaveholaing days, was one of its pecu-
liarities, and Mr.. Gordon preserves its
spirit faithfully. His holiness is like his
love Of liberty,--a convenient thing, that
never stands in the way of success at elec-
tons or protests against democratic meth
DDS of obtaining it.
The class represented by Mr.. Gordon
miscalculate If they assume that the re.
publican party is divided on this subject.
One effect OF the Southern tactics has
been the oblteration of differences which
existed at the beginning of the campaign
and In some degree Influenced its charac-
ter. The Presidents policy, or what is
so termed. is not in dispute. No one pro.
poses to undo what has been done. On
the other hand, no republican, whether
friendly to the Administration or at vari-
ance with 1t, Is In doubt as to the duty
which devolves upon his party in view of
the Southern elections. The law provides
some remedies, and the application of
these will not hereafter be in doubt. a.