The Orangeburg democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1879-1881, 1879-04-11
ORANGEBURG, 5. c., APRIL IL, 1879.
Congress-.

,.r; .. congress.
The battle of words, which COM
mepced last week in Congress, still
continues with unabating fury. On
the Republican side, as usual in such
aases, the cry OF Revolution is raised.
They would have the people, more
particularly those Of the NORTH and
West, to believes. That The action Of
the new Do.pocratic Congress, mani
tests spirit directly destructive Of
Constitutional liberty and hostile to
fhat peace and harmony which should
charac' elize the administration of the
government Of tho land. They charge,
and vehemcntly, thai the Democrats
ase opposed to- the leading theory OF
our government, and assert, with
some slight indications Of passion,
that. no measure here can become a
law without tile free consent Of the
House. the free consent of the Sen
ate, and the free consent Of the tx
ecu,iRe., They even 60 SO far as to
tell the people that the Democrats
are trying 70 bull-.loze President
Hayes. There can be no better proof
furnished the world Of lost power on
She part of the truly; loyal party than
fhis kind of fspecious pleading. What
'dtd the Republicans care ten years ago
about the free consent of House, SEN
ate or Executive. The theory of Re-
publican government vas violated
Time after time when Tue rights Of tho
South were destroyed and the privi-
leges of tho governments denied her
citizens without care whether they
consented or not. The cry Of Rcvo-
luton never once entered their fertile
bruins, when, by acts of Congress,
the South was placed under the con-
4rol Of vicious ignorance, and her
White citizens made to feel all the
weight of an unjust exclusion from
participation in the affairs Of the gov
ernment. Bull,dozing an Executive
was not then an evolution III Rcpub-
Icau tactics when Andrew johnson,
b halfway Democratic President, was
impeachcd because he had the ex.
tremc boldness to oppose these revo-
lutionary measures by vctoing the
4cts. Jtis strange how waning pow
Sr will prate of wrongs and injustice
apparently ,forgctful of the wrongs
perpctratcd when in control.
F. 1t seems That the Republicans in
their great zeal Tor tile Jrae consent
Of RepIsse2tati}es, have lost sight of
r ,lsee, ballot Cor Tic people. AS the
election law now stands, few poli,i-
cal leaders, as an ctionecring
scheme, can create row at the polls,
ps they have often done before, and
thus give pretcxt for somc Radical
army officer to march up his armed
troops ostensibly to keep the peace
put rreally to bull-dozc voters of the
apposite party Such spectacle is
; standing olandets upon Republican
institutions ;and .. living menace to
The fights Of. the citizens, as well as
the corner stone Of a military despot.
ism. There cannot be q free: ballot
in the presence of bristling bayoncts
4snd' upon the success OF tho Demo
cratic party in the four measures,
~hich occasion! this debate, bangs all
tlhia That, is we,th: preserving in the Amer
can Republic.
Let the Impression once obtain,
and especially. among Nh ignorapt
class like thei negro, that the govern
Fste9lnt st9lnt intends to. uphold one set of
::andidases at the expense Of another,
nhict, io virtually the meaning Of the
present iaw, the theory of rcprcscat-
}uy,e government falls TO the gronnd,
:. = - ~