The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-04-08
THE FIRST RESPONSE.


Northern prejudices and sectionallsm came,
last week, from Chicago. The election was
for municipal officers only and derived its
Importance, as an indication OF popular sen
| timent, from the issues forced Upon public
consideration by the Tribune the stalwart or
gan III the West under instructions from
Washington. These issues are all stated In
the recent speeches Of the two worthless we
have named, who nude them for the express
purpose of affecting the election In Michigan,
which occurred yesterday.
The main issue, SO far as we have been able
to understand IL, Is whether ex-President
Davis Ia % great man and az pure patriot
10 Hampden Or Washington, or whether the
test oath for jurors, the infamous election
laws and the law authorizing the surveil-
lance Of civil elections by the army shall re-
main upon the statute books, q perpetual
menace TO American citizenship and Its fran
chises. Exactly what connection there is be-
tween these two propositions Or what they
have to do. separately Or collectively, with the
city affairs OF Chicago we are utterly at d
loss to imagine. Yet this was precisely the
issue that was made In the municipal cleo
liminary skirmish to the Michigan election.
Under instructions from Washington, this
city election was given national Importance
and the fight was made on the approval or
disapproval Of Garfields attempt 10 kick q
backbone into that confirmed invertebrate,
the jelly-tsh fraud at the White House, by
forcing him to thwart the Will of the people,
as expressed by both houses OF Congress, by
| vetoing the repeal OF all statutes authorizing
the presence Of Federal bayonets at the polls
In State elections. On the morning OF the
election, the Chicago Tribune deliberately
made the Issue, by declaring that "every vote
| cast for Carter Harrison to-day, ls vote to
sustain the revolutionary majority in Con-
gress In It's efforts to starve the government"
and, further, that "every vote cast for Carter
Harrison, ID an Endorsement OF the senti-
ment that the character Of jeff. Davis is
az pure and grand as that Of John Hampden
or George Washington. A vote for Mr.. A. M.
Wright ID ON emphatic and indignant denial
OF the insulting proposition. How will the
people decide between the two platforms"
The answer came that very day, and we can
only hope that II may prove decisive In No
vember last Chicago elected q Republican
county treasurer by o majority OF over four
thousand votes. That was before Chandler
had recalled the "Reminiscences that he and
Mr.. Davis had taken an oath. on the same
day, to support the constitution OF the United
States, on which the Tribune based Its conun-
drum. On Tuesday last Chicago responded
to the sentiment by electing Democrat
i l., fx,s,,s bo,t md ma
Were we to accept the issues presented by
the Chicago Tribune az the true ones, we
could notsavoid the conclusion that the people
OF that city, by 1000 majority, regard Mr..
Davis IN the same light that he IL
looked ,iron in the South, as q pure and grand
patriot. the noble representative of noble
people anti noble cause; and that they were
exceedingly solicitous to 'starve the army"
We cannot honestly. however, SO interpret
the result Of this election. We believe rather
that the people Of Chicago simply meant to
| say that Mr.. Davis and all that he had done
belonged to history, and had been transferred
| long, long ago to domain where the Zach
Chambers should cease from troubling and
where rest was assured from the Garflelds.
Like sensible people, they acknowledged that
Mr.. Davis epitaph was not to be written by
this generation, nor his attitude In
history TO be determined by Chicago
They meant further to say that these were
matters which In nowlse concerned Chicago,
and which bore no relevancy 10 the great
and vital questions that had been forced upon
the country by the Democrats in Congress
They did not intend that the immortal ques.
| h,,i, 49, hn
the military to the civil authority, and OF the
State control over the elective franchise
should be obscured and put out OF sight by
the inky clouds Of prejudice spawed out by
such cuttle-flsh az Garfield and Chandler.
The result Of this election shows that the
people OF the West are growing tired OF the
eternal clatter the Republicans are trying tx
keep UP over the war, and that they have In
finitely more common sense and juster ap
probation of the real issues before The
country than the Republicans have beer
willing to concede to them. The terribl.
earnestness Of such men as Thurman ant
Blackburn Is bound to bring into contempt
with honest men everywhere, the shallow
fustian, the hypocritical cant and the In
sincere sound and fury, signifying nothing
OF such men as Garfield Chandler, Frye ane
Conger, who, for dishonest and malignan
purposes, are trying to take living genera
ton from the active pursuits and purposes .
life and make ghouls OF them-giving then
the bones Of the dead and profitless past fo
playthings and Its corpses to feed upon. TIL
debate In Congress has produced this resul
Id Chicago, and In Cincinnati yesterday. Til
augury is all favorable to the Democrats an
will doubtless inspire them with new yea
and determination. ALI that the Demo
Gratis have. to DO = to persist an
keep together and 60 to the country on tn
issues they have made whenever Hayes con
cludes to send them there. Mr.. Blackburn
gave them the true doctrine the other day Il
his manly speech, when he said that the ma
jority in Congress owe it to the people to rul
this country and to rule it In accordance witt
A,F% ha ton "a Ia