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Tfiiif ATLANTA WEEKLY SUN, FOR THE WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 9, 18/2»
TH K ATLANTA SI N
The “Slnighit" In Indiana*
It is true that Mr. Smith, the General
Manager of The Sun, said “that while
I “ the Greeley Temple and the ‘ grand
It has lieen stated in the papers that | « rousement’ thereat, in the very signi-
Hon. A. P. Edgerton. of Indiana, had “ ficant failure of the latter, have been
declined the nomination for Governor of “ legitimate subjects for humorous jmd
that State, recently tendered him by a
Convention of the “Straight-out” Democ
racy, with the inference, from bis non-
acceptance* of this nomination, that he
•was not in sympathy with their move
ment, and Was going with the “Liberals,”
so-called, in support of Mr. Greeley.
We have before us the letter of Mr.
Edgerton, in which the “Straight”
nomination bo tendered him, was declin
ed. From thiB U clearly appears that Mr.
Edgerton occupies the same position in
Indiana, upon the State elections there,
that we do upon our State elections in
Georgia. He wishes the “ disturbing
element” of the Presidential election
kept out of the canvass for State officials.
We givo below extracts from this letter
which clearly and pointedly define his po
sition onState as well asFederal questions;
ind from which it will bo seen that this
staunch Democrat, od© of the most dis
tinguished leaders of the party in his
State, has no more idea or intention of
joining the Cincinnati-Baltimore coali
tion than we have.
Their elections for Governor and other
State officers come off on the 8th of
October.
But for the Greeley movement, we be
lieve, the democracy would have carried
Indiana, in this election, by at least
60,000 1 As it is, the issue of the con
test is now doubtful—what the result
will be, a few days will determine.
Should Mr. Hendricks be elected Gov
ernor, even by a few thousand majority,
will, of course, be claimed as a great
Greeley triumph, by his supporters,
when, in truth and in fact, it will be no
such thing.
For many thousand “Straights” in
that State, of the stamp of Mr. Edger
ton, will vote for Mr. Hendricks, who
will not vote for Mr. Greeley.)
Greeleyism is nothing but a “dead
body” on the shoulders of the Democra
cy, in Indiana, os it is in Georgia, and
every other State.
But read what Mr. Edgerton says of
himself, and of his position in his own
words, and nnder his own hand.
A. H. 8.
Sx. Nicholas Hotel, New Yoke, 1
Sept. 20th, 1872. J
To Dr. W. F. Sherrod, Chairman, Ac.:
It is announced by the telegraphic dispatches in
the papers this morning that I received the unani
mous nomination by tho Straight Democratic Con-
venUon of Indiana, held at Indianapolis yesterday,
as its candidate for Governor. I thank the gentle
men of tho Convention for their friendship; hut I
must differ with them as to tho necessity or expe
diency of their nominating a State ticket in order to
maintain their principles. I regret that any con
vention was called for such a purpose. I cannot
voto for its candidates for tho reason that I intend
to vote for tho-Democratic State ticket heretofore
nominated by the regular Convention of the Demo-
era tic party of tho Stato.
I wiU not aid in any manner in the election of the
Republican State ticket in Indiana.
It is gencraUy known that I do not intond to sup
port Mr. Greeley as the candidate of the Democratic
party. He is not in principle or in anything its
representative man. ^ ^
I have lived long enough to know that grost
parties can commit great errors. The Democratic
party always held powe.- when true to the people.
But it struggled and lived as a party until tho last
Baltimore Convention. Then when the Bepublican
party which hadsucoeeded it had lost theeonfldonce
of tho people, and tho opportunity was presented
for tho restoration of the Democratic party—puri
fied from its heresies by the advocacy of Just, con
stitutional principles—instead of taking as its leader
a tried at,d true Statesman of its own, it goes into
the ranks of its enemies and takes for its candidate
for the Presidency a lifo-long opponent, unchanged
in principle and purpose. I faU to see what triumph
•f principles would bo achieved by Mr. Greeley's
success.
Believing as I do, that there are principles of gov
ernment which are essential to its prosperity and
perpetuity, and that those principles are net to be
found in tho Bepublican party, but in a Democratic
party, I hoped for Its success, and believed it cer
tain until the National Convention at Baltimore, at
tho dictation! of tho samo element of weakness
that herotolore defeated it, committed the error of
attempting to force an enemy upon it, as a candi
date for tho highest office instead of selecting a
friend and a statesman. In that Convention the
necessities of office-seekers, and not tho principles of
government, had control. To be sustained, a Na
tional Democratic Convention must do Democratic
things. Its delegates were not chosen to select
candidates from iho Bepublican party ; and when
they did so, their action was not entitled to respect
or support.
