Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-08-26
The Party of he Union.
\ ew York Times.

lnls country are past finding out Some
OF lis organs are Just now claiming for il
that II is the party OF the Union, because
lis exConderate leaders have masked
their designs with an Army officer as s
candidate tor the Presidency, and are
! charging lis opponents With revivinr
sectional issues because they resist the
plan OF placing these ex Confedera,es in
control OF the National Administration
/ and condemn their method of delivering
the support OF the solid South to the
Democratic ticket IL sectional issues
are revived, the Republican party Is not
responsible for it. 1t recognizes the ex.
istence of national questions, and is pre-.
pared To deal with them. II has conduct.
ed the financial interests of the Nation
thus tar. amid great difficulties and In the
lace of DemocrNuc opposition, with what
results the country knows. 1t is prepared
10 maintain the main principles o! its
policy in this regard, and to carry the
~ork TO completion Ii has effected i'm.
/ poftsnt reforms in the character of the
civil service aud in the methods and pro.
oesses OF administration, and Is disposed
| to make further advances in this direc.
ton 1t recognizes the need Of so direct.
( ing the policy OF the Government as TO
( promote the Industrial and m stefial in
terests OF the people aud is ready for the
task. THESE matters are not lett out OF
view III The dec aration OF lis purposes,
and To give definite embodiment to Its
/ aim IL has nomiualed as lis candidate an
/ able, upright, and experienced statesman,
whose known opinions are In accord with
/ them,
| Why, then, should those issues which
are termed sectional have prominent
/ place in the canvassy Why should ques-
| lions OF the Unlop or of control by this or
that section come up AT alls Because the
! Democracy has brought them up, aud they
| have 10 be met. That party practically
! ignores the questions of policy to which
/ We have referred, and Will not present any
| plan of action in regard To them. Ii has
a candidate who knows nothing about
them and has no record In regard to any
/ live issue, aud they fall back on his
! achievements In the war for the Union,
aud his connection with reconstruction in
| louisiana aud TtX,s dozen years ago,
as the ground Tor asking the people to
! support hun. Here is challenge TO the
Republicans to show that this Is not un.
! der present circumstances and in view OF
| the record aud character OF his part, a
sufficient ground Tor giving that support.
they accept the challenge with the ut
most alacrity. The candidate Is the
choice OF the Southern Democrats aud re.
ceives their hearty support. They prom.
Use 10 give him the solid Electoral vote of
he III states OF their section, numb ering
l3S IN all, aud ask only ~ from the other
% states to elect hlm. Ii he can thereby
be elected, he will be their Preside mt, aud
they Will control the Administration of
which he is ihc head. This IL as plain ~
a sum IN addition. Hence tho issue Is
presented whether party whose main
strength lies IN the Southern States, most
OF which attempted to destroy the Union,
and whose controlling minds would inevi-
tably be the men who led IN dlsunion aud
febollion; and have not changed their
ideas OF the relations of the States and the
Nation, is to be inrusted Just yet with the
administration of the Government If
this IL sectional issue, IL Is made by the
Democratic Party, and the Republicans
are challenged To meet II, they accept the
challenge. They are not quite ready 10
admit that tho nomination OF Gen. Ii an.
cock makes OF the cx-Contederates and
hide bound BOurbGns OF the SJuln the
only genuine and Simon Pure Union party
OF The country.
sections, but parry of ideas and of poll.
cies. The vital question Is not what sec.
ton Ia TO have predomnating Influence
in the Administration, but what Ideas of
government, what principles, are 10 be
carried oat. i. is not the South as ter
rtorial domain that Is to be regarded but
the character and purposes OF the men
who are seeking 10 obtain control. They
say that their States are par. Of the
Union, coequal with other States, and
that they accept the Union, with the re.
suits OF the struggle through which 1t
WAS saved they are not Il class apart to
be feared more than the citizens Of any
other section OF equal extent, But, un.
happily, they are a class apart, and their
section IN certain respects stands isolated,
Their action IN 1860 and the years follow.
ing separate them by line, indelible
while they live, from The mass of Ameri-
can citizenship. Their conduct then may
be forgiven, and they might, II they would
or If they could, coalesce with the people
OF the great Republic. But they either
can not or will not. They proclaim their
adherence 10 the destructive principles OF
1860, giving up only the purposes Of that
time. Their political methods give them
a character peculiarly their own. They
keep their section apart, solid in its char
acier ana purposes. 1t is section where
IGNORANCE largely prevails, where spirit
OF relentless intolerance is kept up, where
liberty j. crushed, and one political party
IL forced irto subsection, not by votes,
but by force aud fraud. Now the ques-
ton Is plainly presented whether this
section, with its history, known Of oil the
world, and It's present character, exhibited
clearly TO the people OF this country, is
not 81 nply to have It's fair and pronartiJn.