The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1880-09-08
WHOLE NO. 1922.
Shall the south Rate ?

1t is difficult for us Of the North.
who fought tosustain the Union, sole
V for the love of it, and from hatred
of no section. to comprehend that
the Southern people still reverence
their Lost Cause that they ven
crate their dead leaders as martyrs :
that they have still purpose to
rule or ruin the country; and that
they entertain hopes of again COM
ing into power at an early day. 1t
will probably be still more difficult
+ to impress upon Northern minds
the idea that the Southern people
are perfectly honest and sincere in
their veneratiOn. serious in their
I purposes and sanguine of the ac-
c0mplishment of their hopes Nev-
crtheless such IS the fact; and in
the honesty of this feeling and the
sincerity of this belief lie the vitali-
+ ty of their movements 10 recapture
I the Government and the chief dam
ger OF their triumph Mt the coming
election. In our failure or refusal
10 believe them serious we add
greatly to that danger. 1t is idle to
deny them the virtue of consistency
in the claims. Noman Of the South
permits himself to doubt the sacred
T ness of the cause. If he did he
would not be tolerated or permitted
to doubt long.
To us the principles to which
they cling are hcresics not to be en-
tertained after such bloody refuta-
ton as they have had, and we can
/ not understand how, after professed-
/ " accepting the result, they still
MAINTAIN tho principles Of the war.
But to the Southern people these
principles though defeated, are held
to be as true. if not rs sacred, as di-
vine precepts; and in their advoca-
| cv OF them they are as earnest, as
/ jealous, as tanatical as any religious
bigot Of any age. II Is not only Il
matter of pride that they cling thus
tenaciously to them, but one of edU-
cation-an education, too, in which
the rising generation has been as
carefully trained as were those OF
ante-bellum times. They lust for
. power renewed through political sue
cess, not merely tor its spoils, but
as a triumphant vindication Of THAT
cause which they lost by military
failure. They are inspired, too, by
the bitterest hate. Their revenge
for all the humiliations Of the war
which saved the Union Will not be
complete until they. have control of
the Nation they could not divide.
There is something monstroUs in
their view in the breach of faith in
renewing a fight Tor principles which
they once acknowledged wer' final
" oyerthrown nothing base in the
revival, or rather rene ed express
sion. Of their animosity ana hate.
They have unboundcd faith in their
boasted superiority to the Northern
people in every particular, They
firmly believe they were oyerthrown
in arms solely by superior numbers
of paid soldierv and that to them
has been given the intellectual ca
pacitv necessary to govern. No
facts. no statistics no arguments,
can make them comprehend that
the Northern masses are their supc-
riors, intellectually, physically, nu-
merically and financially
1t is to be wondered at that n peO-
pie thus educated and inspired
should unhesitatingly adopt any
measures and resort to any political
disguise to gain their ends? No
such reckless display of inconsistent
cv was ever before seen as the pres
cnt attitude of the Democratic par
tv on which the Southern hopes are
based for Il bitter and, we believe,
final contest for supremacy in the
Government. 1t is supporting a
candidate of the military class re-
peatedlv denounced by it-a promi-
nent general in the conduct OF war
which it pronounced a failure al
most at the moment of its successful
culmination-and It's solid strength
comes from its parisans conquered
in that war. Alike inconsistent up
on every other vital issue, it makes
no claim to recognition except that
the Republican party has been too
long in power. How far can a party
which seeks to get into power under
such conditions be trusted, when Its
controlling leaders entertain such
reasonable principles as Hampton
has expressed and they have unhes-
itatingly indorsed? The danger to
the country Is so apparant that the
thinking, serious, earnest and Union
loving people Of the North can new
er permit the South 70 rule.-Nese
YOrk Tribune.