Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1876 — Letter from Colonel Mosby. [ARTICLE]

Letter from Colonel Mosby.

WaßH(N«tok, Augwt 12, 1676 The tallowing Uttef he* been vritue by Oe»ooel Jlo»by to e former Confederate comrade in reply WakMNTON,Va., Aug. 6, 1876. j *■ I a«dPw«t*h*r. It i* trust thetl *o* » cordial mud earnest advoeuU of the election of that ticket, notwithauodlng you aay that all 'the Southern people and especially the C<ntfederate sol dtty* Are united in support of the democratic. \ I hope, however, that in this you are mistaken and- that many men in the Sooth of sound conservative and nation*! senti monta will be found on the other side; however this may be, it will not divert me from ray purpose. I thought you knew that I ceased to be a Confederate soldier about eleven years ego and became a oil men ui the United States. A* a soldier I did conscientiously what I thought was ray duty» as a citi sen I mall do the feme thing as fares I know hew .*7 The on which you urge nte to support Tilden and Hendrick? fc that they are the candidates of the Southern people and, if elected, will‘be under their oontrul. % h' otf, t% is be causes, this thing is apparent that the election of Tilden, is an impossibility. In attempting to grasp.\Po much the soflth will lose everything. The sectional unity of the Southern people 4»ss been the gofernit g idea and bane of their politics. So far from Its being a remedy for anytning it has been the cause of most of the evils they have suffered. So long aa -it con* tiuues the war will be a controlitig element of politics, for any psy in the South that unites the Con federates re-echoes through the north and rekindles the war Urea there. Thus, every Presidential canvass becomes a battle between the two sections, and the South being the weaker muat be the tooaing party. To insist on keeping up 4his sectional fight may be very heroic —so was the charge at Balaklava—bat, in ray opinion, is just as reokless and just as unwise. The reconstruction measures neoessarfly divided parties in the South on a coUr line, for the issue they presented waa the political equality of the races. While the south was oppos ing it the republican party was on the ride of me negro. But since the South has accepted it and incorporated it in the platform on which it has mounted ita candidate I see no reason for continuing to divide on an issue which has become extinct. Having adopted all the principles of a party, and sanctioned all its measures, I can see no objection to voting for its candidate. Do you not see, then, that •s long as we keep op the fight on the old lines, with the same allies and the eame battle cries, the North will be suspicious of our good faith, no matter in what form »e protest if! AH that the republicans pro pose is.to preserve what they have accomplished : the democrats are pledged not to disturb what the republicans have done. You cannot complain that the sincerity of the pledges of Governor Tilden to execute certain laws is distrusted when his supporters justify their opposition to Gov. Hayes on the grouud that his party has enacted these law*. To be consistent they should go for repealing them ifthey come into power. I concur with yon in a desire for a change in the policy of the national government toward the South, but thatoan only come from a change in the attitude of the Southern people toward the administration. You say that no one in the South is supporting Hayes hut negroes and carpet baggers. I would be sorry to think this were se, but if it were I should still yote for the candidate of my choice and would not jet this class deprive me of it. I suppose they support Hayes because they think it is to their internet to do to. I think it would be equally to the interest of all the Sotrtlieru people to do the same thing. But you say that even admitting it would be better for them to do so, yet, as it is notorious they will not, that I ought to surrender my individual convictions to the will of the majority. I don't think sq. It is better for some to go right than for all to go wrong, If I think they are going wrong I could do no good by going with them. If they insist on breaking their necks 1 don't intend to assist them. Besides, yon aay that if Tilden is elected he will be underthe control 0t the Confederates. It this Is so then you wifi have po need of me. But suppose Hayes-is elected, with a solid Synth against him-what art you going todo then? You do npt wee tow, but you will then see the force of my logic? It was tor these reasons that jour years ago I urged the Southern people that if peace »nd r«iepußoncihatlon to bury their passions and resentments and support the man who was not only the rep-j-esuntstion of an overwhelming

majority of the North, but was the most powerful, as he had been the m »at generous, of our foes. I have seen no cause to change my opinions or to regret my course. Many things have Since oceurred which no one deplores more tliun I do. But “you can never say I did it” The responsibility is with those who adopted the fatal policy, “Anvthing to beat Grant.” In the confjict they invited Grant to beat them Having predicted nil sorts of evils to result from the election of Grant they have done all in their power to make their predic lions come trne.

