Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-06-21
HAMPTON AND THE SITUATION.

HAMPTON AND THE SITUATION.
We print upon our first page, this
week, the able and patriotic speech of
Senator Hampton, of South Carolina. 1t
is not only the speech of a statesman, but
it is a speech which reflects the views OF
nine-tenths of the southern people. Gen.
Hampton says, Nor shall l consent. be-
cause OF any difference of opinion upon
matters of Legislation between the ma
jority and the minority or between the
majority and the president, to close the
courts of justice, stop the administration
of the departments, and embarrass the
necessary and orderly lite of the govern
ment. The constitution, which l have
not idly sworn to support, has provided
the means by which an appeal to the
country can be taken, and it is for the
people to decide whether the presiden-
tlal veto has been wisely and patrloti-
cally used to defeat the will of con
gress which represents a vast majority
of the citizens of the United States"
While it may seem to US, and does seem
to many, the proper course for the de-
mocracy to refuse to pass the appropria-
ton bills in any other manner than that
in which they were first offered to the
president for his signature, we are in
clined to think that few men would &C.
cuse Wade Hampton either OF moral or
physical cowardice or of bad faith to the
democratic party. His Is a character OF
such proportions as to command respect
even from his enemies, and entitle him
to a position OF leadership in his W
party second to that of no man from his
section. We make special selection of
the above quotation because we have
observed a tendency in many democratic
papers toward a t%ire-eating kind OF crit
icism OF democratic congressman who
thought it better to pass the appropria-
ton bills. ave without the repeal of the
obnoxious election laws, leaving ''the
people to decide whether the preslden-
tial veto has been wisely and patrioti-
cally used to defeat the will of congress
which represents a vast majority of the
citizens of the United States" If con-
gress passes the appropriation bills with
these rereal measures engrafted upon
them, and then adjourns, Mr.. Hayes will
either BIO forced to sign them or take
upon himself the odium of starving the
army and stopping the wheels of gov
eminent without one single constitution
al reason, but simply for the partisan
purpose of UNFOLDING republicanlsm and
defeating democracy with a paid army
of deputy marshals and soldiers at the
polls. There would be no escaping this
dilemma except by Immediately recon
vening congress; but it is a very serious
question as to whether the matter at issue
can be sooner settled. and better settled,
for that must also enter into the discus
sion, by congressional perseverance or
by the popular voice. 1t is, in our opln-
ion, so open a question, that it can be
safely lett to such men as Hampton.
Thurman, Pendleton, Voorhees,, Beck
and Bayard to decide. Nothing that they
would do, nothing that such men could
do. would compromise in the least the
constitutional, time-honored and unalter-
able position of the democratic party on
the real question-troops at the polls.
That there is difference of opinion as to
the best method of emphasizing the
ideas of the democracy, and engraftlng
on the statutes the measures which grow
out of them should not cause discussions
among democrats. This is no time for
carping, fault-finding. and hasty, Oft
times ill-informed criticism, by journals
anxious to prove by an assumed zeal
their democracy, which might otherwise
remain IN doubt. The w%atchword of the
democratic party from Maine to Callfor-
mia, and from Minnesota to the gulf.
should be. from now till victory perches
uPOu ~ OottuOl LII SOtCulUClp 1CCU,
UNITY! Petty wrangles and personal
ambitions should give way to the nobler
effort of assisting in carrying out the
great purpose of a great party-the
preservation of civil liberty, and the re-
settlement, let US hope forever, of the
question once before settled between
Jefferson and Adams. The issue is
made up, and, as Mr.. Foster for his
party has accepted it in Ohio, so will it
be accepted by the country, congress
upon one side and the presidential We
toes on the other.
The crop prospects in central Mis-
| our seem. at this writing, to be very
good. A hard April frost did great
damage to whest, thinning it cut in
most fields until there was not more
than a good halt stand, and the snbse-
quent spring drouth caused farmers to
fear a failure in the crop. Rains came,
however. in time to save the wheat, and
though it is nowhere very thick on the
ground this is compensated for by extra
long and well filled heads. Harvesting
began in a small way last week, on
May wheat, and some fields of other va
rieties were cut this week, but the big
work will be done next week. The
acreage in Lafayette county is estimated
to be about twenty per cent. greater
than 1t has eve before been, and it is
confidently predicted by persons who
are well-intormed that the county will
have somewhere in the ~neighborhood
OF n million bushels of wheat to sell.
Grass and oats are very short. Corn
never was in better condition; it is we'll
advanced. and universally clean. Taken
altogether an abundance seems to be
promised to our people, and we hope,
even with moderate prices, to see a de-
cided improvement in times. In con-
versation with one of the lare est buy
ers IN the county, a day or two ago, we
were told that wheat would probably
open at from 80 to So cents here, Judging
by present indications in sales for future