* » »■ * » * * *
I was in favor of the loaisvillo movement, look
ing to the nomination of Mr. O'Conor, and now in
tend to vote for its candidates. If disaster to the
Baltimore Democrats comes, it is deserved, for it
abandoned that good old rule that ‘.'honesty Is the
host policy," and songht Republican votes upon
unworthy pretences, and through unworthy instru
mentalities. It may ho said that there Is an incon
sistency in opposing the Baltimore nomination and
voting for tho Democratic nominees on the SUte
and local tickets who support Mr. Greeloy. My an
swer is, that to elect tho State and local tickets In
Indiana is an unqualified Democratic success,
which tho election of Mr. Greelay would not be.
In tho present campaign the Democratic party is a
party of inconsistencies, and each member must be
necessarily left to exercise his own Judgment as to
the best move of seeming a success that will result
In the maintenance of Democratic principles.
A. P. Edgebtov.
“Ridiculing and Misrepresenting
Friends.”
The above is the repeated eaption of
another article ot oar neighbor of the
Constitution, in its issne of Sunday morn
ing last, which has just reached ns.
The entire article is in these words:
"We are pleased to see that both Mr. Stephens and
the General Manager of The Sex acknowledged that
its misrepresentation about the Democratic arbor
was indiscreet and improper. Let it be a little more
Stir and just hereafter to brother Democrats, and It
Will escape such indiscreet improprieties.
So fa.* as Mr. Stephens' long rejoinder to our alleg
ed designation of The Stx as a Radical journal is
•onccrned, ho will see by reference to our article,
that we did rot so designate it, and that his rejoin
der is as ‘indiscreet and improper' as well as un-
•ailed for and venomous as the mistake about the
:bor.”
It is certainly a source of gratification
to ns that our neighbor found anything
be “pleased” at, in either our rep 1
referred to above, or that of Mr. Smith’s,
to his previous most virulent attack upon
the political integrity of The Sun.
If there was any acknowledgment in
ler, ot any “misrepresentation" by
Sun’s local reporter, about the
ley Temple” alias “Democratic
I • our neighbor will have it, it
. ojr observation. The Con
Thcfe^publish both these
T t its readers may
In Verm
the first Wednl
day. £■
“ sportive comments and ridicule, which
“ have been indulged in our columns, we
“ do not think the indebtedness of the
“Greeley Club, or their failure to pay
« the contractors for buildingjthe Tem-
« pie a legitimate subjectfor thefcolnmns
‘• of a newspaper.”
Does oar neighbor, in this statement
of Mr. Smith, or in anything that we
said, see any acknowledgment of any
“misrepresentation” of a fact ?
Does the Consilulion deny that the
carpenter’s work on the “Temple
notjiaid for when the article of The
Sun’s local on that point was sent to the
press, or at the time mentioned by Mr.
Smith in his article ?
We say further to our neighbor that,
it had better give its readers our rejoin
der in full, to its attack upon the politi
cal integrity of The Sun, that they may
judge for themselves how far it was “in
discreet and improper,” or “uncailed-for
and venomous.”
Ii the Constitution haa not designated
The Sun as a “Radical Journal,” had it
not expressly stated, in substance, that a
paper conducted as The Sun is, “might
be properly characterized as a Radical
Journal ?” Is there any difference be
tween such a “designation” and such a
“characterization ?”
Did the Constitution not intend, by
“ intimation” and “characterization,” if
not “designation,” to make the impres
sion upon the minds of its readers that
The Sun was a “Radical Journal? ”
Will our neighbor be as mum upon
these questions as it has Deen upon til
ers we put to it about “ bolters ” and
Mr. Greeley’s present position on the
great principles of “Constitutionalism? ”
A. H. S.
Wliat Hie Boston Courier says of Mr
Stephens’ History of tile United States.
A COMPENDIUM OF THE HISTORY OF THE
UNITED STATES. From tho earliest settlements
to 1872. Designed to answer the purpose of a text*
book in Schools and Colleges, as well as to meet
the wants of general readers. By Alexander H.
