The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-01-01
NATIONAL AFFAIRS.
From The .itldmtic MOnMly.
A LOOK AHEAD.

ceTElllS natlonal pOiltlcs HIlSlI I'VE ISIie-
scented by an Interrogation point. They
are asking question. and are asking it
of themselves, because pending the i'll
! coming and organization of the new gov
ernment they cannot properly put it to
any body else. The question is, What is
likely to be the course of General Gar
fields administration, and what results
may it be expected to produce? Prcsi-
dent Hayes once wisely said that every
| administration leaves its mark upon the
| institutions of the country. In the in
| terval between the election and the inau-
| guration of the new President it is only
natural that people should indulge in
| direction of the next mark is going to
! he. No administration resembles AL
other. Each has its own individuality.
Not to go back beyond the memory of
comparatively young men, think how
great was the difference between the adj
mnistration Of Lincoln and that of John
son, and then how marked was the change
from johnson to Grant. 1t is not always
a change of political principles which
makes the difference. Mr.. Hayes and
his surroundings and tendencies differ
radically from General Grant and the
pt Gu 'iarities OF his administration. though
there was no break in the continuity OF
party ascendency when one went out and
the other came in. The truth is. our
| Presidents are not mere gilded figure
heads. typifyipg executive power, like
some European monarcEs. but are them
selves living fountains Of power. and can
exert potent pristine influence upon leg
i>lative and public sentiment. They can
be negative if they choose, and drift with
the stream: but if they possess strong
characters and well-defned purposes,
there are few crowned heads in the world
who can shape the national will and mold
| the national institutions to so great an
extent as they.
Therefore people ask, What is the new
government which comes in on the 4th
of March going to do? Being young
people, we are hopeful people. We al
WAYS look forward to new adminstra-
ton with ardent anticipations. We think
| the new President is going to set the
country forward a long way. and we have
IA right to expect great deal of General
| Garfield. He is a man of real force Of
character. and a more thorough training
| in craftsmanship than any previous Presi-
| office. We know that he is man of both
thought and action-a close student o.!
other mems ideas. and a vigorous origi-
| nal thinker. We remember how early
he began to make thorough study of
| government; how. when elected to the
| Ohio Legislature, lie set out to trace a
dollar from the pocket of the Taxpayer
to the State treasury. and thence out into
| all the possible forms of public expendi-
| ture; studying the laws that authorized
each transfer. and the purposes for which
the money was applied. We know that
| he carried this method of research up to
the National government, and during
seventeen years in Congress became thor
oughly familiar with all its ramitcations.
| He knows every pin. wheel, and lever i'll
the government machine. He will not
have to spend half his term getting &C
quainted with the apparatus he is to man
age. His energies will be free from the
| first to give it right direction. Then,
Mr.. Hayes leaves no rubbish for him to
clear away. The public offices are filed
with trained. competent, and honorable
men. The machinery is clean, well oiled,
and in good working order. There are
no loose screws or rusty wheels or clogged
bearings.
The most important problem which will
| fall to the new administration will be the
Southern question-moditied good deal
by Mr.. Hayes course, it is true, but new
| ertheless essentially the same problem
with which General Grant struggled for
eight years. and which he received as a
legacy from his predecessor. How shall
the people of the old slave States be
| brought fully to accept the results of the
war; to look upon the black mans right
to vote as Just as good as the white man S:
to respect the right of every man to his
own judgment in politics and to the ex-
preston of his own views; to cultivate
tolerance, that fine flower Of high civil.
cation; to permit the national division of
the voting element into two parties, which
is the only healthfu and safe condition
of things in a popular form of govern
ment? The state of the country cannot
be regarded as satisfactory until it is just
as safe, respectable, and comfortable for
a man to be a Republican in the South as
| it is for n man be to Democrat in the
North. There must be an end to all
forms of prescription and unfriendlinesS
on account of political opinion. A men,
Der of the party which saved the Union
must no longer be made to feel that he
is an alien in part of the country he
helped rescue from destruction. 1t is a
national disgrace if in any portion Of the
Union a citizen is forced to conceal his
sympathy with one of the great political
organizations in order to succeed in his
business, or enjoy pleasant social rela-
tons, or enter upon public career. This
sort of thing has got to stop, and General
Gartield'S administration will no doubt
do all that it can wisely and constitution
ally do to bring it to an end. 1t will be
aided in this work by the conditions de-
velnped under President Hayes. The So
called letalone policy of Mr.. Hayes has
favored the fading out of old animosities
and prejudices in the South, and the
growth of a desire in the more intelligent
classes of the population for tolerance,
honest elections, and the manly strife OF
well-balanced political organizations
Probably it was the best possible prepare
ton for the ultimate solution of the prob
lem. The ground had to be left fallow
for a time. Now it seems ready for plow-
ing and sowing. A more positive policy
can be tried, with hopes Of success. BY
this do not mean forcing process by
harsh laws. The attempt to reform the
South by act of Congress was dead fail
IRE. There are people who want to try
it again-narrow-m minded but perfectly
honest people, who will urge their views