Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-10-21

of thes Union and of sound currency
and of the independence of the gov
ernment from corporations and who
raised our young republic to the high
est plane of national dignity and
strength. Grant and Hayes and Gar
field belonged to the gallant armies of
the West. 1t is time that the army of
the Potomac-the victors of Antietam,
Gettysburg, Spottsylvania and Rich
mond-should be remembered in the
person of one of its greatest COM
manders.
Five million votes will be cast for
General Hancock. He will have the
suffrages of considerable and inhu-
entail part of the population of every
State in the Union. And although the
greater portion of his votes will come
from the North and East and West, it
will represent in the aggregate every
section and interest of a reunited
country as they have not been repre-
sented by any executive since the war
All parts of the Union should share
the prosperity we now enjoy. There
is no doubt that the political agitation
IN the South, growing out of appre-
hended interference in their local gov
ernment, and absorbing the attention
of the Southern people during the past
fifteen years, has seriously retarded
improvement in their condition. All
such fears would be tranquillized by
four years of Hancock's conservative
administration, and a general revival
of enterprise, activity and thrift would
be seen throughout the new South
the South of 1SS0-greatly to the adj
vantage of the whole country.
The North means to hold fast to the
results of the war. These are embod-
led in the recent amendments to the
Constitution. General Hancock de.
clares them to be inviolable. The
South says, Amen. So be it. Let us
make this compact by electing
Hancock and so put an end to all
further controversy about the funda-
mental questions settled by the law of
secession. Let the decree be written
in Hancock's own words: "When
rebellion was crushed, the heresy of
secession in every form and in every
incident went down forever. 1t is a
thing of the dead past"
All we need in the Executive is an
honest and intelligent administration
of the government. 1t is a mistake
to suppose that General Hancock is
without preparation or experience to
qualify him for Executive duties. No
man without administrative ability
can successfully fill the great military
offices General Hancock has held dur
ing the past eighteen years. His
present military jurisdiction embraces
seventeen States-irom Maine to Louis
iana-and whether commanding large
forces in the field or dealing with the
difficult questions incident to recon-
struction i'll the South, or in restoring
tranquility TO Pennsylvania, overrun
by mobs and disturbed by riots, he has
always shown the discrimination, dis
cretion and tact which point out the
man of executive capacity. At least
ii may be said that a stainless and
successful career in the army affords
as many guarantees for the faithful
discharge of the functions Of chief
magistrate as can be found in long
period of service in Congress, with its
many temptations and frequent COM
plications with the interests of corpor-
ations, contractors and jobbers.
| am, sir, very respectfully,
ID. f. SICKLEs.