Year: 1876




NORTHERN POLITICS..


Governor Hayes and the Era Of Peace.


BOSTON, July ~, 1876.


The letter in which Governor Hayes &C.


cepts the Republican nomination for the


Presidency is now before the country. The


strength of this letter is illustrated in the


fact that its spirit and statesmansh'p ls


utterly beyond the comprehension OF the


Democratic leaders of the North. 1t ls to


be hoped that the same mental and moral


oblivion does not obscure the vision OF the


Confederate leaders of the South. Be this


as it may, the letter has made it's way with


all that is best and most conservative AZ
| the North, and its sentiments and the policy
| of peace and moral reconstruction which 1t
foreshadows will yet find their way "down
South" also, among all that is truly con
| eervative and order loving and law abiding
with you. This letter possesses twofold
interest for the Southern people.


l. Because it secures the success Of the
Republican presidential ticket next fall
beyond all question.


2. Because it guarantees to the South an
! era of material reconstruction, in which the
| aid of the government will be given to all
those works and measures which are cal
culsted to develop the commercial, indus
trial and agricultural resources of the late
slave States, through an executive friendly
to the cause of civil liberty and of educated
free labor.


First-Of the election of Hayes and
Wheeler. Governor Hayes letter of ac-
ceptsnce settles the presidential question
in the New England States. in Now York.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. With this
letter to strengthen Us We may now hope to
carry Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia
and North Carolina. Kentucky and Ten
nessee ought to be carried against the Con-
federate Democratic coalition with such
policy as Governor Hayes proposes for the
South. Thus the greenback issue is left
(ss this one issue effects the Western vote)
as the forlorn hope of the Confederate De-
mocracy. Hendricks thus becomes the
great head of the opposition ticket. Can
this greenback issue, as it applies to
the Western vote, overcome the popu
larity of the Republican party as
this popularity is now strengthened by
Governor Hayes letter of acceptances /
think not. But the danger to the Repub
lican ticket lies in this direction. The
greenback issue in the West lie, therefore,
now the one remaining hope for the oppo-
sition, as it constitutes the one remaining
danger to the Republican party. Having
the contest thus narrowed down to one
issue, and in one locality, is like having
fox tracked to his hole. The concentrated
fire of the Republican party can now be
| directed against this greenback issue, as it
| is presented to Western voters by the op-
position. In addition to this, we shall
above the "soft" money theory, and
foremost among these will be the
issue of peace and reconciliation be-
tween the long estranged sections of our
common country, at the head of which Gov
ernor Hayes has now placed himself as the
leader of the Republican party. This issue
affects Southern prosperity and trade, and
the West is deeply interested in this South
ern prosperity and development, more so,
indeed, than in soft money. Governor
Hayes, as q Western man, and pledged to .
policy which will develop and enrich the
South, will, therefore, give the West more
than an equivalent for the loss of a new
flood of irredeemable paper money. These
considerations must, in the nature of things,
affect Western opinion sooner or later. To
these influences add the October elections,
which will 60 Republican, and we can see
chow" the West will be carried for Hayes
and Wheeler.


1t will certainly add to the glory of our
victory if We can make q formidable
"breach" in the Confederate wing Of the
Democratic party. II Delaware, Mary
land, West Virginia and North Carolina
can be added to the Republican vote we
shall then indeed see the beginning of the
end of the strife and bloodshed which has
made the South land where claw secured
not life" Peace will then triumph The
the place of hate and discord and alienation.
In any case, the Republican policy under
the administration of Governor Hayes will
in time divide and demoralize the Confeder-
ate league. There is another feature of
this canvass which possesses peculiar inter-
est for Southern Conservatives, and this in
wolves the political antecedents of Cover
nor Hayes. l have no personal intorma.
ton upon which make the statement that
Governor Hayes is an old line Whig,
has decidedly ''silvergray" ring to it. 1t
reminds me of the days of Clay and
Webster. There is a lofty tone of true
statesmanship about this letter which
stamps it's author at once as q man born
and bred outside of Democratic influences.
1t is simply impossible to conceive of an
American Democrat producing such
State paper. If am right in this surmise,
then Governor Hayes, when he enters the
White House, will become the personal
which will attract to him leading Southern
Wings from every Southern State. fancy
that even my old enemy, General Toombs,
of Georgia, will be finally Modified by the
kind-hearted, manly peace policy of Gov
ernor Hayes. All this will work for peace.


For the negro and the cause which he
represents this triumph Of peace and policy
Of peace will bring many blessings. 1t will
bring rest-rest from agitation, from party
strife, and from the vain attempt to over
throw by force the fixed social prejudices