The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1884-06-26
Thomas f. Bayard.

Thomas +. Bayard.
For twenty-five long weary years
he country has been treated to full
-ations of mediocrity in the public ad '
No single CLEAN of ge- Z
MUS, even momentary, has lit up the '
lead negative of the sad picture All !
is, all has been, weak, nerveless and !
The long line of fig
presidents have stepped up '
and down again. and no single ripple
on the surface has told of evena mo-
mentary agitation, while the depths
have slept on all unconcious that the
merest routine had been practiced
above. What did Grant per-
sonally do to still the mad
wave of passion sweeping
over the bloody and riven country
after Appomattox's fateful day? We
credit him with a sincere desire to
serve the cause of pacification. But
it seemed fatal decision that every |
step he took, even with the most oily |
and pacific precision, was an irritant |
of the most positive kind. The pas
sions of the people were permitted to
wear out, and in doing so, the wear
and tear upon the finer and better
principles and constituents Of our
political life was indeed tremend-
Gus. Chicanery, trickery, corruption
and force were all used in turn to beat
down still lower, if possible, people
already in the bloody dust of defeat.
De Trobriand's mailed Iegions were
sent laundering and changing into
Louisiana's council house to show
that the power once potent on the
field, would again be potent IN the
councils. not of the nation alone, but
of the states as well. All this was
done while the policy of concilliation
was loudly preached by the same
mailed statesman enthroned at Wash
ington. One single flash of statesman
like genius, of fitness for the grave
task of governing, would have accom-
plished all this, would have soothed
the troubled waters, and the years
and money expended so freely
in the task Of RECONSTRUCT
ton had all been saved,
But military clodhopper, an ignor-
ant dragon, thug held the reins,
and these were the principles upon
which he meant to reconstruct. 1t
was no use to expostulate. No use
to beg or demonstrate. The prede-
{ termined policy was to be carried out,
, even if the end ostensibly sought was
defeated forever. At the close of the
second term of Grant, another child Of
: revolution, mere political baby, in
, deed, was foisted into the chair, anG
2 reigned in the same narrow grooves
5 surrounding man who held
Q the position by consentlng to the
t most glazing fraud of any age.
n Such man as Bayard in the place
f at the time Grant was there, or ever
n when poor, pitiful Hayes masquerade
+ as president, and what we enjoy to-da.
r by reason of the workings of know
common law of re-adjustment, woul,
have operated as the result of wise
u dispassionate and patriotic policy. w
. have had enough of the dregs of revo
luton. We need now craftsmanship
- cleanliness and character. We nee
% ability Of the first order, and onl
. that. We have it all in the distin
Il guished-nay, the illustrious gentle
. man whose name we have writer
g above. He is indeed a man, man il
e all the broader and better phase
1t Of manhood. He would be a grea
d man in the English senate, in tn
?, house Of commons, or even in tina
Il celebrated German council, wher
Bismarck and Won Buest and tn
dead Lasker were won't to to cal
- down the applause of civilization. H
y is equal in merit to the demands O
= the age, the nation which honors hiT
= and the party which will exhibit anew
!, its claims to wisdom and patriotism
= by nominating him at Chicago with
~ out dissenting voice. He stand
~ next to Tilden in the admire
y ton of the Clearly people c
~ America. There is no sort Of tain
70 upon his bright name. He
- patriot of the loftiest character, an
:. democrat as true and as inflexible q
~ the massed virtues of all the best VIII
have died at the stake or elsewhere fo
ID their principles.
o. He is a grand fellow. Lofty @
s, stature, as In intellect. he walks fort
t, among men, equaled by few and sui
n passed by none. Gentle and decorou
it as woman, yet with the nerv
le withal, which, in Its fineness of text
le ure and strength Of fibre, is net
IS essary constituent in states
man who assumes to guide the des
tines of nation of sixty million
,e intelligent, progressive and free pee
IS pie. The Chicago convention will b
n recreant to the hopes Of the people
is the expectations of patriots and tn
d grand possibilities lying in the pat
It of the nation, II 1t does not treat tn
IT democratic party, the nation and tn
E. civilization Of the age to candidat
n who will fittingly represent al
d Thomas F. Bayard, of Delaware.
Y EVERYBODY is free now.