Stephens. New York: E. J. Halo & Son, 1872.
The name and repntation of the author
of this work will secure it immediate at
tention, and the anticipations with which
most readers will open it will noc be re
alized. For it will naturally be surmised
that a book written by Mr. Stephens
must be strongly southern, both in
feeling and form, tinged with bitter
ness against the universal North, and
written in a style more ambitious and
declamatory than Northern taste ap
proves. But these are noc the character
istics of the work. Its tone is calm and
judical, and its style is simple and una
dorned. Nature, which gave to Mr.
Stephens reasoning and reflecting powers
in large measure, denied, him the gifts of
imagination and passion. A mind like
his is well adapted to the preparation of a
compendium of history, in which correct
ness, compactness and simplicity are the
most essential elements. Of course Mr.
Stephens is a Southern man by birth and
in feeling, and his book is not without in
dications of this. But on this very ac-
oount we recommend it to be read by all
Northern men. who are willing to hear
both sides. For we of the North have
had the monopoly of school books, and
have told everything in our own way,and
observed everything from our own point
of view. For instance, every child in New
England knows of the first landing of
slaves on the territory of the United
States in a Dutch vessel, on_ the James
River, in 1619—not 1620, as is often set
down by way of contrast to the settle
ment of Plymouth in that year, but few
are aware of a fact which Mr. Stephens
will inlorm them, that the first American
slave ship, the Desire, was built at Mar
blehead in 1636, and that in 1638.she
brought a cargo, of negro slaves into
Massachusetts. Other illustrations to
the same effect might be furnished,
but this will suffice.
The portion of Mr. Stephens’Compen
dium which is devoted to the colonial
history of the country, especially the
South, is especially well done, and the
New England reader will find that the
high qualities of courage, energy and en
durance by which his own portion of our
common country was, in early times
so nobly illustrated, were by no means
wanting in regions nearer the sun. The
work is throughout creditable to Mr. Ste-
phens,alike in its intellectual and moral
aspects. It shows commendable indus
try and conscientious research. The
important merit of accuracy seems to be
fully secured. The style is clear and
good, though without any peculiar charm.
And the tone is unimpassioned and mod
erate. The events and struggles which
led to the recent civil war, and the course
of the war itself, ure told in a spirit of
candor and fairness not often found in
chronicles written so near the date of
the occurrences they record.
Communication.
-, Ada., Sept. 21,1872.
Mr. A. H. Stephens:
Dear Sib—If it be not presuming too
much, may a very old, poor and obscure
inhabitant of southeast Alabama ask of
you a little space in your paper, to put
a few thoughts before your readers ?
You must know that I am not prompt
ed by ambition. Mv poverty and ob
scurity forbid that. Vanity ? If you
say yea, it will he the first time in the
course of a long life that I have been ac
cused of that.
Then to begin. I will say candidly,
that
I AM BEWILDERED.
I am very closely confined at home (or
rather, the place I am permitted, by pay
ing high rent, to call home,) and have
not heard a political speech until a few
nighte ago, lor ten or twelve years.
Some man in the neighborhood, in
passing, told me that the eagle orator of
the State was to speak at night, at a
church not a great way off; so I hobbled
to it to hear him, as I have always been
fond of fine speaking. I did hear him,
and listened with all the attention that I
could, and I suppose be must have
spokes well, for he was often vociferous
ly cheered.
He seemed
DELIGHTED WITH HIMSELF,
too, for he laughed oftener and
heartily than any body else.
I felt out of piace. Though fond of
laughing, I could not see or hear any
thing to laugh at.
When he got to talking about Mr.
Greeley and the Constitution, I felt like
a man did that I heard one ox my children
read about some time ago that had sleDt
twenty years, who, when he awoke knew
nobody, and to whom everything was
strange.
I. tried my best, but I could not make
Mr. Greeley and the Constitution fi‘
each other.
It may be, though, Mr. Stephens, that
I do not understand the Constitution. If
so, I know from what I used to hear of
you by Mr. Miller, of Missouri, who was
a member to Congress from my district,
and near whom I lived twelve years, that
you will tel 1 me.
It I am wrong ia my understanding
of the Constitution, I shall set it down
to paucity of intellect, not a lack of ear
nest effort to understand it.
When my people left Virginia, we were
all for Madison, and believed his doc
trine.
