Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-04-21


to enter upon a presidential term, the political
character Of which mnst settle questions of the
gravest importance. affecting the very character
of the institutions under which we live. Unmis-
taxable signs multiply daily before our eyes that
the methods and practices, from which the will OF
the people so narrowly escaped ut the last elec
ton, will not be permitted to miscarry NJ the
next The party which, at the last choice OF
electors silenced the voter in one state with the
shotgun, burned his ballot In another beneath
tissue counterfeits, and robbed him OF it by forged
returns In third has not been idle IN its prepar-
alton for the next And the party whose en-
issaries traversed the continent from Gramercy
Park to Oregon. and from Oregon to Florida, witt
instructions in cipher to bny electors they could
not defeat, will not be easily diverted from it,
purpose to take possession of the government on
the 4th OF March next, whatever the result OF the
election Threats more or less open, which the
ear, and movements more or less direct, which
meet the eye, are full of significance and warning
We are brought face to lace with deliberate prep
arations, and encounter daily plots and plane
aiming directly to that end. The purpose to com
pass 1t is as manifest as are the revelations OF
photograph. The chances OF success alone trouble
ts authors. The party which failed to profit bN
its fraudulent and violent attempts to thwart the
popular will in 1876, sgnalized its accession t.
power In congress BY an attempt tn force repeal
OF all laws securing free and honest ballot loi
electors in 1880 And to-day, whatever protec
ton OF national laws remains to the American cit
izen in the discharge of the highest of his duties
the choice OF national executive, be IL in Massa-
pnUSettS or MISSISSIPPI, ne owes anu owes OnlN
the Roman firmnpss of n Republican president
The Democratic party, having a majority in boil
houses of congress which counts the eectoral
vote In joint convention, refuses to enact any
law regulating that count and thus becomes n law
unto itself with power to restrain 1t or scruple
to embarrass its action. 1t is making n majority
of states in the present house Democratic by nm
seating Republican members in defiance OF the
popular vote, thereby clearing the way for pos
sibe failure in the choice of president by the
people. Growing bold by practice, 1t has stalked
into New England, and stolen in open day the
whole government of a state to make sure OF it.
electors in November, and has been caught in the
act. And now, not even assuming virtue 1t
has not, this Democratic party seems ambitious
to take again, rs its standard bearer, according
to the eternal fitness of things. the same master
spirit who inspired the great conspiracy to tram
pie out in blood and crime the will of the people
in the last election
The path of safety amid these perils is only
that which will surely lead to majority in the
electoral college so positive that unwise subtlety
cannot pervert it, nor inscriptions power nullify
its decree 1t will be the dictate of WISDOM on
this day of preparation, to look in the face, for
moment and measure II we can, the force thus
led and animated which the Republican party is
about to encounter. One hundred and eighty-tive
electors will choose the next president, as that
number did the last, The sixteen southern states
will elect one hundred and thirty-eight of them.
In no of these states has the Republican party
an organized existence, although in five at least
casting thirty-seven electoral votes, Republican
majority of legal voters is as ndsputable as in
Massachusetts or Vermont. In three of them AT
the last election, that ma jority, wading through
bribery and forgery and blood, reached the ballot
box, and was heard. But all are still now and
on the next election day will be as silent as the
grave so many of them filed on the last. To
these one hundred and thirty-eght electoral votes,
rs certain for the Democratic candidate as is the
sunset of the day of election, add the vote of
New York and Indiana, or the vote of New York
and almost any two of the small and uncertain
nj lyn ttRttn nII uIt m OF
Jersey and Oregon, or Nevada, and it is settled
against us. 1t is plain, therefore, that the next
presidential election will hinge upon the choice of
electors in the state of New York, where parties
are so nearly divided that, at the last election in
near n million of votes cast a change of twenty
five hundred would have turned victory into de-
feat All the successes of last year have still left
the great presidential contest of this year to be
determined by the disposition of twenty five
hundred votes in the state of New York, out o
nine millions to be cast for electors In November
next. Let every man then lock arms with his
neighbor, for the margin on which we stand is not
wide enough for a single misstep. Let every true
soldier stand in line, for there is space for a
straggler. These not words of discourage
ment, Tor narrow as that margin il, there is still
room enough upon 1t for every Republican to do
his duty, and doing that, victory Is as ce tain as
November. For duty is fidelity, devotion and
courage, far more effective than mere numbers on
any field Without these success will not be pos
sbe, nor will it be deserved-with them our cause
is nvincible.
