Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 March 1878 — CUDDLING TO SOUTHERN WAR CLAIMS. [ARTICLE]

CUDDLING TO SOUTHERN WAR CLAIMS.

The IiESHSEi.AKK I nion is awfully friphtcweilaluuit thcbugbvarof Southern warclaims. •far toiuhl's |2-UI.OUU,iWU liuion I'acilic railroad steal has no terrors for it.- Valparaiso MesMii'jer. Does our esteemed democrati'c conteinporury mean to advocate the payment of several billions of dollars to the people of the southern states to indemnify them for the losses which they sustained in their attempt to destroy the government, because it thinks somebody else has stolen money from the government? Does it advocate the doctrine that the commission "ofaJfeniJfßwHa'crime against the people will cure a less one? Docs it advocate, because of the building of .the Union Pacific railroad with government aid, the payment of losses that were sustained bv the people who were in rebellion, while in rebellion, on account of their rebellion? Does it advocate tlie success of the democratic party in Indiana this year, because that party favors the addition of the enormous sum of these claims to the present government debt? Does it advocate the election of Mr. Voorhees to the United States senate, and of a democrat to represent this district in the house of representatives, because it thinks they will favor this corrupt, outrageous, preposterous and unholy scheme —this enormousfiece of villany? Let the people not forget that the civil war with its concomitants of blood and suffering was the legacy which the democratic party left to the people of this nation when it surrendered the administration of public affairs to President Lincoln, whom a democrat assassinattnl for hi s stead fast loyal t y ; let the people remember that the great public debt uudetUhe burden of which business languishes and all men groan, is one of the direct fruits of that war; let every voter know and fully understand that additional claims, amountingto thousands of millions of dollars, for losses that democrats suffered on account of that war, are being pressed upon congress and other departments of the government for payment; let the people of this country,know that these claims all come up from the “solid democratic south,” that ninetyfive per cent. of those on file in congress were introduced by democratic representatives and senators, that the only effective opposition they meet is from republicans. Let the people bear in mind that so recently as the second session of the congress which preceded the present one—just a little more than one year ago—within three, month after Mr. Tilden as the democratic candidate for president published his letter admitting the fact of the movement, for the collection of these southern democratic war claims r-a democratic majority in the national house of representatives refused to compel its committee to report a constitutional amendment to prohibit the payment of these claims- Then let.the people recqjieet the attitude of sympathy for those who were in rebellion which was assumed by Mr. Voorhees, Mr. Hendricks, and democrats throughout the north-, how they opposed every measure of the government to suppress rebellion: ho\to they denounced every loyal man at the north; how they gloried iover rbhel victories; how they disfranchised the men of Indiana who entered the government service—let them read the history nf th<s days of rebellion—and conclude if it iesafe to trust these nieii to oppose the darling schemes of. tii eir f rien ds. AUh oil gl i they' know that these personal relief bills are being tiled l>y the thousand and that 1 combination arc being formed to press [ them into the treasury under every | coneeivables guise which the ingenuity of man can invent, no democratic i statesman has lifted his voipe in warning. no democratic newspaper opposes, no ddnr cratic' convention denounces the sdlieme or instructs the delegates '. - .1.-1/. _i.