On coming to Georgia I wandered into
THE FLAT WOODS OF ELBERT COUNTY,
where I made the acquaintance of the
Taits. I boarded with Jas. Minor Tait,
who was brother to Cnarles.. By
tne way, I have i»ad many a laugh
about Charles Tait and one Judge Dooly.
Dooly would not fight a duel unless Tait
wonld let him stand with one leg in a
gum. Tait had one wooden leg.
Minor Tait was a very intelligent man,
as I thought, and had married a Wat
kins. One of the Watkins’ lent me a
book, which was written by George
Tucker, of Virginia. I read it several
times with much interest and close at
tention. .1 will recur to it presently.
Many years afterwards Mr. J. F. H.
Claiborue, of Mississippi, (where I then
resided) gave me a copy of th& Federalist,
which was written, as you know, by Mr.
Madison, Mr. Jay and Mr. Hamilton.
Texas Items.
— Quite a controversy is engaging the
press of this State on the prijposed re
moval of the Capitol from Austin.
— The “ Straight ” movement is every
day gaining strength, despite the Grant
and Greeley factions.
—The Texas Pacific Railroad will he
1,515 miles long. There will be one
stretch of 800 miles with only six bridges.
Another stretch of 200 miles will be per
fectly straight.
— A citizen of Barnett county reports
that the Indians last week raided in Bur
nett county to within five mileB of the
town, and stole thirty head of horses
from Messrs. Calvert & Taylor.
— The Galveston Nens is “credibly
informed that work has been suspended
on the New Orleans and Texas Railroad.”
The whole corps of engineers has been
discharged and everything is said to have
“gone up.”
The Democratio Statesman, of the 19th,
says: This section of the State is greatly
in need of rain. Nearly all the small
d it bad 8tr ® amB ^ this and surrounding counties
>«,. £h» ^iava gone dry, and we fear our stock
’ - Mr «~ ia softer, for water, if we do not have
the instruction it gave me about the
Constitution, but for its style. I thought
its language the most chaste I had ever
read except Edmund Burke’s. Perhaps
I may recur to this again.
HAVE PATIENCE IF YOU PLEASE,
Mr. Stephens, for I know I get along
very clumsily. But as this is the last x
shall ever write for a newspaper, try and
bear with me this time. I promise you
now not to trouble you any more; and I
would not do so now, but the speech I
heard makes me think that politicians
are gulling the people.
If you will indulge me, I will tell you
what were some of liis arguments as soon
as I get fixed up for it, and what are my
.reflections upon them; aud then you can
judge whether I am right or wrong. I
assure you that I wish to be right, as I
do not wish , to wrong any human being.
But I have taken so much pains at
different periods of my life, to learn me
true meaning of the Constitution, that I
cannot help having an abiding convic
tion that I am right.
You shall see, as Uncle Toby told the
widow Wadmac.
When I had read the Fedei'alisl and
the Constitution again and again, I went
to Kentucky, and while I lived there, I
paid a man by the name of Robinson,
(who was a judge of the Supreme Court
of that State)
TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS IN ADVANCE
to teach me the Constitution. He
taught me faithfully, but I did not line
his text-book. It was written by James
Kent. T thought, and still think, when
he was writing npou the powers of the
respective governments, State and Fed
eral, that he inverted things.
I afterwards read a large book written
by Josepn Story upon the same subject
Now, if you will not look upon it as
audacious in so obscure an old man to
say so, I will say, that I look upon these
two men ss standing in the same catego
ry on th9 turning point in the Constitu
tion, i. e.. the Powers of the States, and
of the Federal Government.
I mean no disrespect towards tlipse
men, but their writings always sounded
to me more like they were profound law
yers, than they did like they were pro
found statesmen. *
I have also read Yattel some, upon gov
ernment. In the midst of my reading
and studying upon this subject I used to
go to Alexandria and Prince George’s
county, Maryland, right opposite Alex
andria, across the Potomac, and sojourn
whole winters with my people; and while
there, whenever such men as
MB. CLAY OB MB. CALHOUN
was expected to speak, I always went
to the Federal city to hear them. They
always talked right when I heard them.
I learned a good deal from George Poin
dexter and Sargeant S. Prentiss in Mis
sissippi. Ah! Prentiss! He was as the
eagle among the jackdaws, as compared
with anybody else in that country.
When I lived, at an early day, in Mis
souri, and worked in the coalmines, Mr.
Benton used to go every summer to a
town near which I worked, and make
speeches for us.
