The Plymouth Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1878-1901, 1879-05-15
TURN BACK TIE HANDSw


the old days bids the Republicans that body be
not only patient, but silent and submissive while
he and his political associates work otheir own
sweet will. Confederate generals direct the coun-
sells of the organization that controls the Senate,
apportlon among themselves the committees and
among their constituents the patronage dictate the
course of legislation, and shape the policy OF the
sr 4. s ct the the aH
Mr., Reagan; late Postmaster-General Of the Con-
N the cha%sf late %
others more, or less prominently connected
with that disastrous political venture. have
cratic party back to power to relieve the country
from the evil consequences of eighteen years OF
Radical msrue. it is the duty of the present Con-
gress to enter immediately upon the task In Doth
Senate and House there is uncommon anxiety on
the part of the gentlemen newly invested with
power to enter at once upon its exercise Instead
of shrinking from its responsibilities. they are
eager to assume them. And we must give them
credit at least for apparent sincerity. they GER
talny do act as though they fully believed In them
selves and believe that they had actually been sent
for crisis. In their expressions their tone, their
plainly possible their belief that their reappear-
Congress is the result not of their own but
of the countrys confession of error and repentance
They have come back. they say, In so many WORDS,
to correct the mistakes and sweep away the legsla-
ton of the past eighteen years They have conf
dence in themselves, to say the least
And who pray, are the gentlemen stepping so
confidently to the front, and bidding everybod
else stand back while they take the Government in
4
laws and their startling proposals of radical
changes invite to scrutiny of their record, and
inquiry to their fitness for the revolutionary
proceedings they have in contemplation. What Is
the record of these men who assume responsibility
with such lanny self-confideneeI 1t is not far to
seek. In 1852 they were intrusted with almost I'M
questioned power in all departments of the Govern
ment and nearly all the States, There was scarcely
an opposition. What their craftsmanship In
three years they had set on foot agitation which
cost them their majority in the House and created
sectional division in parties and this continued
m hon bafr min yfl hey set mt fnr
Of r' their n' hands in $3.50. and then they hey
destroy it. What fitness does the record
of those eight years showi They tried for four
years Government OF their own. Does that re-
cord show such large capacity fer craftsmanship
that should send out for them to come back and
take the old Union in chargef Here are financial
questions to be solved by legislation What GER
tIicate of fitness for this work do they bring Only
this: that they left the Government in 1851 in
such Strengthened circumstances and impaired credit
that its bonds were at discount and it could
scarcely borrow money IN the markets of the world
and that in their experience of a confederacy
was so worthless to be a source of mirth among
themselves And they have come back to Coy
eminent whose credit has been raised by the legis
lation of these eighteen to par with that of
the wealthiest nations in the world to a Govern
ment winch the same legislation has put in posi-
ton to redeem its obligations IN the money of the
world. This is the legislation they feel called upon
to sweep away. and this the certificate of their t
ness for financial administration.
Here serious questions of the relations between
capital and labor: what special fitness have they
shown for legislation upon this subiecti Only this:
that eighteen years ago they struck out for them
selves in a new Government whose cornerstone
was the system of slave labor. There is to-day no
such system IN existence, and their acquaintance
with that of free labor and its relations with
capital dates only from the fall of their abortve
Confederacy. Here is the system of internal rev.
the late Confederate Vice-President, Mr. Stephens,
who says il should be thoroughly overhauled and
changed what constitutes their fitness for this
| r.PE4 mi hat ahal lInn 10
system necessary and that its collection in the
Southern States is attended with more trouble
and expense than anywhere else because resistance
to the law is more general there. There laws
to be passed and appropriations to be made for
the postal service what constitutes the quail
fcations of these gentlemen for this duty Moth
ing that we know OF, except that they come from
section which has never paid for its postal
rived from the profits of the service in the Northern
States and required additional appropriations from
the Treasury TO furnish MS mail accommodations.
Did Mr.. Reagan the ex-Postmaster-CeDeral of the
Confcderacy show special fitness for legislatipg
upon this subject when he recommended the pay
ment of mail contractor who was shown by the
records of his own department to have been paid
once already Mr.. Stephens expresses a purpose to
repeal the law taxing State Bangs so that the sew
eTa States may charter banks of issue, as of old.
No one who is old enough to remember the con-
venience and the beauties of the State bank cur
rency enjoyed before the Will after tins
question Mr. Stephens wisdom as q legislator upon
that subject. States which repudiate their bonds
might perhaps ts charter o., banks whose notes would
greenbacks. 1t does not now seem probable though
But the great thing which all Democrats unite in
for is TO repeal the infamous election laws And
what is their special fitness for this of legisa-
tionf Well, only this !: that among the first of
fences for which this party was repudiated by the
people twenty years ago was Its outrageous frauds
upon the ballot-box in Kansas, in the attempt of
these gentlemen who have come back to govern us
TO steal that State that, from that time on they
have VIGOROUSLY defrauded the ballo-box when
ever and wherever their needs reaured and opnor
tunity offered notably this city and that they
have reganed their ascendancy in the National
Legislature by means of the most unblushing
frauds at the polls the Southern States that were
ever known even in that party's history. That
qualities them to be the protectors of the ballot and
TO legislate wisely for the freedom of elections
These are the men and this the party who have
come back to take charge of the Government and