The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-12-31
Letter From Colonel Aiken.
WASHINGTON. December "A.

WASHINGTON, December "A, 1879.
To the Editors of the NcaoS 0nd Coz
ricr: To anonymous braying l have no
rcply to make.
r. lust editorial or public criticism I
am not avcrsc. But when l read over that
column of editorial opinion which you
have paraded in yonr issue OF the I'D,
mcthinks l see a veritable lago in the
party, with whom the wish is father TO
the thought he expresses.
take no umbrage at your thus ventil-
atlng the "Aiken 1dca," and Will en-
courage YOU by every means in my pow
er, if you will only write a few more ed
~itorials like that in the same issue, head
ed "The Grant Movement. Shall the
South Capitulate or Fight?'
You stand in that editorial upon my
platform. Speaking of tho Democratic
party, you say, : they must choose a man
whom the North can trust, and that "thc
only way to win is by choN ing q candi-
date in whom the North HIS confidence"
I have asserted that n" partisan under
the banner of Democracy can command
the confidence of Inc Northern people.
Neither Tilden, Hendricks, Hancock nor
Buvard can secure enough Northern cleo
toral votes, in my judgment, to ensure
him, when backed by All entire Southern
vote, an undisputed claim to the ENccu-
tive Chair. Is it reasonable or W i'm
polite for nc to say so? If so, then I
am both impolitic and tlaitorous.
I am net called upon to nominate a
Prcsi lcntial ticket, but l believe there
are men in the North of sufficient purity
of character and weight Of brain to be-
come the peoples candidate, be they
nominated by even the Democratic Con-
vcntion, and who would govern this
country for the benefit of the whole
try, and not simply for the aggrandize-
mcnt OF their party. While / do not
could effect this end, / would be sanguine
of success if such men u, Horatio Scy-
mour, of New York, or David Davis, of
Illinois, were placed in nomination.
/ desire to publish just here some Con-
gressional facts, with which you may be,
but 1 fear your readers arc not, familiar.
The Senate of the United States is COM
posed Of 76 senators. ~ Of whom arc Dem
ocrats, and 30 of these ~ are from the
South, not including Delaware. So that
in this Democratic Senate two-thirds Of
the senators are from the South.
In the House there are 293 members, of
whom 14S are Democrats. and of these
14S Democrats 9S are from tke South, or
very nearly the two-thirds proportion
there is in the Senate. The Forty-fourth
Congress was the first since the war that
was Democratic, and in that body the
South had a majority Of the controlling
party. Now, search through the lcgisla-
ton Of the intervening period, and show
me, if you can, where in any single par
ticular n just share Of legislation was
awarded the South. $1,000. 900 are voted
away annually to pension Northern SOL
diers, and not as many hundreds for
Southern men, who fought the battles of
the country in Mexico or Florida or the
Indian wars. ST. coo, 600 are appropriated
annually for an army in which there is
not n Southern officer. $50, 900, 900 m
nually for a navy similarly composed.
From 81, O0O, 900 to $4,000, 900 90 annually
for the improvement of rivers and bar
bors, th~ree-fourtlls of which, if not more,
are expended for the improvement of
Northern rivers and harborS. And so the
enumeration might be continued, dd M
Gnituna, illustrating how q Southern on
trolling influence is exercised continually
in p Democratic Congress TO foster n
build up the already prosperous North at
the expense in part of the Impoverished
South. And why is this dOnc? Simply
that we may pin Il faith to the fragmen-
tary remains of a party that has forfeited
our allegiance because it has long since
forsaken the paths its founders trod.
In years gone by the very %cynosure of
the Democratic party was Free Trade.
To-day the chief leaders Of the Northeast
ern Democracy n Protective Tariff men.