Ha was a Clay man in 1824, and I was
always a Clay man after ihat until Mr.
Clay died. Mr. Benton’s speeches ordi
narily were constitutional enough at that
day, but he seemed to me to be domi
neering ! I may be mistaken.
Having now laid
AS BROAD A PLATFORM
as I think will observe my present pur
pose, I think we shall get along very well*
except that I fear yon may think some of
mv notions and expressions antiquated;
bnt I learned them shortly after this Con
federacy was formed, and I find it diffi
cult to change my expressions, and have
no motive tor changing my notions, nn
less I am wrong.'
The result of my reading was, that I
formed the conclusion that the Govern
ment was and is yet,
A FEDERATION,
and that the States that joined in it as
parties were all S jvereign and equal.
I looked upon the Constitution as a
bond, in duplicate as it were, manually
executed on its face,'but always execut
ing in its operations. The agent se
lected to supervise and carry out the
provisions nominated in the bond, I
called the Federal Government.
My people all advocated the ratifica
tion of the bond, but it was handed do wn
to me that the Old Dominion reserved
the right to resume her sovereignty if
her selected agent should violate the
stipulations of the bond, Is this so ?
THE SPEECH.
The man said in his speech that Mr.
Greeley would permit the States to ex
ercise local self-government. Is this a
constitutional prerogative, to be exer
cised by a President ? Dc es not tbis
right exist under the Constitution inde
pendent of the Federal Government?
Has the Federal Government legitimately
any right to interfere in the government:
of the States ? As tb6 Constitution ex
isted, as it came immediately fromundor
the hands of its framers, was any such
Power delegated by the States to the
Federal Government ?
Tiie crimes which the States delegated
to the United States the power to
punish, are treason, counterfeiting the.
securieties and current coin of the United
States, piracies and felonies committed
on the high seas, and- offenses against
the law of nations.
Is it permitted by the Constitution
that the United States shall punish any
other crimes than those enumerated ?
In the face of this, what is going on
under Mr. Greeley’s government?
Let me tell you : A few months ago, a
United States Marshal in this State,
took some prisoners out of the custody
of a Sheriff who were tried by a Federal
Judge for f
MURDER AND CONSPIRACY.
Was not that a usurpation of power,
and an insult to the State ? In the case
of one of the accused, there was no evi
dence which had the slightest tendency
to convict him. A motion was made for
his discharge; but he was held under the
indictment until the jury returned their
verdict. He was acquitted, but there
was a mistrial as to the others. - .
Shortly after, others were tried on in
dictments under the same Kn-Klux law,
convicted and fined from five to ten
thousand dollars, and sent to a prison at
All any, New York.
The question is not as to guilt or inno
cence, but what right had tho United
States to try them? Alabama can pun
ish for crimes committed within her ju
risdiction. Now,is it not as competentfor
the United States to try persons here for
burglary, larceny, or any other crime, as
it was to try those men ? Nay, may they
not go on and try cases in ejectment, of
galling, grievous poverty, than I. But
should we ever meet in front of Cliappa-
qua, at the bloody chasm, though your
gorgeous palace were built of Parian
marble and floored and covered with
diamond, and furnished in the most
princely style, and all tendered by you
as • present to me, as an inducement to
shake your'.hand—though I have one
hand only—if I raise it to shake with
you, may my arm drop forever palsied in
its socket.
.. 0, no,it seems to me t^atlshoqld hear
the voices bf the departed spi&ts of uiy
countrymen in tones of thunder from the
skies, crying, “hold, hold, touch not the
sacrilegious hand that labored so long to
strangle freedom, and to cover with
blood and carnage the fairest land under
Heaven’s canopy.” Old Man.
POLITICS IN JASPER COUNTY.
Interesting Letter from “ A Straight.
b Midway, )
f, Ga., [
:7 th.1872. )
I read it often, not only on account or Covenant, in trover, debt, assumpsit, and
all cases and in any way they may choose,
even to the setting aside all the statutes
of the States.
This is the tendency of Greeleyism.
Local self-government 7 All the incorpo-
ratedjtowns in all the States have that,
and in the same light, too, that Greeley
iu tends for the States to have it. He
ought to be satisfied with the billions of
property of which he has robbed us.
