Year: 1868




There is no one act of the radical party SO
entirely indefensible, or that has resulted
more disastrously to the well-being of the
country than their determined and inveterate
opposition to every attempt of Mr.. johnson
and his Cabinet to re-establish the Union,
restore amicable relations between the States,
and efface as soon and completely as possible
the demoralizing effects of our four years OF
civil strife. The radicals do not attempt q
defence of their policy of delaying reeonstrnc-
tion for four years, and indeed It is imposs>
ible to divine single plausible justification
for such unWise proerastination. Time
always enhances the difficulties of reconcilia
tion between communities that have been
at war, and certainly no one will dispute the
proposition that the cessation of war and the
final surrender of one party in conflict be-
tween two nations of parts or nation, is the
proPitious period to make peace. Every in-
terest of the conntry has suffered by the
refusal of the radicals to restore the Union.
The North as well as the South has suffered
from this willful, wicked, and prolonged re-
fusal to admit the Southern States back
again into the Union. The postponement
of the restoration Of order and civil govern
ment iu the seeding States by preventing
the recuperation Of the destroyed wealth Of
those States aud thus ipcapacitating then
from paying their share Of the common bur-
den, of debt, has imposed proportionately
heavier burden of taxation upon the North
ern States. And the principal cause of our
deprecated credit to>day-a cause even more
potent than the wild extravaganza and un-
paralleled corruption of the RADICAL Congress,
to destroy confidence in our obligations, is to
be found in the undisguised disposition of
that Congress to open afresh rather than heal
the wounds and scars of our sectional war.
Ask capitalist, native or foreign, why be
places lower estimate upon the value of our
bonds than upon those of the poorest nations
on earth, and be will not reply that it is the
mode or manner or time of redemption that
alarms him, but he will point you to the fact
that four years after the conclusion of our
war We are yet disunited /; his faith is shaken
and his confidence destroyed at seeing the
anomaly of a party in power calling itself
Union, striving, by unconstitutional laws, by
the establishment of military supremacy and
the overthrow of civil authority, and by the
| willful enforcement of a policy deliberately
intended to desolate the fairest part of the
country, to prevent the restoration Of the
Union. 1t is undeniable, that the steady,
determined refusal of the radicals to establish
peace, has created wide spread belief that
our constitutional government will never
again exist. The country is in a much worse
condition now than when Lee surrendered,
| The productions of the South formerly COM
stituted the principal part Of our exports
which was the basis Of our European credit,
but now, under radical policy, by the Afri
canization Of the South, this source of nationr
al credit is lost. The South is now an ex>
pense to the nation. instead of contributing
to its strength. The same policy which con.
stantly increases our indebtedness decreases
our ability to pay. How can we expect that
capitalists will place faith in our promises to
pay our deet, whAe the debt is being in
creased in an effort to render ten States Of
the Union utterly bankrupt.-,S s. F. Dispatch