Year: 1868

With the instinct of the drowning, the
Radicals catch at every floating straw Nay,
they are seen clutching frantically at the herest
shadows and phantoms. The most piuable
exhibition of this kind is the effort Of the
New York Tribune to offset the wholesale
exodus from the Republican ranks in the
North by the alleged disaffection to the DEM
ocratic ticket of prominent and influential
persons heretofore explicitly and VIGOROUSLY
opposed to Republican policy. The shame
less effrontery with which the Tribune plies
this despicsble species of electicneering men
dacity may be judged from its enumeration
among such disaffected persons of General
Steedman, General Ewing, Caleb Cushing
Senator Doolittle and. to cap the absurdity
of the foul and miserable trick, President
Johnsonl "Late indications" says the Tri-
bune, "seem to be that Andrew Johnson him.
self will either remain neutral, which would
be new attitude for him, or come out in
support of Grant. - Should
the President support Grant, as he probably
will, Mr.. Seymour will probably not be hon
ored by the support of more than cor
porals guard among the Al, 900 ofice-holders
of the government" While it is evident that,
along with other motives, the writer means
this as a stealthy overture to the President
for coalition in favor of the Radical ticket,
it is equally evident that he is totally insensi-
bic to honor and does not know what the Ian
guage of insult is. If there is one trait more
remarkable than another in the public char
acter of Andrew johnson, it is his logical
honesty, his fearless and unhinching con-
sistency in adhering to his principle, however
bitter or disastrous to himself, personally or
politically, might be the consequence of his so
doing. On this line he has been prepared
to fight it out, though the battle should be
extended to the very edge of doom. General
Grant has been for the past twelve months
his foremost antagonist in this battle.
No one has more grossly, in both act and
word, outraged and contemned the Presidents
convictions of executive prerogative and con-
stitutionsl duty than Gen. Grant And yet
the Tribune assumes that Andrew Johnson is
capable of the scandalous self-stultifcation
and the inefabe ESTABLISHMENT of supporting
Grant for the presidency, when the latter has
recanted nothing, has repented nothing, but
when he is, on the contrary, the head and
front of the Radical usurpation with which
the President has been compelled to struggle
for official existence. The National Intelli-
gencer, which is authorized to speak for Mr..
johnson, denounces this aspersion by the
Tribune as "the foulest of it's whole batch of
fabrications." But there was hardly need for
the denunciation. The calumny was too pa
tent. Mr. Johnson has no cause of quarrel
with the Democracy. Their ticket and their
platform amount to q national vindication of
his course in defending the Constitution
against the assaults of Radicalism. 1t is
also worth noting in this connection that only
o short time since the Tribune and other Radi-
cal sheets affected the utmost contempt for
the political influence of the President, and
were fond of asserting that his adhesion to
the Democratic cause would be a fatal drag
upon it in the presidential campaign. Now
they are fain to bring the mere phantom of
his prestige to the aid Of their own sinking
cause. Truly their distress is extreme, and
their panic would be painful to behold were it
not that despair with them means hope for
tho ennntry.