Yes, sir; jl say robbed. Bayonets, af
ter we had surrendered our arms, were
mad6 to bristle in terrorism ail around
us; constitutions were dictated at the
Federal city and forced upon us;
Mr. Greeley instigated and now sanc
tions all these foul usurpations. Tell the
people so. He is a fanatic. I know him
well. 1
I detected his fanaticism twenty-eight
years ago. I was
WORKING IN THE COAL MINES,
but I saw the outcroppings of his fanat
icisms as plainly as I saw the outcrop
pings of the coal fields in which I worked,
because I took the Tribune.
I have seen him in the Tribune, build
ings, and have studied him thoroughly.
He used to go from New York to Ohio
to make speeches to the Ohio Phalanx,
on organization called Fouriers. I read
his speeches and pondered them.
A SAD CONDITION; MR. GREELEY, PLEASE
LOOK ON IT.
That speaker said he had always
been a lrieud to the poor. If so,
I would be a fine subject upon
whom for him to operate. Old, diseas
ed, crippled and poor, with an afflicted
wife ana a parcel of little children io
provide for; I have had to work hungry
and ragged from week’s end to week’s
end, and live in small, dilapidated negro
cabins and corn cribs, and pay rent at
from twenty-five to thirty-five dollars a
year, getting my wood of Sundays, and
bringing it on my shoulder, that I might
not draw on my employer’s time in the
week.
My boobs are gone; my horses are
gone; my negroes are gone; my chickens
are gonej and I have no animals about
me except a crippled dog and a halt-
starved kitten.
A friend to the poor 111
Why sir his policy has reduced thous
ands to beggary, and will continue to do
so. He has denounced and ignored the
instrument which was constructed by our
revolutionary sires as a “flaunting lie,”
and as a “covenant with death and agree
ment with hell;” and substituted for it
Ku-Klux, &c., &c.. And then he says
that the amendments that were thrust
into the Constitution by violence and
fraud, are to be sanctioned and held to
be irrevocable 1
Should thi3 be done by the American
people, then farewell, a long farewell to
Liberty 1
He is grateful to the soldiers and sail
ors. I believe him.
Yes sir, “on to Richmond” was his war
cry. Marat’s frantic soul never thirsted
more for blood than did his.
But he says let us shake hands across
the bloody chasm. Mr. Greeiey, I am
steeped to the very lips in poverty; no
man, perhaps, in either hemisphere, U
more borne down by squalid, abjeci,
Wyatt’s. District, near Midway,
i Jasper County, _
September 27th
Editors Atlanta Sun: • 'I am well pleased
with your valuable paper—with the bold
and fearless stand you have taken in de
fense of true Jeffersonian Democracy,
read several political papers, and The
Sun is undoubtedly the ablest edited of
any.
The Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, the
greatest and purest statesman in tbis
country, has endeared himself to a host
of friends, who are true and staunch lov
ers of Lioerty, by his bold advocacy and
firm adherence to Principles. May he
continue to wield liis pen in defense of
the Constitution, and against Radicalism
and Centralization, whether in Mr. Gree
ley or Gen. Grant; for both wings of the
Radical party tend towards the same di
rection — to the enforcing upon the
South by the bayonent, the Enforcement
Laws,, the Ku-Klux Law, and all their
abominations.
Mr. Greeley says if the law is not
strong enough—tho Ku-Klux law—he is
in favor of making it stronger. Nearly
all the political papers advocating Mr.
Greeley’s election of any note in Georgia,
have been venting their spleen and sar
casm at Mr. Stephens. But he has proven
himself to be more than a m itch for
them all. Even Mr. Greeley’s suppor
ter’s say that none are able to cuue with
Mr. Stephens.
But it is amusing to see the bombastic
language, the artificial arguments, and
the inconsistent dodges in nearly every
issue of these papers to deceive their
readers.
Why did Mr. Greeley leave the .G-omt
wing of the party: Why was he in favor
of the Cincinnati movement? Was he
disgusted at the outrages and cruelties
committed upon the Southern people by
Radical usurpations? When did he ever
say so? pHH|
He was an office-seeker and his party
did not gratify his selfish ambition by
electing him to office. Neither would the
President appoint or recommend him.
Charles Sumner, a life-long Radical, is
one of Mr. Greeley’s most ardent sup
porters. Both are, and have been, in
veterate haters of our section, and have
done as mnch to oppress and ruin us as
any other two men belonging to the Rad
ical Forty. Mr. Greeley abused and
slandered us with his vile paper—the
New York Tribune; and Mr. Sumner
evinced an equal amount of hatred to
wards us in the Senate of the United
States.
