Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1877 — Our Congressman. [ARTICLE]

Our Congressman.

“Deliver ua from our friends,” will soon bo the sentiment of our congressman. We •had just been praising Calkins for oponly tnkii g Ilia bull by the horns, congratulating the people on the Major's conversion to the true platform. Anil here comes tho “old reliable,” tho lending republican organ of tho district, and lets out on him us follows: “Major Calkins’ views on the president’s policy as aired in the Lapoile Herald aregotting just about the attention they deserve. It don't make a man a proficient in political economy, or a savan on nnv subject to eleqt him to congrei-s. At pnlitioal trices Calkins is a shrewd one, but hud the president’s policy applied to such as be before election, 1 lie would have stood ns good a chance of going to glory in a most-wagon as an election to congress. Wo hear this opinion openly discussed and expressed daily by the best republicans iu this section.”—South Bend Register. While we cordially approve of Calkins’ sentiments as per Calkins’ Accent conversion, we must concede the truth of the statement of the Register. Bad our representative avowed the principles of amity towards flic south and civil servieo reform he now holds he would have stood squarely on the democratic platform and would have stood no more clmnce for tho republican nomination than of ■“going to glory in a nteutwagon,” as our neighbor sweetly puts'rif. > It grits us to stand idly by, however, and' hear our congressman called a "'‘political trickster” by his friends jußt because he takes tlie only ground left for him to take. If this rifttig continues we shall have to defend him, which is not exactly in our line. Here is the position of onr congressman: He knew last fall that, the real jackass power of his party wns fighting the battles over again and renewing hostilities with the south—in other words “putting down the rebellion.’’ lie stood upon this platform because a foolparty'requiretl it ofliltn and not because he hadn’t sense enough to'know as well as tlie editor of the Register and other leaders that, it was a false and meaningless issue. The policy of what will always be known as the fraudulent administration has been, In the main, the policy urged by the democratic party and exactly the opposite of what the president as well as Cidliins got Into office on. Now our congressman had one of three things before him, first to aecept the present condition of affairs and stand boldly and honestly forth with the president, stripped of the dentagogism of the campaign—second to antagonize himself with'the policy of the administration for the sake of remaining en ropjtort with Ae shirt’’ '‘■bSst' republicans” of the Blaine-Morton school — to have .rigidly kept his mouth shut or confined t? inoffensive remarks on the state of the weather. 'Now putting the last by as unlike an honest man, let us suppose he had chosen the second course. What wottld the people of this district have a right to think? Of what benefit would Major Calkins be to his party in congress? What benefit would national or local party organizations gain by declaring war on the presidential southern policy? We would like some of these “best republicans” to define themselves. It would be interesting at this juncturetoknow whether ally considerable tody of republicans are in favor of replnoing troops in the south, restoring ChamDcrlain nnd Packard and the statu quo of Grantism, and whether they still mourn the decay of tlie “bloody sbirt? ’-South Bond Herald (Democtatic).