The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-02-21
.Anether Great Democratic Thief.

AHyther Great Democratic Thief.
The Southern States have been under
renewed Democratic nule but a few
years. and they all passed from carpet
bag TO Bourbon rule with many.protes-
tations that the.days of official corrup-
tion in their borders now had ended.
/ 1t was said. in their always fiambuoy-
ant press. that the chivalrous honor and
mere word of any Southern gentleman
IF he was Democrat-were better
than any Northern mans bond. Dem
, ocratic papers, both North and South,
vexed the ear of the world with hu ge
stories and huger complaints of lhe
crimes and dishonor of the carpet-bag
Governments, and the sympathy of all
mankind was asked for so marvelously
honest, pure, and chivalrous people,
with not a dishonest or doubtful man
among them all, being ruled over by
vampires and thieves upheld by the un.
kind and tyrannical arm of the General
Government
Alter awhile the people who had re-
belled against the Government, and
spilled the blood of hundreds of thou
sands OF its citizens, were shown the
greatest clemency that any Government
on the face of the earth in all history
ever showed to rebels. and given back
their citizenship and their power to &C.
quire by murder and-terrorism of the
majority to rule their States. In short
time. within the brief space of four or
five years. every State of the South
passed under Democratic rule, and the
chivalry of the Southern States, for
given their crimes, began to sta K
boastingly before the world, determined
to redeem the clouded name of their
States from the odium and dishonor
left upon them by the carpet-bag Off
cials who ruled them for few years.
In the natural course of things, and
in the course even of common organized
thievery in official places. great crimes
in official stealing or at least the expos
ure of such stealing would not have be-
gun to come to public knowledge in so
short q time as has passed since the
Democrats regained control of the
Southern States All parties in assum-
ing power, are greatly circumspect in
their first years OF rule, and the Offices
in the treasury of Governments, where
official stealing is generally done, gen.
orally run good long term of years. so
that robberies even wen crimes are be-
ing committed do not ripen into lex-
posure for eight or ten years as a gen.
eral rule. But in the South in the first
four or five years of the new and boast
full democratic rule, the most stupen-
dons crimes of official delinquency and
robbery are already coming to light
A month ago it was Colonel Polk. of
the very chivalry of Tennessee. hero
of the rebel army, fleeing defaulter, q
robber of four hundred thousand dol
lars. be ng captured in the wilds of
L
Democratic State in irons-showing in
rapid succession, unblushing villiany in
official corrupt on and robbery, the
most abiect coward;ce in fleeing from
the exposure and consequence of it,
and the most unmanly bearing when
overtaken in his hight and captured.
Now comes another Democratic State
Treasurer and robber-Vincent, of
Alabama. who is fugitive from his
State after stealing $S2 900 of its
money. 1t came upon the State like
great surprise-of course. For who
especially who that is a Democratic
Southerner-could expect petted son
of the chivalry and the democracy of
the South OF being q thief, a robber
first mean enough to steal, and next
coward enough to run. 1t was all dis
covered in one short afternoon, and
the Democratic Governor OF the Demo-
cratic State OF Alabama had to report
to the almost unanimous democratic
Legislature the painful and mortify-
ing" fact that the Democratic State
Treasurer had robbed the state OF
1922 ZOO. and fed the State. It was
added that reward had been set on
his head, and that description of the
great robber had been sent to the police
of all the cities of the wicked North.
1t seems it was taken for granted that
the chivalrous thief had gone North =
..gone to meet Spencer" as it were The
dispatches add that there is great ex-
element all through Alabama" We
should say so. Two such great robber-
les in the Southern States, in the short
time since Democratic rule has re- b.
tanned there, are not only remarkable
but astounding. They show and prove
two things, the chronic and historical
corruption of the Democratic party
when in power and the inevitable re-
suit of the example set by some of the
Southern States since coming under.
Democratic rule, in repudiating their
debts. The Democratic people of the
South have seemed willing to repudiate
any and all debts made by the war
Governments, and in Tennessee they
went back o. the war to repudiate the
debts of the old State in its former days
OF Democracy and slavery. 1t is no
wonder that the men whom it elected to
Office thought that, If States could steal
and call it honor, they might also steal
and not commit crime.
1t is fearful crop of official Demo
cratic dishonor thus early ripened in the
new South, and now exposed to the
world to the shame of the whole Ma
ton 1t is q mort flying spectacle, and
the only retrieving feature of it is that
1t comes in time to warn the American
people of the untrustworthiness in Off
cial place of the party which has ALWAYS
shown loose morals when in power,
which managed the affairs of the Gen
eral' Government SO as to destroy its
credit, and which finally capped the
climax in its career by trying on the one
hand through Democratic President to
the Government to the rebels,
and on the other hand by the Democrats
OF the South seeking in armed force
and REBEL on to destroy it Renewed
Democratic rule in the Southern tates
has shown that the body of the party has
still its old ideas Qtno moral objection
to reputation, and the rapidly-apr ear
ing crop of Polks and Vincents shows
that the old Democratic habit of official
still governs the individual
Inclination of the men the party elects
to Office.
One thing is plain-all around the sky
and that is that the old Democratic
party is still the old democratic party.
and still as unfit to rule in separate
states as in the ienerl Government.
Ioaa0 Ak.,fa R.n;sfa.-