Mr. Greeley was the recognized leader
of the Radical Press. Mr. Sumner was
idolized by liis party in Congress.
Mr. Greeley advocated every Radical
measure in his paper to calumniate and
degrade us,[introduced and passed by the
votes of the Radical members in Con
gress. *
Mr. Greeley was nominated by a fac
tion of the Republican party, on a Re
publican platform, and accepted the
nomination as a Rebublican. He says
that he approves of the principles enun
ciated in that platform.
Is there a Georgian who indorses or
approves the principles of the Cincinnati
platform ? There may be, but if there
is, he is not a Democrat, according to my
understanding of the principles of De
mocracy.
There are former Democrats who says
that they will vote for'Greeley in prefer
ence to Gen. Grant, as the lesser of two
evils. How do tney know that he is the
lesser of two evils ? Have they tried
him ? Is his platform any better for us
than the Philadelphia platform ? Has
he promised, if elected, to use his influ
ence to repeal the Enforcement Acts or
the Ku-Klux law?
He does not promise it; he does not
desire it; so we need not expect it.
Undoubtedly Mr. Greeley would exe
cute the same laws with as much rigor as
Gen. Grant. I cannot take a choice of
evils, for both are offensive to me.
But these so-called Democrats say that we
must forgive Mr. Greeley for his past of
fenses and shake hands across this bloody
chasm. Has he changed his views ? Has
he recanted any of the principles of these
outrageous measures he has advocated
to ruin us—to destroy our liberty, and
to force our friends into loathsome and
filthy dungeons, without a fair trial ?
We must judge what he will be by his
past record,, for he says he is proud of
his past record. He takes back nothing
and apologizes for nothing. Did he not
tell the committee sent by the Baltimore
Convention to inform him of nis nomina
tion by that Convention, and asking his
acceptance'of the same, that he was no
less Republican than he ever was ? We
must judge him by what he says. Is
there anything in hiB past record palata
ble to any Democrat ? When has he
ever said anything in our favor ?
He says that he recognizes no one as a
member of his party who does not en
dorse or approve the ^Cincinnati Plat
form. No Democrat can endorse it, for
it is antagonistic to Democracy. Away
with the delusion that he will select De
mocratic counsellors. It is reasonable to
suppose tnat he will choose advisers,
whose views upon the political questions
of the day are antagonistic to his? Would
there be any harmony in such a cabinet ?
If Democrats will think before they act,
they will readily see the absurdity of
such an idea, and let Mr. Greeley and his
party alone. They would not touch the
unclean thing.
We have been betrayed by our friends.
The Baltimore Convention re-nominated
the Cincinnati nominees, and adopted
their platform. Such a movement is un
precedented in the history of Democra
cy. We are not bound to abide their ac
tion, for they neither adopted a Demo
cratic platform of principles, nor nomi
nated Democratic standard bearers So
their action is null and void. Hence tBa
necessity of the Louisville Convention
We are nearly all Straights in this part
of the county. We have not sold our
birthright for a mess of pottage; neither
have we bowed our knees to the Cincin
nati and Baltimore nominees, nor do we
intend to. ; We will stick to principles
and vote for true Democrats. ’
The Sun is in the ascendancy here,
. .Corn is good where the land has been
well cultivated. There was not enough
planted for home consumption. Cotton
about two-thirds of a crop.
Yours sincerely,
A. Straight.
—
POLITICAL NOTES.
—- Greeley has taken to novel reading.
He is now perusing “Under Two Flags/’
— The City Council of Alexandria, Va..
voted down a resolution to invite Greeley
to tnat city.
— Greeley advocates in Texas decline
to discuss the issues of tho canvass with
Grant men.
— The Jefiersonian Democracy of
Johnson county, Iowa, purpose running
county officers.
— The Democrats and Liberals in
Missouri are becoming jealons, and
discord is brewing.
— The Lebanon (Ohio) Star publishes
the names of nearly one hundred Demo
cratic farmers of Warren county who
refuse to vote for Greeley.
—The Jeffersonian Democrats of Illi
nois have nominated full State and Elec
toral tickets. They nominated ex-Cliief
Justice Sidney Breese for Governor.
— A Pennsylvania paper states that of
its exchanges it counts 114 Democratic
papers that refuse to support Greeley
under any circumstances.
