Morning journal and courier., 1880-08-31

THE LEOPARD's SPOTS UNCHANGED The Democrats complain that the Republi | cans go too far back in their search after the spirit, aims and tendencies of the Democrat ! ic party; that they have too much to say | about old issues, and that they harp upon 1 dangers which no longer exist, if they ever did. In making this charge they practically | admit that the past of the Democratic party i is not what it should have been and claim l confidence of the people.
 Are the Republicans really guilty of so mean and heartless an act as trying to dis courage 6 regenerated penitent and prevent his restoration to ''good and regular stand ing" by constantly calling attention to his sins in the past? Let us see If the Demo- cratic party has changed it's spots the change would be great enough to be apparent, and it would certainly have begun by the 7th of January, 1879. On that date Mir. Edmunds, of Vermont, offered two resolutions in the United States Senate. One of these affirmed the duty of Congress to provide by law for the full and impartial protection of all oiti- zens legally entitled to vote for Representa- tives in Congress. A month later the resolu- tion was agreed to by vote of 23 to r, and there were twenty y-eight Senators paired. The twenty-three were all Republicans; the sev- enteen were all Democrats. The other reso- lution was as follows:
 Resoloetz, Gs hte jatdgmaent of the Senate, That the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution of the United States have been legally ratified, and are as valid and of the same paramount authentiei- ty as any other part of the Constitution; that the people of each State have common inter- est in the enforcement of the whole Constitu- tion in every State of the Union, and that it is alike the right and duty of Congress to enforce said amendments, and to protect every citizen in the exercise of all the rights thereby secured by laws of the general character al- ready passed for that purpose, and by furth- CT appropriate legislation, so far as such en- forcement and protection are not secured by existing laws and that it is the duty of the executive department of the Government faithfully and with diligence to carry all such laws into impartial execution, and of Con- gross to appropriate all moneys needful to that end.
 This resolution was agreed to by the same vote as that given above. There good deal of lodging about with substitutes, but
  seventeen Senators, namely: Messrs Bai- ley, Bayard, Beck, Cockrell, Coke, Davis, of West Virginia, Eaton, Garland, Gordon, Har- ris, Hereford, Hill, Herman, Lamar, Maxey, Morgan and Voorhees, voted in the negative or against the resolution, thus declaring that they did not recognize the Thirteenth, Four teenth and Fifteenth amendments valid, or that Congress and the Executive were bound to act in conformity with them.
 This is where the leaders of the Democratic party stood in 1879, and they had the support of their constituents and the party press. By their vote on these resolutions they doubtless expressed their real sentiments, which are those of the Democratic platform of 1868, namely, that the war amendments having been adopted by the southern Legislatures under duress are absolutely null and void. But if the early part of last year is too far back to furnish material for fair judgment of the Democratic party, has there been any change in it's ideas since? None that can be perceived. Its leaders have been little stiller than they are wont to be, and there has been an effort to delude the people into believing that the wickedest and most blundering party this country has ever seen has become virtu ous and skillful to work for the public good But Wade Hampton rises and declares that the principles represented by Hancock are those for which Lee and Jackson fought, and l Toombs says that the old boys of the South l will see that Hancock does the fair thing by l them. In other words, he will run the ma | chine to suit them, or they will run the thing l themselves They are not going to be played with any longer" The spots on the leopard are still unchanged