The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1880-06-17
PAP ON the SITUATION.
Logical Reasons Given for the
Views He Entertaius.
THE GREAT FRAUD OF.Is70

Editor BrookhaDen Ledger:-
1t is with feelings OF no ordinary i'm
p~ortance that the whole civilized world
to>day, and especially the American
citizen. regard the spirit of. and look
forward to the action of the coming
National Cincinnati Convention. The
Republican Convention at Chicago, af>
ter a severe contest in which circum
stances forced them to drop their olde
time idols one after another, finally
conferred upon Garfield. and now the
grave question arises, who shall be his
opponent? Will it be Tilden. Thurman,
Bayard. Seymour, Field, Hancock, or
may not some dark horse from the OBJ
security of the great unknown. loom up
suddenly in gigantic prominence to be
| placed in front to %astonish the bewild-
cred vision Of an expectant Nation.
Pending the contamination of that
~eventful period. it behooves every
Democrat N the land, every voter,
every man, woman aud child who has
the good will of their country at heart.
and a particle Of influence to exert. to
look we'll to their interests and the in
~terest of the great Nation of which they
are component parts, to wish at least
for the most proper person and the one
of the greatest availability in the great
struggle which must ensue for the
Chief Magistracy of our Republic.
Judging from the past we can form
pretty good ideas of the future, and
know the coming camraign will be OF
vast magnitude, prosecuted with untir-
ing patience and perseverance. We
are confronted by u merciless and IN
scrupulous foe who will resort to any
and every subterfuge, just or unjust.
legal or illegal, constitutional or I'M
CONSTITUTIONAL, in order to subserve
their ends and perpetuate their party in
power. This has been the history of
the party since its birth; il was its pol-
icy practiced in 1876, which eliminated
i'll success March 4th. 1877 by inaugu-
rating President Hayes. 1t has been
fostered in the halls of Congress and
among its partisans at home ever since,
and can we expect it to change its fea-
lures in 1880? OF course we look for
nothing of the kind, but must meet
them at the ballot box with an %invinci.
BILE standard bearer, and who shall he
be?
The papers of to-day would point &c
Samuel J. Tllden as being the probable
choice of the Cincinnati Convention.
If so, why should We mnrmur? Was
he not the choice of the Democracy it
l the st. Louis Convention four year
ago? And did we not all vote for him
aud have We not been loud in our de
nunciations ever since of the FRAUD
practiced upon us to deprive him of the
office he Was so Justly entitled to? Ger
tainly the platform of the Democratic
party Is as firm and unchanging to da,
as four years ago, and demands thu
same reforms in misrule. taxation. pub
lie expense. PREDICATE waste of pubIk
lands, treaties and diplomacy with for
eign nations, secttrian strife. AID Sc.
tipntj htta. civil s~rvtc.. iii tIAi crI.n
aud.mlsiemranors. These reforms wer,.
needed four years ago aud formed til,
} main plank laid down IN the platform
OF the Democratic party ut the St
Louis Convention June 28th. 1875
which nominated Tildsn. who, in hi
letter of acceptance. dated Albany. JnI,
31st, says: ''fhe conv' ntIon bef,r,
making its nominations adopted a dec
=, laration of principles which. as a whole
seems to me Il wise exposition OF tn
necessities of our country, and of thu
Y reforms needed to bring back the gov.
erament to its true functions, to res
, store purity of administration, and t.
renew the prosperity of the people.
* Under the illusions of a speciou'
prosperity, engendered by the false
policies of the federal government {
waste of capital has been going on eve
since the peace of 1865, which could
only end in universal disaster. =
Federal and local taxation for the las
eleven years has amounted to the vas
: aggregate of 81, 500, 900, 900. This
enormous taxation has made a reduction
of expenses Indispensable
do not wish to exagerate or alarm, 1 sim
; ply say that we cannot afford the costly
and %ruinons policy of the Radical ma.
=. Jority in Congress. We cannot afforC
that policy towards the South, we can
not affo-d the magnificent and oppres'
lsive centralism into which our Govern
msnt is being converted. We canno
aft ,rft the present magnificent scale o
ltaxation. An accessory c,use
enhansing the distress in business is t.
be found in the systematic and insup,
portable mIS2Ov rum mt imposed on the
t States of the South. Beside the orll.
nary effects of ignorant and dishonest
admlnistrat on, 1t has Inflicted upon
them enormous issues of fraudulent
bonds, the soanty avails of which were
wasted or stolen, and the existence o!
which is a public discredit tending tc
bankruptcy or Reputation. Taxes gen.
orally oppressive. in some instances
have confiscated the entire income oil
property and totally destroyed its mar
keta6le value. 1t is impossible that
, these evils should not react upon the
prosperity OF the whole country. The
nobler motives of humanity concur with
| the material interests of all in requir-
ing that every obstacle be removed to a
complete and durable reconciliation be
: tween kindred populations C unnat"
nrally estranged.' Then relating to
the civil service, he continues: 1.-Two
evils infest the official service of the
federal government. One is the prev
alent and demoralizing notion that the
public service exists not for the bust
ness and benefit of the whole people,
but for the office holder who are in
truth bat the servants of the people.
Under the influence of this pernicious
error public employments have been
multiplied. the numbers Of those gath
cred into the ranks of office holders
have steadily increased beyond any
possible requirement of the public bus
mess. while ineficiency. peculation,
fraud, and malversatlon of the public
funds, from the high places of power to
the lowest, have Overspread the whole
service like a leprosy.
These then were Tildens opinions
aud principles publicly. expressed four
years ago. Does any one doubt his ad
herence to them now, and does not
every one know they are just and trre,
containing the essentials of pure Dem
ocracy? But says one, 81 would not
vote for him again "Why not?"
because when we did elect him he
would not contend for his seat" Cons
tend for his seat! What stupidity.
Did not Congress take the ~contending
power out of his hands by falling into
the radical trap, aud passing the Elec
trail Commission bill against the wishes
of Tilden, against all sense and against
all justice. thereby becoming an un"
willing Oparty to the fraud which they
afterwards so thoroughly condemned?
Is it possible that people of these mod
ern days of improvement and reforma.
ton. have relapsed into the manners.
feeling and nstom of the a~ncients; of
heather Rome and Carthage, as to be-
head, Danish, imprison or stigmatize a
hitherto favorite leader because of his
unavoidable misfortune? 1t is to DO
hoped not, yet certainly it would ap-
pear so with some, from the way they
talk, and such must surely admit, pro-