of the. partyln.aingTeas to vote against it. There is danger from that soViree. It is not safe to ignore it or toy with It. I 1 L-'JXS The recent decision of the supreme court of Lousiana in the case of Anderson who was tried for the forgery of election returns, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary, by which the rulings of a dishonest, corrupt, unjust and partisan judge are set aside and the victim of his persecution released and set at liberty, is a great triumph of justice in an unexpected qua) ter. The prosecution wf Anderson arose out of the returning board complication and was the malicious work of a desperate band of unscrupulous, revengeful, dastardly conspirators; his trial was a travesty upon the forms of justice and law; his conviction the result partly of terrorism and partly of bigotry; and his sentence but the echo of a predetermination, lawless, arbitrary, partisan, revolutionary, cruel and subversive of the principles of. popular liberty—a blow aimed at tlie ballot box and the rightsofjhe people. This action of the supreme court of Louisiana will be far-reaching in Its effects. It is another, although indirect, judicial confirmation of Mr. Hayes’ title to the presidency.; it permanently settles all of the local disputes growing out of the question of the authority of the returning board and the legality of their acts; it proves that in Louisiana there is one court at least where justice and right have more weight than party considerations; it establishes-the doctrine that there is no need of interposition of federal authority—either military or civil, through the chief executive, congress, or the judiciary—to protect citizens of the United States in Louisiana; it is a strong endorsement of the wisdom of President Hayes’ policy of non-interference with the local governments existing under the constitutions of the states; it is a vindication of the soundness of President Hayes’ truly republican theory that the people are capable of self-govern-ment and the righting of local wrongs through civil processes in statecourts; it is another landmark defining the line where the jurisdiction of centralized power ceases and the sovereignty of the state is recognized; and it com’pletely staves in an highly ornamental plank of the platform of the Indiana demagogue democracy. That decision is destined to work a power of good. All honor to the court that made it. As election time approaches the papsuckers whose accounts are in an unfriendly shape for settlement become exceedingly nervous about their reputations ; and should they happen to dream that some gossiping body supects they are marching u few dimes of the public hoard to the left oblique as convenience or lawless necessity .may require, just as like as not, off they’ll rush to the party ‘‘organ” and wheedle the hard-worked, illy-paid, half-starved crank-grinder, alias editor, into giving them the gratuitous benefit of”TlveTiollaTs’"worth 'uf work and space in “our paper” to advertise a wonder-gaping public how honest and capable they are. Self-praise is said to be half scandal; bertaiu the other half is questionable taste, if not downright foolishness. When a public officer publishes a card in a newspaper just before election time vindicating himself from charges that have not been as publicly made, it looks as if he might not be ready to settle with a successor, <>r wanted very badly to be elected again, dr lacked brilliancy. Provocations of this nature are good and sufficient reasons for tax-payers to seek “a change,” and. for electors/ to vote men into their places who are qualified to perform the duties of office in business-like manner, whose characters arc above suspicion, and who have common sense enough not to offend the public with the recital in print of petty neighborhooibgossip. Ninety-nine of the hundred who thus parade their names in public fill their boots much more nearly than their boots fill the world. Newton county' republicans suggest Goodland as a convenient place to hold the senatorial, judicial and representative nominating conventions in which White, Benton, Newton and Jasper counties are interested. Wegtaß from the ItXNSSEi.AEK Union that Dr. I. B. Washburn has been nppofn tvl by the board ot county commission! rw, county phvsiJ ciaii <>t.Ja>pcr county at a salary ot tjuu, Good appointment. - H7 Piiaic Deniocrof. In ordea to ..obtain Dr. Washburn's professional services at the publid expense, it is necessary first to procure nn Ofb-r from iho trustee of the township in which the patient lives; otherwise regular fees for medical service will be collected from the person employing him.’ ‘ -T— " I'heN arrow Gtiage U working-wonders for ZReuaselaer. A/vender pl shirt pjiiu.rpa reports oral said* inJhwtclHr-i,. vi Itage,--* wo or three Bi, kA ago.— <;■•••.! la ml Heister. When the primitive people who inhabit the quaint Tittle hamlet of Goodland begin to wear shirts, it will bean indication that they are becoming susceptible to .the civilizing nnd christianizing influence,- of the nineteenth century. * A brand new conch hay beep put on the .Narrow Gauge railroad by the company for the accommodation of travellers. Il is a •hesuly. There is not a finer coach on any .railroad in thjl state. It is nicely upholstered, is capable of seating between thirty and Tonypnajengcrs, and cost $3;,5p0.-