You sneak of the bitter hostility of the North toward the South. Well, four years of hard fighting is not calculated to make men love eaoll other; neither is an everlasting rehearsal of the wrongs which each side imagines it has suffered going to bring us any nearer to a better understanding. Pence can only come with oblivion of thepast. I know as well as you what the Southern peoplehav« had to endure; but ihis has been the experience of every conquered people. The figure of Judea on the Roman coin veiled and weeping among her point trees —was the type of those who fought for a cause that failed. It will always remain so. The wound of war time alone can heal, but many grievances springing from our administration could long ago have been corrected by ceasing to oppose the inevitable. In doing this the Southern people have played into the hands of their worst enemies. From a clironic habit of cbmpt».ining they too often injure a good cause by mixing up real with imaginary wrongs. For instance, Mr. Lamar, in the veryable speech he recently delivered in the Hotise of Representatives, said that what the South wanted was local self-government. I thought the South had it If it has not, how did he get into congress? If Mississippi has not local self-government, what sort of a government is it which controls Mississippi and has just elected him to the United Mates Senate? Ii you wish to know, then, the ground of my support of H-iyes, it is this: Any good which the Southern people might derive front the election of Tilden would equally result from their support of ilayes. They can vote for Hayes, out they can’t elect Tilden. But I am far from thinking that the election of a democrat, even if such a thing were possible, would be an unmixed blessing to the South. On the contrary, I fear it would open a Pandora’s box of evils. The very remote prospeot has already excited hopes and expectations that can never be realized. If such a thing should occur as the election of a President by a united South combining with a mere fragment of the North it would simply revive the old conflict of the sections. A transformation has taken place in the state of parties. The republican now represents the principle of conservatism, while I can conceive no worse form of radicalism than the reactionary movements that would fall on a Bourbon restoration. No one desires more than I do that the South should get its full share of the benefits and exercise a just influence in the administration of the government. But this cannot be done by voting for Tilden.

But the democrats are going to rebuild everything it they get possession of tl e government, they say. Have you ever known a party out of power that did not promise reform to get in? Has there tieen one single abuse exposed for which the democrats have not established a precedent? Do you think that a higher standard ot morality wonhl prevail in public life by transferring the influence of Tammany Hall to Washington? Has that bt-en a proper school to educate reformers? I know nothing oft Governor Tilden except that hr has long been the leader of his party in New York, whose colossal robberies have been llt« opprobium of American politics, when Governor Tilden has purified politics in his own Stale it will be time enough then to turn his attehlion to the national administration. It was only about twelve months, ago that Tweed was released from prison oil habeas corpus by a decision of (he New York Court of Appeals, composed of seven democratic judges. Mr. Charles O’Conor, the Nestor of the New York bar, in a lett* r published at the time, charged that the decision was procured through the corrupt influence of Tweed’s money. Here was a splendid case for an investigation, far excelling in enormity »be sale of a sotlership; yet tlteae judges remain uniiupeaciied and are still wearing the ermine of justice. I allude to this fact to show the tone of political morality of the party of which Governor TUden has been the ac know]edged head ever since the retirement of Tweed. He proposes to reform the civil service; but how? By » change in the system of ap point mems? Not at all; hut by til iug the offices with his partisans, who will flock to Washing.on “as fierce aa famine and hungry as the grave.” Wheg the ofljee* have

thus been all 61 ed somebody ‘will ihen have to reform the reforme r r. The characters of such bogus pretenders i* well described in the language of Junius, as “resembling the termagant chastity «»# a prude, who, while she prosecutes one lover for raper invites the lewd embraces of another.”' Thai offinial trusts held under the administration have been abused no one dentes; that the delinquents fiave not been screened by their party associates is equally true. Any observer can see that those who have been most forward in exposing corruption are now the most earnest in supporting Hayes. But it is said that no party can reform abuses in its own ranks. I cannot accept such a theory of human depravity. I do not see why a party, like an individual, ean’t reform itselt. If this were not so we would have to chronicle daily the rise and tall of a new party. It is claimed i hat the democrats have done great good by their investigations. This may be so, and yet is no proof of ca|*avity for the administration of affairs. The act of the detective may be very necessary and useful in the economy of government, but lias never been considered an element of statesmanship. I know very well the measure of denunciation which the expression of tli~»e sentiments w ill receive from the people in wi ose cause I shed my blood and sacrificed the prim? of my life. Be it so; 1 wait on time for my vindication. To those who now assail me I reply, in the language of Edmond Burke when charged with deserting his constituents in oppos ing the American war, ‘.‘l did not obey jour instructions. No; Iconformed to the instructions of truth and nature and maintained )ottr interests against your opinions. I am, indeed, to look to your opinions, hut such opinions as you and I must have five years hence. 1 was not to look to ti e flash of the day.” I have thus given yon, at more length than I intended, the reasons that impei my political conduct Very truly, John S, Mo6EY.