New-York tribune., 1879-06-06
FJ4TVLENT DECLAMATTON.

1t is scarcely necessary W poIbt ou'' o''ii
to that gentleman himself, that Mr.. Samuel
Cox's political decamati0ns in Congress con-
sist for the most part of irredeemabe nom
sense. He doubtless knows it. But it may be
that he does not know that everybody else knows
il. The public are familiar with his methods
and his style whenever any question comes
ND involving the relations of capital and labor !;
they recognize the demagogue's touch when
he plays upon finance, and they need no IN
| terpreter for his motives when he wakes ln-
dignant at Radical tyranny, or becomes nnctu-
| ously pathetic over the reconciliation OF tDe
Solid South to the Northern Democracy from
whom it has never been estranged, and the
restoration of the Union to Democratic
rule He delivered speech IN the House on
Tuesday, on the repeal OF the Jurors
test oath, and we judge from the brief
| sketch given by the Associated Press,
and the statement that be was fire.
quently applauded on the Democratic side,
| that he was IN the mood of eloquence. lie
| dwelt at great length upon the Inconsistency
of the law, which compelled men who had no
share in the rebellion to take the iron-ciad
oath, and permitted the ex-COnfcderates like
| General Joe Johnston to swear simply to main
|
by the assertion that, under the law of Missouri
recurring "A test oath. "it n Sister OF Charity
- in that State had exercised her heaven born
80 vocation, she would have been dragged into
court and punished by the Radical iiends
''vho now keep the test oath on the statute
"books,r etc. There was applause AZ this
point By whoml BY men who had plotted.
and conspired and made cruel and bloody
war against this Government, and been taken
with arms in their hands. and instead OF be-
ing punished or dragged into court" had
been freely forgiven, restored to citizenship,
and intrusted with political power. They ap-
pauded And sitting there. looking on, were
the Radical iiends" whose fendshnesS con-
sisted in leaving on the statute books test
oath which they need not take. AS to the
Jurors test oath which Mr.. Cox so iiercey de-
claimed against, we know and the country
knows that the Radical fends" have once
repealed if, and that it remains on The statute
books only by an accident of compilation.
| With great heat he demanded that the odiOus
Z" test oaths which had clung like the feelers
"of devil-fish round the body polite" should
be wiped from the statute books, and de-
nounced his opponents as those who "cUlti-
waited hate and vengeance
This was Mr.. COx's eloquence. Let us ex-
anime it. As to the test oath administered to
members of Congress, which rOases his
anger, is there anything fendish in it'll
Does Mr. Cox have any remembrance Of
the bitter circumstances that made the
enactment necessary Or will he main
tam that 1t was never necessary at
all that it was only cultvating hate and
vengeance for Congress to provide that the
men lately in rebellion shOuld not be at lib
erty, Immediately upon laying down their arms
in the field. to enter unchallenged the Legis-
lature of the Government they had endeavOred
to destroy When did it begin to be fiendish
to retain that test oath And in the case
of members of Congress, what is there
fiendish about it anyhow, since no man
is compelled to take it Whom does
it injurc Who suffers the slightest
inconvenience from it Mr.. Cox has, we be-
lieve, once before detained against the un-
just discrimination, which he said compelled
him to take an oath that he bad not partici-
pated in the rebellion, while the men who
were engaged in that enterprise had only 10
swear to maintain the Constitution. And he
talked at that time very much as though he
was ashamed of the fact that he could
take the iron-cad OATH If that is really the
case, it puts the matter in the light of per-
sonal grievance. Mr.. Cox has seen his South
ern Democratic friends walk up and refuse
the iron-cad oath with such an air of su-
periority and conscious pride that he could not
help envying them. He feels that he is dis
criminated against; that when he steps forward
and admits that he can take the test
li. 10
which must lower him in the estimation of
his party. And he wants the fiendish statute
wiped out, not because il discriminates against
the ex-rebels-fOr it does not-but because it
discriminates against him, and forces him to
confess that he had no part in the rebellion.
1t may bo that there are some persons In this
country who still count loyalty no dishOnOr and
who are not only willing, but as matter of
patriotic sentiment are desirous, to have this
oath retained, simply a reminderin dim and
shadowy way that rebellion was once accounted
crime But we do not know that anyone is
strenuous about It, If it hurts the feelings
of Confederate BrigadieIs to be reminded of
their failure in the field. or of Mr.. Samuel Cox
to have to confess that he was not a COnfed-
crate Brigader-why let the test oaths go,
1t is the very least of sacrifices. III the De-
mocracy ever come to full power we shall
have reason to rejoice if they don't make this
sworn iron-clad oath q test for the rejection
instead of the admission of members.
In conclusion Mr.. Cox pronounced q bene-
dicti0n as his "Oniy curse" upon those
who "cutiyate hate and vengeance
meaning thereby the Radical fends" to
whom he had before referred as keeping
the test oaths on the statute books.
IL is impossible for Mr.. Cox not to know the
flatulence of this sort of defamation, though,
az has Lern remarked il is nnIte nnssihle that