Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-08-05
A Word With Young Men.

One of the sacred writers, in his first
general epistle. says: :" have written
unto you, young men, because ye are
strong"
1t does not readily occur to the older
voters in the United States that about
one-half of those who will go to the
polls in November to deposit :heir bal
lots were not voters at the close of the
| civil war in America. The prattling
boy of six years when that great con-
test closed is to-day voter. The
young man who had at the close OF the
war just become voter is still a young
man of thirty-six, and he, too. was not
participant in that unhappy strife. A
very large fraction, if not nearly one
half, of the voters of the country have
not yet seen thirty-seven years of life,
and were only boyish observers of the
war for the Union. The appeal in this
Presidential contest is largely to be
made to men who are yet in the glory
and beauty and strength of youth. and
to men whose boyhood and whose youth
forbade them mingling in the passion
ate scenes of the civil war.
1t is natural for young men to love
the beauties of patriotism, and the
young blood quickens at the simple
story of the grandeur of civil liberty
This election of 1880 is to be really the
first free, dispassionate, non-sectional,
National Presidential election since the
war. 1t is to be the first election
since 1860 held in a state of peace,
though the war closed fifteen years
ago. Each year has bequeathed to
the country from our numer-
Gus colleges and academies and
schools, and from innumerable homes.
vast body of young and spirited
voters whose boyish memories have
been full of the horrid and bloody tales
of that civil war. Intelligent political
opinions are unframed at that early
period, but sentiment is strong. The
principles of Government are imper-
fectly understood, but the bounding
impulses are omnipotent. The young
man in the North who will cast his first
vote in November dimly remembers,
but remembers, that the stories told
him in childhood were stories of battle
between fellow-countrymen; and he has
been taught at school and at college
that the Republican party was, and is,
and shall be, the only representative OF
Union and freedom. He has been
taught at home and at church that it is
unpatriotic to vote against the ''men
that had saved the Union" We do
not say that this has been the universal
instruction given to the boys and young
men of the North, but it has been the
preponderating instruction. We do
not say that these have been the only
Northern influences exerted upon ba-
byhood, and boyhood, and youth, but
they have been the dominant influences.
These early impressions are lasting.
Republican newspapers have had the
ear and eve of the country. The relig-
ious press has been largely partisan
Republican press, and thus the political
literature which has fallen beneath the
eve of the boys. and young men of the
North has been a school of prejudice, of
anti-Democratic prejudice.
The nomination of General Hancock
for the Presidency by the Democratic
party has changed all this. The year
1880 will long be notable in our history
as the giver of political feedom to our
young men. The Republican teachings
that have for nearly half a generation
of men been instilled into the minds of
the youth of the North are themselves,
in pert, the donors of this liberty. The
young men will say to their Republican
instructors: "You taught me to vote
for the best representative of the
Union" This year gives the young
men an opportunity to think. The
political questions that filled the boyish
thoughts -slavery and the Union-are
forever settled, and the bias which
training implanted has been banished
By the nomination of Hancock. The
thoughtful young man of the North, for
the first time since Appomattox, breathes
the air of political freedom. He is at
liberty to vote for the American princi-
pie, for the Democratic principle, for
the townmeeting government, for civil
liberty, for patriotism; and no Repub-
ican finger of scorn can be effectively
pointed at him as though he were
a friend of disunion. All early
sectional prejudices are dissipated. He
can vote to exalt the individual and re-
strain Government with all the noble
ardor of youth, free from the suspicion
of disloyaltv. And the young men of
the South who this year become voters
will open their political eyes in the
broad and sunny light of Union and
patriotism. This is the shining beneti-
cence of the nomination of General
Hancock. This is the political. patri-
otto glory of 1880. This is the splendid
opportunity of our young men. This is
the power of the present. This is the
beautiful hope of the future for the Re-
public. This is Union. Ii General
Hancock's valor on the field of battle
for the Union and his devotion to civil
liberty in the paths of peace do not thrill
the hearts of the young men of the North,
those hearts are older and colder than
we think.
81 have written unto you. young men,
because ye are strong."-Cincinndti
Enquirer.
The nomination of Hancock has
brought out the true feeling of stalwart
ID orIo ha with