National Republican., 1885-09-05
TIE LIVE IssItEs.



which, If continued, will as surely renew |
all the strifes Of the civil war as that the |
sun rolls around IN lis course.
The Republican party was certainly lib |
cral and just to the rebels lately In arms |
against the country. We deprived them
OF no political power; no blood was shed
no conilscatiOn was had, and more generous
terms were conceded 10 them than ever
before had been extended to an unsuccessful
party IN a civil war. Their leaders cmpha-
sized that at the burial Of our great com
mandcr, Gen. Grant. The result Of the set
tloment by the constitutional amendments
Mt the close Of the war was to give them
increased political power upon condition
that the slaves should bc free and should he
allowed to vote, and that all political dis
tinctions growing out of race, color, or pre-
vious condition of scrvitudc should he
abolished; and yet to-day the Republican
party is faced bya solid south, in which
the negro Is deprived, substantially,
Of all his political rights by open vio-
lence or hy frauds as mean as any
that have been committed by penitentiary
convlcts, and as openly and boldly done as
any highway robbery. BY this system and
by the acquicscence of few northern states,
the men who led In the civil war have been
restored TO power, and hope, practically, TO
the specter that now launts American pol
itics, and might make It just as vital and
necessary to appeal to the northern states
to unite again against this evil, not so open
and arrogant as slavery, but more danger
Gus and equally unjust. The question then
was the slavery Of the black man. Now
the question is the equality Of the white
man. Whether southern man In Missis-
sippi may, by deprving u majority of the
legal voters In the state Of their right to
vote, exercise twice the political power Of
q white man IN the north where the fran
chisc is free and open and equal to all.
When this subject is pressed we are some
times met with denial, but IN the face of
proofs so conclusive, spread upon the pub
lie records and in the public journals and
substantially admitted over and over again
in the south, denial will not answer The
actual returns Of the elections show that IN
all the southern states where the negroes
are IN majority, they are either not per-
mitted to vote or the returns are changed.
Now, thirty-eight white Democratic presi-
dental electors and thirty-cight white
| Democratic members Of the House of Rep
rcsentatives, based upon more than 6,00O,-
900 cOlorcd people living In southern states,
are returned from those states, and scarcely
II single representative of the colorcd race,
or one elected by the colorcd people, votes
| In the electoral college or In the House of
| Representatives. II Is said that this Is
matter for each state to regulate. That
doctrine we hoped was ovCrthrown by the
civil war The right of representation is a
right not given TO the state but to the
people OF the state, part of the people of the
United States. and we In Ohio are as much
interested that the people Of South Carolina
should be fairly represented as we are that
the people Of Hamilton county should be
fairly represented, for the vote of every
representative In Congress, and of every
presidential elector, affects us alike from
whatever place elected,
When we point out these Oilcnses com
mitted In the south 1t is said that we are
raising the bloody shirt; that we are roviv-
ing the issues of the war-that the war Is
over. j hope the war is over and that the
animostics Of the war will pass away and
he dead and buried. Anger aud hate and
prejudice are not wise counsclors In peace
or war. Generosity, forgiveness, and
charity are great qualities Of the human
, heart, but, like everything else that Is good
they may he carried to excess, and may de-
generate into faults. They must not lead
us TO forget the obligations Of duty and
honor. While we waive the animOsitcs oi
, the war, we must never fail to hold on, with
courage and fortitudc, to all the results OF
the war.
Our soldiers fought In no holiday con.
ltSl, nul IlltTtlN W lthI IUt HlunlN VUullllts
I OF the men of the north and the south, moi
! for power, or pundcr, or wealth, or title
! They fought to secure to themselves and
their posterity the blessings of a strong
. national government.
II was for the preservation Of the Union
n union not Of states, but OF the people o
, the United States; not n confederate govern
/ ment, but national government. Tn,
: preservation of the Union was the centra
9 nf hn "a hn fn,ln Ia
$ fought for what he was led to think was th,
= right of a state to seccde from the Union q
{ its pleasure. The Union soldiers triumphed
The confederate soldiers We're compelled I,
: an unconditional surrender
: The sacrifices, wounds, and deaths o
n hundreds Of thousands Of brave men wcr
4 suffered to save the Union and strengthen
% It's foundations. We may forgive withOu
q qualifications what the rebels did In the war
II but we cannot, with honor, surrender wha
il our soldiers won In the war: nor can W
l. Weld an iOta of the benefits they have con
Il ferrcd upon the country, greater far than al
l. the cost Of the war
= Sometimes j fear that our moderation
l. verging on Indifference; that while our mind
IS are distracted by local politics, the old doc
Ie trincs are being revived again. We forge
sometimes that 1t was the Union cause tia
IS won, and not the rebel cause. have n
I, Gently heard Jefferson Davis, in the Senat
D. of the United States, eXtolled as patrio
l., and | have been called in question for dt
Jf nouncing him as n conspiratOr and traito
n have seen many signs of n dispositio
n to waive all the glorious results Of ii
n. war, to make no difference between I'll
IN blue and the gray, to revive again the do
k, trines of secession and state rights taugl
m before the war, The tendency of the Den
Is ocratic party is all that way. / do II,
w question the patriotism Of my Democrat
lc neighbors here In Ohio, but we know
at old experience they follow the leaders
al their party. The governing forces Of thi
Nv party is with the south, as in the days
H. Buchanan. We have no sign of prOte
m from Democratic orators or journals of Il
of wholesale deprivation Of the colored peop
SO In the south of their right to vote, nothir
m of the crimes by which the south Is mac
IS, solid. The only hopeful sign was tn
In Cleveland would not appoint man
postmaster in Copiah county, Miss, wi
st indorsed the murder of Matthews, but,
IL n rule, in all the north no preference
er given to the Union soldier over any 9th
MS applicant The Union soldiers appoint,
,ir by this administration are few and far h
in tween, while In every case IL was not Il
re record Of the soldier that was in his fave
of but his services as Democratic partisan.
,ir In the south II may he said that no know
of Union man has been appointed to Ollie
Nv The offices are filed from the rebel rank
ty No man who acquiesces In the results
Ic- the war, who honorably demands fl
nd ballot and fair count can be appointed
he Office in the south. The rebels are In
absolute mastery In the south as tn
al would have been II the confcderacy HI
es succeeded,
mt Follow citizens, the line drawn betwe
X the two parties Is now as distinct as
TO was during the war, but we occupy diff
,st ent field Of battle. Then we fought for I
wv preservation Of the Union, and, as mea
r n to that end, for the abolition of SLAYER
get NOW the mon is saved ana slavery Is ab'
ch lshed' we hght Tor the equal political rigl
M Of all men and the faithful observance
in the constitutional amendments. We q
m. for the exercise of national authority,
iai the preservation of rights conferred by {
i've constitution, and upon this broad issue
i'm invite cooperation from the south as W