Year: 1871

John Quincy Adams ON the New


Departure and the Next Presi.


dency.


A reporter of the Boston Post has
had talk with John Quincy Adams
on the general political condition Of the
country, the purport Of which is given
as follows: nu


Mr.. Adams referred 10 the new de.
parture as an old departure with him.
He saw nothing in the constitutional
amendments themselves, apart from
their procurement, which need distress
any Democrat The giving Of equal
rights to the blacks he considered by
no means undemocratic. When the
result of the war forced the enfran-
chised blacks upon US we had either to
accept them as citizens or hold them
in some nondescript condition OF pupil.
age. The latter would have resulted
in afar more dangerous extension Of
the paternal powers OF government than
anything in these amendments. Be
Besides which, it was more consonant
to Mr.. Jefferson's favorite definition OF
Democracy, "the right Of each to pur.
sue happiness in his own way, provided
only he respected his neighbor's equal
right" He did not consider the ne
groes fit for suffrage, but as it had been
given them he would not undo the work,
but simply modify it by making such
restrictions as are made in Massacbu-
setts, where fifty thousand voters are
disiranchised by constitutional prere-
quisites, such as taxpaying, reading and
writing. The party that made the
fourteenth amendment does not con-
slider these requirements an infringe
mest upon its provisions. %


But Just as the Republican party can.
not see anything unfriendly to their own
amendments in the constitutional
restrictions upon suffrage in Masssa-
chusetts or in Rhode Island, so they
regard that revolutionary bill known as
the Ku-Klux law as legitimate exer.
else OF power under some Of these new
amendments. The Ku-Klux bill as an
absolute surrender OF the principles OF
of free government, and, with the cleo
ton bill, actually gives the President
control over the army to regulate elec-
tons, and absolute power to imprison
BY military force with habsas corpus, is
supreme and unlimited despotisni IN
possibility. Yet grearmass Of honest
men zee no harm in all this, and regard
il merely as o proper exercise OF dele.
gated power under the amendments.


The way out Of the dangers and diff
culties of the political situation is to
resume the moderate method OF gov.
ernment and that the Democracy IN
endeavoring TO attain this end may
well be content to have no negro policy
any more than q German policy or an
Irish policy. There can be but one
Democratic policy-the United States
policy-and that should be equal and
exact justice to every citizen.


General Grant, Of course, be thought
would be renominated for the Presi-
dency, but while his ignorance, negli-
gence of duty and nspotism might be
CLOSED over, the disgraceful incompe-
tence Of the financial management Of
affairs should be unpArdopable By Q
people supposed to be as shrewd az
ours at that head. He did not think
that the Republican party, with all
its patronage and superb discipline,
could carry such q dead weight as


Grant has proven to be.


The Democratic financial policy. Mr..
Adams continued, must be squarely in
the direction of free trade and q general
reduction Of taxation. The shameful
ignorance which has persisted in wiring
ing such enormous sums from the peo-
pie at such q critical time, when they
need all their energy 70 rally from the
exhaustion of the war, il faf less par
donable in my eyes than this negro pol
tlcy. In respect to the Democratic can
didases for the Presidency, my owr