The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-12-11
THE MESSAGE.

documents, and exceptionally tame and point
less, we give President Hayes's last message
entire on our inner form. 1t saves us the work
of preparing and publishing summaries OF thu
various department reports, OF all OF which
the message gives an excellent resume, and tt
such as really wish to inform themselves in re
gard to the operations of the government anc
to do it in AS little time as possible the PreSl
dents summary will be a great convenience
Aside from this useful but prosy and purely
pcrfunctory performance, the President ven
lures with evident caution and timldity into
the troubled region of politics. lie casts aplun
to the stalwarts by a shame-faced sort OF al
mission that his efforts to improve the temper
of the South by mild and concliatory treat
ment have proved failure, and that the equal
rights amendments are not obeyed IN that quar-
ter as they ought to be. He says all good peo
pie must deprecate sectionaism and solid
south" and implicitly admits that solid north
is equally undesirable, but says the latter must
continue as long as the amendments are syste
matically disregarded and violated by the
other section The only violation" he names
is with regard to suffrage, the colored people
of the south being denied the right equally
with the white people freely to cast their vote
and to have it honestly counted" But this is
a point on which the south, we apprehend. is
prepared to take Issue with HIM and ask for
proofs at any rate, they may boldly challenge
comparison, in the matter Of freely casting
votes and honestly counting them," between
the practice at the south during the late cleo
ton and many of the larger cities and the
great manufacturing districts at the north.
The tact of the business is, that so far as bull.
dosing goes, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and
Connecticut beat South Carolina, Mississippi
and Louisiana "blind" at the late election,
though we admit no stalwart can ever be made
to believe it, or that single negro, north or
south ever voted any but the straight republi-
can ticket except under intimidation.
The Presidents little sermon against polyg,
amy, while nobody will quarrel with II, will
have about as much influence on the legsla-
ton of congress as if he had injected into his
message a homily against draw-poker.
He is wonderfully afraid or strangely obliv.
ous of that great issue of the late campaign,
the tariff question. Is it possible that he utter.
ly ignores the danger which the stalwart
stumpers declared SO imminent that even be
fore the lease of the present democratic con
grcss expires it may totally destroy our great
industries by striking down the strong wall of
protection which Is thrown around them by
the present high tariff on imports?
While the President will gam little popu'
larity anywhere and lose what few friends he
ever had in the west by his declaration in IA
vor of silver characterization, his utteranCes in
that regard have at least the merit of being
consistent with former though less boldly ex-
pressed views; but his sermon in favor of civil
service reform, under all the peculiar circum-
stances in his case, IS an oflense and an insult.
After having allowed his officers to stump the
country for Garfield; after allowing three sue
cessve assessments to be made upon all the
clerks, male and female, IN all the departments
of the government, to raise funds to pay ras-
calls to buy up votes and cheat Hancock out Of
his clection,-this man Rutherford Is. Hayes,
who rewarded scores Of Williams with Office for
cheating Louisiana and Florida out of their
electoral vote in 1876 in order, by that shame
full and gigantic fraud to make linn president
is of all men in the world the last who
should dare to touch the subject of civil ser.
vice reform. AS an exhibition of gigantic
hypocrisy and cheek it Is positively sublime /!