Let us understand, if we can, what will be
gained by triumph, or lost by defeat, in the great
political campaign we are about to enter. This is
the last presidential election under the apportion
ment OF political power based on the present CEN
sus. The sixteen southern states, now hopelessly
Democratic, have had by the emancipation of
their slaves fifteen ut least added to the number
OF their representatives in congress, and a like
number in the electoral college, This additions.
power, gained by making freemen of slaves, will
be welded in the electoral college, not by the Re-
publican freedmen who are its basis, but by their
masters, who are still masters of the ballot box
ms power and much more viii! forever pass out
lodged with the strong Republican states of the
northwest, in obedience to that law of growth
which is stronger than all human laws and human
plans. Unless, therefore, the Democratic party
gain ascendency at the approaching election it
must yield to the inevitable, and give up all hope
of power in the future based on its present sup
port. Success, on the other hand, makes an in
definite lease of power possible with a party
whose attempts to obtain place and perpetuate its
own rule no scruple or law has as yet been able to
refrain Success is also a necessary condition to
the maintenance of a " solid south" The forces
which control southern politics will not long ad-
here to the fortunes Of a dsheartened minority.
Defeat will surely bring division and with it dis
solution. The Democratic party will, therefore,
enter the contest with the desperation of last
opportunity.
But of far greater importance than mere
struggle for power between two political parties
separable from the result. Let no man delude
himself into the belief that the differences be-
tween the two parties into which this nation il
divided are growing less, or that their antagon-
isms are becoming any the less radical and peril
Gus. They are travelling different ways, ever
diverging farther and farther from each other,
and maintaing theories of government and poll
cies OF administration as wide apart as the poles
Inc struggle for the mastery between those con-
hieting theories and opposing policies has arrayed
party against party with distinctness of division
more marked and force more violent each year
Tor generation past, till their settlement can be
no longer postponed The next election will de-
terInine not only with whom political power shall
hereafter rest but also questions of government
grave and vital, involving the future of the insti
buttons under which we live First and before
all else in Importance, will it be decided whether,
under the constitution, the nation or the state Is
sovereign, and whether there is power 10 the one
TO maintain its own life and authority in the other
with or without its consent. Whether the nation
shall protect its citizen, whoever and wherever
he may be, in a fee and honest ballot for ma
tional officers or shall surrender him to the state
whether or not the peace of the United States
shall abide with each of its citizens, however
humble, and wherever he may go or dwell within
the limits of this broad Union. Whether the SUI
preme court of the United States shall be strip
ped OF Its ell ectiye jurisdiction in causes between
citizens of different states, and the yindicaton OF
their rights be thereby abandoned TO sectional
prejudice and local hate. These are vital issues
upon which Republicans and Democrats have
separated ana appealed 10 the country Tor de-
cision
No man can calculate the far-reaching conse-
quenees OF an adverse decision of these grave is
sues, some OF which strike at the very structure
OF Republican institutions, and the unrestrained
dow VIII cleave the framework OF our govern
ment to the foundation, On this day of prepare
ton for the trial they cannot fail to engage our
most serious thoughts and Danish from our DELHI
erations an petty considerations OF personal poll.
tics, and the blind guidance of personal prejudice
They should lift us out OF the miserable strife OF
the hour, and up to a full comprehension of the
true grandeur of that function of American cti-
Zenshp which makes the character of the law and
OF him who executes 1t the resultant of the free
and deliberate choice of those who must obey it,
Dlslntrlested, Intelligent patriotic earnestness and
an uniiinching aggressive courage of conviction
are essential conditions of success Whatever
other elements Will promote, these alone will So
cure IL we must fight II we would win, believ-
ing That our cause is worthy OF our highest eff
forts and with unqualified loyalty to our leader
whoever he may be. II we are to-day true to our
selves and our country, he will not prove false to
either But II we have not the intelligence or the
courage 10 meet like men what is required of MS
let US hereafter hold our peace.
Men OF Massachusetts, great questions disturb
and distress the Republic Their solution for
good or for Ill Is near at hand. What part shall
we take In that great work now upon us? We
are relatively few in number, but the influence
OF THIS commonwealth in any emergency in pub
lie Affairs, has never, in the past, been measured
by the mere numbers she could count on the roll
From Samuel Adams to Charles Sumner the brain
OF her sons has never failed in council and from
Lexington to AppOmattox their blood was never
ltI rid nr had in Nru1E AlA hoo.