New-York tribune., 1879-05-24
HE TAXES THE RESPONSIBILITY.

question which is NJ present HSiot'i"6 VI"
Democratic party. The differences OF opinion
as to the wisest policy are positive ana Wide'
and growing wider and more pronounced every
dav. Singularly enough, the most forward adj
yocate OF the backing down policy is Mr..
Henry Wattors0n, of The Louisville Courier
Journal. who has heretofore had the reputa-
tion of being the most stubborn and uncom-
promising opponent of any kind oil concession,
and who on one memorable occasion couhseiled
resistance to the decision OF the Electoral
Commission, even to the calling out OF lOO,-
600 men to forcibly take possession OF the
Government In q recent article which has
been extensively commented upon, and, by
journals of his own party, severely criticised
he took strong ground against the extremists
at Washington, who seriously propose to with
hold the supplies unless President Hayes will
consent to the passage of the free fraud laws.
lie goes much further than the Republicans
have in denouncing the scheme. 1t is not only
revolutionary, he says but actually revolution
not only revolution, but ruin. We nave
said il seemed singular that he who was so
hot for revolution III 1876 should now take
the lead in opposing revolutionary proceed
ings And yet it need not seem strange when
the circumstances are considered. Nnen ne
advised revolution in 1876, his party STOOD
at the very gate Of power, and had only 70
make a successful coup detGt to enter III
vould have been a great risk TO take, OF
couIse. but il was a great stake, and the blow
vOuld have been struck when the iron was
hot. But the thing these wild reYOluticnlsts
are proposing now, is to stop the machinery
8 a. fnp
animation; to put the country on the rack,
and then appeal to it in the midst of the mis-
chief for their justification. Mr.. WattersOn
has the sense to see that this would be fatal
blunder, and the courage to say so.
He knows that sooner or later the party
must bacl, down, and the sooner the better.
But his manner OF doing it is, like pretty
much everything he does, original. He rocog-
nizes the dilemma in which the majority have
placed themselves, but he says this is more
apparent than real; that it oil arises from
. the er Darts utterances of some of the lead
"ers,n to which "the Republican newspapers,
"being radically dishonest as well as radi-
"cally indecent and eXtrcme''-which he
doesn't mean, but puts In rs a sop to the
blatherskites-haye made an "insincere at
"tempt to commit the Democratic party"
He admits that two Kentucky statesmen
Beck in the Senate and Blackburn in
the House-have led in the utterancc OF ex-
treme views, and lie kindly assumes the re-
sponsibility for them. He says they arc inn
"promptu. efusive men," "Ali that they say
" and all that they do is to be taken with the
technical allowance which candOr always ex-
tends to impulse" There seems to be n
friendly intent in this, though Beck and Black
burn may not think 50. Blackburn, he says,
like Beck Is a voluntary vidette.' They both
" seek glory upon the skirmish Inc, upon
"the outpost, on the enemy's flank and IN his
rear SO that hereafter when these two gen
tlemen swear in their imprOmptu elusive way
that not a dollar of appropriations shall be voted
till the President approves the election bills,
we are not to hold them TO a strict account
for it--they are only "sceking glory on the
" sklrmish fncn They are both, he says,
impatient and restless of restraint and
" their only mistake at Washington is that
they use our rough, devil-mGy-caTe Kentucky
vernacular when dealing with the artfnl
"manipulators of policy and faith that were
" born of the devil and are advanced by all
" the powers of hell.' WattersOn uses it HIM
self, il will be observed not in earnest, how
ever, but only to show what it ISL This being
the kind of men thai Beck and Blackburn
are, Watterson protests that they shall
not be " sacrificed TO the clamor Of the foolish
"and the weak" The trouble is to organize
the back-dOWn 80 "a not 20, more or less,
sacrifice them And inst here comes Waiter
sons proposition. We take upon ourselves"
he says, "the responsibility for all they have
"said; we dismiss them, as far as Kentucky is
concerned, from the controversy; and we
"propose to speak in their room, not only for
" Kentucky, but for the whole South, when
we declare that il is the purpose of no con-
" siderable part of the population to proceed
to any length not distinctly granted by the
q" organic laws that we do not propose to
" "disOrganize the Army that we do not pro-
g pose to starve the Government
So the whole matter is now easy to arrange.
Watterson takes all the responsibility. Con-
gress may now pass the appropriation bills
without riders and go home. Aud when the
people ask Their representatives how they
came TO back down, they will answer: "Oh,
Eve had an impromptu and ELUSIVE man
"from Kentucky in each House who
"souGht glory on the skirmish ine and the
radically dishonest and indecent and ex
"treme Republican newspapers, and the art
"ful manipulators Of a policy and faith
THAT were born of the devil and are advanced
"by all the powers OF hell, made Us think for
ga long time that we were responsible for
them till finally Henry Watterson came for
ward and took all the responsibility on his
Gown shoulders, for them and for Kentucky,
"and the Democratic party, and the universe
" "generay, and told us to go to the country
"and say to it, 'Despotism or Democracy
"WmCHf And then We came away" Sir.
Wnrterson really deserYei gIcAL credlt for iak-