Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-01-29
IsCONsIN, THURSDAY. JANUARY %, 1880

AAOSiaons suuS Ctcotcu, Wu6t W0ult
you have ? The first element would
be the solid South South only sol.
i'd through the acknowledgements O.
the negroes. The second would bs
the foreign element in the North, ar
element whieb has not been lone
enough with as to acquire the edu.
cation or experience necessary to
true citizenship. Neither of these
elements has any love for the Union
The irst made war to destroy it, the
second has not learned what the
Union is. These elements consti.
tute the Democratic party, and once
they gain power l should be con.
cerned for the welfare of the coun.
try. They would sway their Pres.
ident, no matter how able or patri.
otto. Ny fear of this result has al.
ways made me wish that some issue
would arise at home that would di.
vide parties upon some other ques.
ton than the war / hoped that
would be one of the results of the
Greenback agitation. The triumph
of Democratic party as il was be.
fore the war, of an opposition party
to the Republicans az patriotic as
tho Democratic party before the
war,would be a matter to be viewed
with Indifference 80 fer as the ooun.
try is concerned. The triumph of
the Democratic party as now organ
lied | would regard as calamity.
wish it were otherwise. hope
every year to see it otherwise. But
as yet | am disappointed. | am a
Republican because | am an Amer.
lean, and because ! believe the first
duty of an American--the para.
mount duty--is to save the results
of the war, and to save our credit.n
| remember hearing the General
describe the inside history of the
Electoral Commission, and of his
own part in that movement. Many
of the things he said belong to the
history which one day may be writ.
ten. To write them now would be
premature. Nothing" said the
General, "could have been wiser than
the Electoral mission, and moth.
ing could be more unpatriotic than
the attempt to impair the title of
Mr.. Hayes as fraudulent. There was
good deal of cowsrdice and kna.
very in that effort. Mr.. Hayes is
just as much President as any of
his pred ecessors. The country can
not too highly honor the men who
devised and carried through the
Electoral Commission. Mr.. Conk.
ling, especially, did grand service
in that. He showed himself brave
enough to rise above party. The
crisis was serious one, and for me
one of peculiar annoyance. There
is something radically wrong about
our manner of attaining and declar.
ing the results of a Presidential
election which l am surprised has
not been amended. 1t used to wor.
ry Morton a great deal, and on pro-
vious occasions we had trouble
ABOUT it. The simple duty of de-
of votes should be easily done. We
should never go through another
Electoral Commission excitement.
This is a question which should be
decided free from politics, and yet
1t is delayed and paralyzed from
purely political considerations. His
tory, however, will justify the Elec-
toraI Commission as a fine bit of
self.government on the part of the
people. / say this without regard
to It's decision. / would have
thought thesame if Tilden had been
elected
A question was asked as to wheth-
er the General had any fear of an
outbreak as tue result of the Com
mission "That was the least of my
fears" said the general. II never
believed there would be blow, but
| had 80 many warnings that made
all my preparations. / knew all
about the rife clubs of South Caro-.
lima, for instance, the extent of
whose organizations has never been
made known. was quite prepared
for any contingency. Any outbreak
would have been suddenly and sur,
MARTY stopped. So far as that was
concerned my course was clear, and
my mind was made up. did not
intend to have two Governments,
nor any South American pronuncia-
mentos. / did not intend to receive
Commissioners from sovereign
States as Buchanan did. If Tilden
was declared elected | intended to
hand him over the reins, and see
him peacefully installed. | should
have treated him as cordially as l
did Hayes, for the question of the
Presidency was then neither person
al nor political, bat national. l tried
to act with the utmost impartiality
between the two. / would not have
raised my finger TO have put Hayes
in, If in so doing | did Tilden the
slightest injustice. All l wanted
wassfor the legal powers to declare
a President, to keep the machine
running, to allay the passions of the
canvass, aud allow the country
pace. / am profoundly grateful
that the thing ended as it did, with
out devo.viDg upon me new respon.
sibilities. The day that brought
about the result and enabled nae to
leave the White House as | did, 1
regard as one of the bappiest in my
life. | felt, personally. that had
been vouchsafed q special deliver
ancs. 1t was great blessing to
the eountry-the peaceful solution, |
mean. can rot see how any pa.
triotic man can think otherwise.
We had peace, aud order, and OBJ
servance of the law, and the world
had q new illustration of the dignity
and efficiency of the Republic. This
we owe to the wisdom and foresight
OF the men who formed the Eiecto-
raj Commission Democrats as well
ss Republicans
"At the same time / think" said
the General. continuing the conver>
satlon, "that we should revise our
Electoral laws, and prevent the re-
newal of such q crisis. / have
thought q good deal over this sub-
iect of the duration of the Presiden.