- The defection in the Democratic
ranks in New Haven, Conn., it is feared,
will defeat them in the coming contest.
They can’t swallow Greeley.
— The business (Democratic) men of
Bridgeport, Conn., refuse to vote for
Greeley, believing that his election would
demoralize their business. Greeley’s pe
culiar doctrine on commerce, and such,
don’t suit them.
— It is acknowledged by Democrats
everywhere that they would be immeas
urably stronger to-day if they had nomi
nated a Democrat instead of a Republi
can. They bear the odium without re
ceiving any recompense.
—A Straight Democratic State con
vention for the nomination of an electo
ral ticket and the appointment of a State
Central Committee has been culled to
meet at Jefferson City, Missouri, Octo
ber 4th.
—The State Central Executive Com
mittee of the Jeffersonian Democrats of
Illinois, in nominating their electoral
ticker, passed resolutions containing in
substance the elevated sentiments of Mr.
O’Conor, as expressed in his letter to the
Louisville Convention.
— Mr. Buckalew, candidate for Gov
ernor of Pennsylvania, has never ex
pressed himself in the Presidential can
vass. If elected, his success will be no
indication of the Greeley strength in
Pennsylvania; and he was nominated od
a sound, uncompromising Straight-out
Democratic platform long before the
Baltimore mischief, having not a partidie
of New Departure or any other mischief
in it.
An - electoral ticket for O’Conor and
Adams will soon be nominated in , West
Virginia. The Wheeling Intelligencer
says that since it has become evident lhat
Greeley’s chance.for being elected ate de
stroyed, there are many of his most ar
dent supporters who are, ready to vote
for O’Conor and Adams; and that the
number of true Democrats who will not
support either Grant nor Greeley is very
large in that section.
I — The Democratic Convention for the
First, Second and Third Districts of
Missouri were held in St. Louis on the
25th September. Much rivalry existed
on account of the presence of Straight-
Out Democrats, who refused to acquiesce
in Greeley nominations; and the Con
vention of the First District adjourned
without making a nomination. In the
Third District the Irisu Democrats, un
willing to fuse with the Greeley Demo-
ciats, retired and made a separate nom
ination. This is the way the unholy co
alition is operating in Missouri, where
Gratz Brown is supposed to be the very
oracle of the State.
— Hon. Samuel D. Clay, of Grand
Rapids, Michigan, has forever renounced
the Greeley-Radical-Democracy. He
says:
I shall no longer yield even a seeming acquies
cence to the arrangement and bargain which gave
Mr. Greeley his double nomination. I* is apparent
to the most ordinary observer of political chicanery
that there was and is an understanding and arrange
ment of some kind between some of the leaders of
the Democratic party and the disappointed, ambi
tious tricksters from the Republican party—Vno»n
as soreheads—as to the course to be pursued in the
distribution of the Federal patronage and the policy
that should govern in the event of Mr. Greeley's
election. It is a dangerous coalition. Tho alliance
utterly ignores the oid Union men of the South and
the War Democrats of the North. I was always a
War Democrat, and will not be a party to such>
combination.
—Rally of the Patriots of West
Virginia. — The National Democratic
Convention, which assembled in the city
of Louisville on the 3d iust., having
nominated for the office of President of
the United States the Hon. Charles
O’Conor, of New York, and for the office
of Vice-President the Hon. Quincy
Adams, of Massachusetts, a Convention
of Democrats favorable to the election of
said ticket will be held in Clarksburg on
the 5th day of October, 1872, for the
purpose of selecting Presidential Elect
ors for the State at large ! and for
the several Congressional districts
therein; also to select a demo
cratic State Central Committee, and
to transact such other business as
may*be necessary to effect|a thorough and
complete organization^ the straight-out
Democratic element in the State. It is
recommended that all of the districts
sena fall delegations. Let the friends of
Jeffersonian Democracy, who ignore the
treachery and moral cowardice which
prompted the betrayal of the principles
of Public Liberty as well as Democracy,
by the Baltimore Convention, light up
the Democratio watch-fires in every val
ley and on every hill top of the State,
and rally to the support of O’Conor and
Adams, with a determination to uphold
that banner on whose broad field there
is no stain nor taint of dishonor.
Wm. P. Willey,
John J. Davis,
Members of National Executive Com
mittee appointed Dy Louisville Conven
tion.
September 23d, 1872.