Year: 1866

The principal radical journals are
discussing. with considerable earnest
moss the course their party is now to
nursue. They have complete control
over the present congress and Will re-
+oin. in the next congress, sufficient
nower TO bid defiance to Presidential
yc;oes and enact ana put into opera
linn such measures rs they may devise.
The responsibility fox the proper gov
ernmcnt of the country until the 4th Of
March 1869 rests entirely upon the radi-
cal party. There are no barriers which
they cannot surmount, no checks which
they cannot break through. The consti-
tutionfcttcrs them no more than rope Of
sand would fetter giant. Whether
they possess it rightfnlly and legally or
not. they assume and exercise legisla-
live omuipotence. They rule the nation
in obedience to their own will alone
and, bv the forms of law, there is no
redress for any injuries they may iniiict,
That this should be the case Is both
startling and sad, but it is true. and the
ncople should not shut their eyes to
hide its existence. The government OF
the nation during the next two years
and half is in the hands of the radical
majority in Congress, and whatever OF
rood or i'll results therefrom is the work
of the radical party.


Under these circumstances 1t Is, oi
courSc. natural that the men and jour
nails that shape the destinirs ana mold
the opinions of that party, should be
engaged in marking out the manner III
which they propose to use the tremen-
dous powcrplaced in their hands, and II
is natural also that the people who are to
be Governed should watch narrowly all
indications of tie policy which Is to be
pursued.


All of the radical journals whose
views in relation to the future policy OF
the government have come under oul
observation. seem to regard the welfare
of their party as paramount 10 all Other
considerations, and to think that the
prime object OF legislation should b'
the preservation of power i'll the hand'
the radicals. They take 10 broad yiew
and have no conception OF the interests
OF the whoIe people, the welfare of TIT
nation at large. The interests of tn
South, and of the conservative masse
in the Northern States, numbering
puIte ,"U ,uIius oi inc cItizons OT TN
Union, are entirely ignored, or looked
upon merely as the lawful prey Of tho
LIIo5 .ySiifhh h ihou uSs3 II, /,
days of the republic, that which aim
u 50 harmonic conflicting interests a
10 secure some good to all, is utterly un
known to the mer who are to sway tn
dcStinieS of our government during tn
next two years. They are only parti
sans and can look no higher than party
considerations.


We can hardly suppose that an!
person who is ut all cognizant o
the politieal events OF the las
six years will feel any surprise at learn
ing that the radicals propose, for th'
future. to simply build up their Owl
power and strengthen their hold upol
office. ut the expense of the maiorit.
whose birth-right they have taken away
This has been the course OF the party II
The past and will he its course i'll tn
future. The late civil war might hav
been easily and honorably avoided II th'
Repnblicans of 1850 had thought Il
much of their country as they did o
their party. The only real objection tha
was urged against the adoption of the
C1rTEypEN compromise was that the
Republican party would be unable Il
sustain itself in another election if i
failed to use, to the utmost limit, tht
power which the division Of its oppo
nents had accidentally placed in it
hands The Republican leaders of tina
lay eourted and invited the war in or
der that the unhappy discussions of th'
Democratic party might not be HEALED
and that some pretext might be obtain
ed for keeping the minority in power
Had it not been for the war, the Repub
lican party wonld have been swept from
power in 1862; in spite Of all its eff
forts and all the excitement of the time
it very narrowly escaped overthrow; and
even the most rabid partisan of the rad
ical persuation will scarcely deny that
if the WhOle people were permitted tC
fairly express their will, the dominant
party would be deprived of its power tc
control political events. To enable the
minority to rule was, to very great
extent. the object of the war, and 1t
will doubtless be the object of legisla-
ton during the ensuing two years.
The nation is in the hands of i faction
whose only creed is selfshness and
whose only aim is the retention OF pow
er. What the result will be and what
means will be resorted TO to fasten radi-
calism still more securely upon the
long-sulfering people of the United
States, no man can truthfully predict.
We must await the progress OF events
and be governed by circumstances as
they arise.