Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-12-09

self. 1t was whether the heresy Of
state sovereignty should have a res
direction and new lease of baleful
life after it had been slain by the
sword and buried. 1t was whether
all legal voters should be permitted
to exercise their right of voting, and
whether the ballots cast should be
honestly counted. If these things
should fail us all would be lost. 1t
Is sublime spectacle--that of the
millions of men who find themselves
in the minority submitting peaceably
to verdict at the polls which places
one who is not the man of their
choice at the head of the most pow
erful of the family of nations. But
such a verdict can not have the
moral force to hold 10 check the pas.
sions OF the hour in so vast q multi.
tude unless it is believed TO declare
truly the will of the majority. If it
is obtained by force or fraud it will
be resisted by force or fraud, and
that is revolution In place of the
rule of law we have the reign of law
less anarchy. From peril SO real
and great we have been delivered.
More than nine millions of men went
to the polls on the second day of this
November and there discharged the
citizens solemn duty of voting, the
President Of the United States and
his distinguished predecessor in of,
fee worthily setting the example to
those less exalted in name and posi-
ton. And the result is that the ship
OF state which was in dangerous
proximity to icebergs has come out
into open water, with good hopes of
prosperous voyage
We have reason to expect that this
decision will be accepted as the final
verdict of the American people on
the fundamental questions which
have so long and so profoundly agi-
tated the country. The preponder.
ance of power is with the North, and
1t is now demonstrated that when
ever the occasion may arise, that
power will be exerted through its
votes not less than by its arms, to
maintain the national life. The peo-
pie decreed equal rights twenty years
ago, and have re. enacted the decree
in four presidential elections since,
making it certain what their action
will be in any future emergency. We
have learned that we can rely on the
intelligent patriotism of the nation,
and above all that we may trust the
wonderful Providence which has SO
often and evidently interviewed in our
affairs during the last twenty years.
The principles which have triumphed
in these contests are destined to be
victorious for the coming twenty
years. to the end of the century.
We kept Thanksgiving In the
darkest times of slavery, while the
cry Of the oppressed and of those
who remembered their bonds as if
bound with them, was continually
going up, 80 Lord, how long y We
kept Thanksgiving during the years
of war, in the midst of our anxieties
for the living and our tears for the
dead, and while the fate of our coun.
try trembled in even balance And
when at length victory came, and
peace, we celebrated Thanksgiving
as never before. There have since
been victories by the ballot which
confirmed that won by arms. And
the animal Thanksgiving has become
a national festival But this Thanks.
giving may be regarded as surprising
all that have been proclaimed from
the national capital before in this re.
spect, that 1t crowns completed
work.
Gle calleth to me out of SER,
Waterman, what of the night :?
Waterman, what OF the nightp The
Waterman said," as we do to-day,
ssThe morning cometh." But may
there not be that which should lead
US to qualify the declaration some
what; is there not some occasion for
the mingling of solicitude with our
thankful aud joyous exutatlon? To
the announcement, "Tbe morning
cometh," is it not necessary to add
some darker shading: "And also the
night. Return and come" again to
inquire, for it is yet too early to pre-.
dict the fortune and final fate of this
great republic.
would not be prophet of evil,
and yet at times | cannot suppress
the upwelcome apprehension that in
the race for wealth high commercial
honor is too often sacrificed; in the
competition of trade men become
sharp and hard beyond what is seem
ly; that with greater wealth acquired
will come more luxurious living, and
then a weakening of those sterling
virtues which are the glory of our
manhood and the strength of the
state. We might inquire in regard
to the frequency with which the
crime of perjury is committed in
courts of justice and elsewhere.
There is evidence that bribery in
elections is practiced in some local..
ties by both political parties, and
that this great offense against the
purity of the ballot and the perma,
nence of our institutions is at least
winked at by men whose moral
standing and standard are supposed
to be high. You have but to read
the records of the courts in this and
many other states to learn that the
transfer of husbands and wives goes
steadily forward, as if they were ex-
chaugeable commodities Ike dry
goods and groceries, corn and cattle.
The beautiful and sacred Sabbath of
our fathers is secularized by the low.
ers of money and the seekers of
pleasure Is it or is it not so, hat
there is less and less Of high duty,
less and less of holy religion, less
and less of God in our thoughts and
lives, less and less of Christ. If it be
so then the Waterman cannot hold
his peace, but must say While the
morning of a great deliverance mas
come, too surely there will be q night
of new troubles.
To revert once more to national
affairs, the evils which more especi-
ally need to be remedied are iguor
snce, superstition and barbarism in
the southern states and in the west
orr, tarrifarias