Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1880-10-09
AN AMERICAN NOBLEMAN'S NIGHT
MARE.
[Fren the N. 7. Herald

From the N. I. Hcrald.1
The Herald gives place elsewhere
to-day to a letter from one of it's &C.
casiOual correspondents, the Earl of
Pleasure Bay. We are Dot always so
fortunate as to be able to agree with
The Earl, but his letters are often i'm
structive, always interesting and fire.
quently amusing hence it is that our
columns are open to him. Iu this
instance he arguesthat notwithstand-
ing General Hancock's recent letter
on the payment of what are called
southern or .srebel" claims, that gen.
fleman, il he should happen To be
chosen president, would be the
creature of the south aud would do
is will. He implies, of course, that
The southern men would at once pass
appropriations IN congress TO pay
,hese claims, aud that General Han
cock would be subjected to such a
pressure that he would not aare-h his
letter to the contrary-vet0 the bills.
at is not General Hancock that the
country has reason to fear" remarks
our correspondent, "it is the one
hundred and thirty-eight solid votes
If the south in congress-" These
terrible soutberners are the fellows
we nave TO look at, therefore.
Well, granted, for the sake of argu-
inent, that they are all, every man
Jack Of them, united for q grand de-
ple,ion of the treasury for the pay
ment of all sorts of rebel claims-let
us suppose to the amount OF two or
three OF four hundred millions, az the
case may be. The Earl of Pleasure
Bay, as 3 taxpayer, naturally winces
under the thought Of such an impo-
sItion. His share of 50 large a sum
would amount to something more
thsn a trile. We do not blame him
Or being unhappy; we prefer to re-
store bis equanimity by waking him
up cut of what he will presently see
is a mere political nightmare.
We will suppose that not only the
hundred u six terrible southern
representatives, for that is their total
lumber i'll the house, not. enc hun
dred and thirty-eight-that all these
therefore, and all their constituents,
Il good many Of whom are also tax
payers, aud not one in ten thousand
of whom ls interested in a claim OF
any kind-we@will suppose that Gil
of them, the whole southern people,
are solid for the paymeht-ef~t6ese
three or four hundred millions. Pray
how can they bring IL about2tA&
The house of representatives has
two hundred and ninety-three mem.
hers, of whom one hundred and 'six
form the solid south, about to make
a huge raid OIL the taxpayers of tho
whole country. How IS this small
minority going to pass the bill?
"Oh," the Earl would reply, "Nsrth-
ern democrats will help Them" Will
they? In that case it il tire northern
democrats who are te be feared in
reality. But it happens that most OF
these northern democrats represent
districts i'll states whose people would
fling them cut without the slightest
hesitation if they should v e squirt
in that Overwhelmingly tho states
of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio
and Illinois. We must suppose, then,
that in order to get at the treasury
and rob the Earl Of Pleasure Bay. the
northern democratic representatives
would sacrifice their political futures
and cover themselves with disgrace
for what3 They have no claims.
They could not profit.
Does the Earl of Pleasure Bay real
iy believe that a party which has
been long out Of power means, as
soon rs it can get in, to destroy itself
by one Of the most unpopular acts it
could invent or centrive, and one in
which neither they nor the mass of
the southern taxpayers have the
least personal interest, but the con-
trary ? Our noble friend is suffering
FROM a nightmare. We pity his ter
rors and we present him with one
more %resssuring fact. The congress
10 be elected this fall will meet on
the lat of December, 1881. In the
following July, before 1t has adjourn
ed, the will open for a new
congress. Does he not see that If
there shall have been but a mere sug-
gestion of paying rebel claims every
northern democrat will lose his seat,
and the north will at once become
solidly republican How easy it
would be to make it SO he will per-
ceive, if he will remember that in
1876 the total majority Of Mr.. Tilden,
in the four northern states he carried,
was emily 52,602.
No; there will be no payment of
"rebel claims" General Hancock
will have TO use q veto to pre-
vent it. The country is safe which
ever party carries the election in
November. The Herald is not nursing
either party, but it does not choose
to see its constituents-the American
people-scared by shouts of ruin
which have not the sliohtest FONDA.