The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-23

enter his camp lest he should seem TO snatch
| from him the glory of his illustrous campaign.
| From near town he enabled Sherman to recon
struct his terms. and accept General Johnstons
| surrender.
| When Lincoln was dead, Vice president John
| son became President; a man we'll fitted for car
| rying on fight, but not skilled in peace, with
morbid sense of Justice he determined that the
leaders of the rebellion shouid be made to suffer
as examples as if the death of all the first born
| the desolation of every Southern home, the i'm
| poverished condition and bankruptcy of every
| citizen were not example enough He ordered
| Lee to be arrested. Grant refused. When john
| son would have employed the army to effect his
purposes. Grant, with quick but noble rebellion,
refused obedience to his superior and, arranging
to take from his hands all military control. re-
| pressed the Presidents wild temper and savage
purpose of dishonoring Justice
| Having brought the long and disastrous war
| to close, in his own heart Grant would have
chosen to have rested upon his laurels and lived
| retired military life. 1t was not to be permit
| ted. He was called to the presidency by uni
versal acclaim, and it fell to him to conduct
] campaign of reconstruction even more burden
| some than the
| 1t would seem impossible to combine in one
eminent civil and military genius. TO certain
extent they have elements in common But the
| predominant element in war is organized force;
| of civil government, influence. Craftsmanship
| is less brilliant than geEeralship, but requires
different and higher moral and intellectual
genius God is frugal in creating great men
| men great enough to hold in eminence the ele-
| ments of great general and of great ruler.
| Washington was eminent in craftsmanship. but
| then he was not a great general. AT any rate.
| he had no opportunity to develop the fact
| Alexander was mere brutal fighter Caesar as
| emperor differed from Caesar as general only as
| sword sheathed differs from sword unsheathed
| Frederick the Great was simply military ruler
| Napoleon came to combine the two
elements in the earlier period of his career but
the genius of force gradually weakened that
| sense OF right ard justice on which statesman
| ship must rest.
Grant had in him the element of great states
| manship; but neither his education, nor his
| training, nor the desperate necessities of
| gave it a fair chance of development in condi-
| ton of things which bewildered the wisest
statesmen.
| His admirable temper and fine sense of justice
| and truth fitted him to deal with the nflamed
| condition of the public mind. He had no ami
| mosities. no revenges, no secret ambition and no
commixture with schemes of gain. Whatever
| mistakes he made he made them with sincere
belief that he was promoting the public welfare.
| This must. think, be the final verdict-that il
| Grant failed in statesmanike conduct there
was no other public man who could have done
| better.
The tangled skein of affairs would have tasked
| a Cavour Bismarck The period of recon
structIon is yet too near our war-in1amed eyes to
| be philosophically judged.
| First came the disbandng of the army. That
was easily done that the world has never
done justice to the marvel The soldiers of three
| great armies dropped their arms at the word of
command, dissolved their organizations, and dis
| appeared To day the mightiest force EARTH
| tomorrow they were not! AS summer storm
darkenS the whole heavens. shakes the ground
with its thunder, and empties it's culver of light
ming and is gone in an hour as if it had never
been. so was 1t with both armies. Neither in the
South nor in the North there cabal of Off
GERS nor any ARRAY of soldiers-for every soldier
was yet more citizen.
In this resumption of citizen life Grant ac-
companed by his most brilliant generals, led
| the way. He hated war. its insignia, and
| in foreign lands refused to witness military pa
geants. He had had enough of war. He loved
peace.
! When advanced to the presidency three vital
questions were to be solved.
| l. The atus of the four million emancipated
| slaves.
| 2 The adjustment of the political relations of
| the dislocated States.
3. The restraint and control of that gulf stream
| of finance which threatened to wash out the
| foundations of honest industry, and which
brought to the Nation more moral mischief than
had the whole war itself. We in peril from
golden quicksands yet
| Grant was eminently wise upon this question
| His veto saved the country from vitiated and
| corrupting circulation.
The exaltation of the domestic African to
| immediate citizenship WAS the most audac,
ious act of faith and fidelity that ever was wit
messed.
| Their fidelity to the duties of bondage was
| most Christian. In all the war, knowing that
| their emancipation 20 be gained or lost.
| there was never nsurrection nor a recorded
| instance of cruelty or INSTRUMENTATION. This
| came not from cowardice; for when, in the later
| periods of the war; they were enlisted and
| drilled they made soldiers so brave as to extort
| admiration and pr aise from prejudice itself.
| They deserved their liberty for their good con-
| duct.
Rnt wa how oroA fOpo N
safety of our civil economy rests upon the intelli
| gence of the citizen. But the slaves in mass
| were greatly ignorant
1t was political necessity to arm them with
| the ballot as means of sef-defenSe
In many of the Southern States probationary
| state would have been wiser but in others it
would have remanded them to substantial
| bondage
| In this grand department of craftsmanship
| General Grant accepted the views of the most
| eminent Republicans, Stanton, Chase Sumner
| Ihad Stevens, Fessenden, Sherman. Garfield,
Conkling. Evarts, and of all the great leaders
In the REIMBURSEMENT of the political relations
| of the South he was wise, generous, and mag
unanimous in his career. Not line in letter,
| speech or message can be found that would
| wound the self-respect of Southern citizens
When the dangerous heresy of a greenback
| currency had gained political power, and
Congress was disposed to open the flood gates of
| rotten currency, his veto, an act of courage,
| turned back the deluge and saved the land from
| a whole generation of mischief. Had he done
| but this one thing, he would have deserved we'll
| of history
The respects in which he fell below the line of
| sound statesmanship-anG these are not a few
are be attributed to the influence of advisers
whom he had taken into his confidence. Such
was his loyalty to friendship that it must be set
down as fault-a fault rarely found among
| public men.
Many springs of mischief were opened which
still flow. When it was proposed to nominate
Grant for third term. the real objections to the
| movement among wise and dispassionate men
was not so much against Grant as against the
| staff which would come in with him.
On the whole if one considers the intrinsic
| difficulty of the questions belonging to his ad-
mnstration, the stormy days of politics and
| parties during his eight years, il must he ad-
| mltted that the country owes TO his unselfish