Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1888-06-14
NEITHER BANDANA NOR SHIRT.


New York Tribune.
Gen. Bradley T. johnson has been
waving something lurid for the benefit
of the friends of the Lost Cause" 1t
was not a bandana, that is certain; for
he was not at st. Louis, but at Baltimore,
and the only noble old Roman whose
praises he sounded was Jefferson Da-
Wis. 1t was the Confederate flag whic-
he figuratively unfurled in the Mary
land cemetery where Southern soldiers
are buried, and he did not hesitate
to flaunt it in the face of the loyal North
on the very day O. President Cleveland's
denomination. This brief passage gives
the spirit of the Brigadier's appeal for
unity in this period of reconciliation
and good will" under the undivided
! Democracy:
THE South is progressing. She is not
dead. These old Confederate soldiers and
their descendants elect ninety out of ey-
/ cry one hundred Congressman, thirty
! four of the United States Senators, ar
| the President of the United States 7
| Government of the United States is cor
| trOlled by Confederate soldiers. These
| old Confederate soldiers are not idle.
/ Their work for twenty-SiX years in Gov
/ ernment, in railroads. and industrial en-
| terpriSeS of all sorts is making itself felt
all over the land. In 1890 Texas will send
/ twenty-five men to Congress. The anXi-
/ ETY. will then be not who can carry Nev
York in the election, but who can car
| Texas? Every Confederate soldier ca :
rieS with him chained to his heart a
| caSket of his dead hope and aspirations
| which he will carry with him through
! life as Douglas did the heart of Bruce to
the Holy Land to show his devotion to
/ the cause for which he fought. | cannO
! forget Jefferson Davis. He.is patier
! statesman and hero. He is renowned for
his patriotism. l hope he will go down
! to his grave with the disfranchiSement
his enemies have put upon him, for / am
sure he would never accept the right OF
suffrage except by unanimous consent, OF
which there is not the remOteSt hope"
If veterans of the Union armies will
read these incisive sentences they will
not be at a loss to understand the Pres
! ident'S reluctance to sign relief meas
ures for their impoverished and bedrid-
den comrades, or his refusal to attend
the last National Encampment. The
! COnfederacy is in the saddle and it rides
as it pleases. The soldiers who fought
against the Union virtually elected Pres
ident Cleveland and little short of a ma
jority of the United States Senate. The
Presidents main reliance for reelection
is upon the same Confederate host, who
will deliver to him without a struggle
the electoral vote of every one of the
Southern States. When Gen. Johnson
says that 1.-The Government of the Uni
ted States is controlled by Confederate
soldiers" he may be indiscreet, but he
tells the plain truth. The Brigadiers
who with him cannot forget Jefferson
Davis, but upon every occasion speak of
the arch-conspirator of the Rebellion as
a patient hero, an exalted patriot, and q
noble martyr, have not been idle since
the War They have regained for the
South the supremacy which it enjoyed
in slavery times. They control Con-
gresS and the National Administration.
They hold the fate of every Northern in
dustry in the hollow of their hand.
Gen. Johnson may have chosen an un-
fortunate day for Haunting the glory
and power of the Confederate soldier,
but he blurted out the truth. His tri-
umphant speech may not accord with
the Democratic cymbals in convention
over the restoration of peace, harmony
and fraternity in the American Union,
but there is more sincerity in it than
there was in any defamation that was
heard in st. Louis. While the delegates
fluttered their red bandaRas IA tt
of emotional partisanship, he gazed with
devotion at the old Confederate flag and
calmly rehearsed its victories and con-
quests since the collapse of the Rebel
lion.