THE DAILY EVENING TFJJiCnurilrillLMJLPniA, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1867.
SPIRIT OF TI1E MESS.
Harrow At ornrtowi ot tub Lupma joobhaui
Vro CTT TOPIC OOM PILED BTRBT
f toll f BTMKIHO TKLsa&AFH.
Our !. PraaMant Bhall It ba (Ihm,
Sharina, Horatio Bymaur,or
YallaBdlRham I
jytrmth .V. T. Ciiuet. !
Wa t9 Mr. Greeley is advocating hi tbe
7n''i", with hi customary foroe and cour
se, that the radical party, In selecting its
presidential candidal, ?hall choose a man to
frpri'ff ut iU principles and aspirations, instead
f lHklrg only to "expediency" or "availa
bility" that this or the other wan occupies a
political situation so uncertain as to be able to
secure uiany votes outride of party linos; and
On this doctrine Le urges that Judge Chase, of
the rMipremo Convt, an the most essential re
presentative of radical ideas, shall be nude
the nominee of that tarty in the great struggle
ct next year for tiational ascendancy. We
heartily endorse Mr. Greeley's position, and
would like to nee it accepted also in the selec
tion to l made of onr Democratic nominee.
"Expediency candidates" are never good
foT much never bringing a thousand votes to
any party utamlard; and, even if they be
elected, "mighty mean critters" when in
power of no use to friend and of no detri
ment to enemies. Their neutral and uncom
mitted position is practically an attempt to
obtain success on false pretences. Nothing is
decided; no expression of the national or
party will cau be obtained by runuiug an
"expediency nominee." In grave times, such
aa the present, when the exUteuco or non-existence
of nearly a dozen states is in issue
each party should first agree upon a platform
representing iUbest judgment and convictions;
after which, it should look around for the man
best calculated to represent that platform, or
who, if possible, had most largely contributed
to framing its original ideas. Judged from
this point of view, there cau be no doubt
that Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, is entitled to
the next radical nomination for the office of
President.
In like manner, we think the loyal Demo
cratic party or "War Democracy," as it was
christened during the recent struggle should
either take np General Grant as the clearest
exponent of its devotion to "the Union at any
cost," or Lieutenant-General Sherman, thau
whom no officer brought out of the late war a
more brilliant or substantial record. He did
not win by brute force, but by stratec-y, and
Lis successes were gained by imtneuse and
rapid movements, under which the enemy
ioond himself beaten without being given an
Opportunity to fight. These remarks are not
made in any spirit of disparaging General
Urant, tne amicuities of wnose situation on
posed to the choicest armies and ablest General
or the eoutn, ana in a country otierwz, with
a little engineering skill (of which General Lee
bad more than enough), immense capabilities
for defense seemed to call for, indeed to make
imperative, a totally diflerent line of action
from the grand swinging and devastative
. movements of General Sherman.
These are onr alternatives for a military
candidate, to represent the loyal Democracy.
But should it be resolved in the great council
of our party that the tendency to a Military
Dictatorship needs rather to be repressed than
promoted, why then let us resolve to nut for
ward, as the ablest, purest, inoBt unselilh, ami
one of the most actively loyal laborers for his
country in her hour of need, ex-Governor
Seymour, of New York a name that would
more distinctively represent me I'euioorauo
party and its principles, and would certainly
call forth more honest and hearty enthusiasm
than could be evoked by any other name what
ever that could be placed at the head of our
ticket. We know Seymour was once called
"disloyal," a "vile Copperhead," and so forth,
but that was in a period of excitement, when
any one who could not or would not swallow
the worbt ultraisins and tyrannies of radical
despotism and corruption, had only to be
called a "Copperhead," and so feverish was
the public mind that his instantaneous incar
ceration in Fort Lafayette would have been
aoqniesced in by live-sixths of the whole com
munity. But we happen to have personal knowledge
that, while Governor Seymour was being most
loudly and fiercely denounced In radical Jour
Dais as an "abettor of the enemies of his coun
try," both President Lincoln and Secretary
Stanton were writing him warm letters of
thanks, which shall be forthcoming in due
season, expressing their deep and grateful ac
knowledgments for his active, efficient, and
always well-advised eflorta in pushing forward,
by every means within his power as Governor
of New York, the war for the maintenance of
the Union and the Constitution of the United
States. Governor Seymour then favored the
draft, but opposed its machinery in New York
as partisan, corrupt, and malicious and for
this the howl against him was loudest. But
was he right or wrong ? answer, Senator
Rosooe Conklin I Let the Republican Con
gress answer, which, after a fub investigation,
caused Major-General James B. Try to be re
moved from his offioe of Trovost Marshal
General not alleging that anything in Pry's
' personal motives had been corrupt; but dis
tinctly affirming that the system under which
the draft had been executed in New York was
one of vastly organized fraud, tyranny, and
partisanship a stench in the nostrils of men,
and a cause for questioning the justice of
' Heaven that had permitted such atrocities to
be perpetrated.
The last and perhaps angriest, Leoause the
false&t and foulest ontcry against Seymour,
was when he protested against the seizure aud
incarceration of Colonel North and other
Democratic agents, duly appointed and em
ployed to collect the votes of any Boldiers of
me ouue oi new Xorfc then Serving in the
, Army of the Potomao, or in the vicinity of
Bumgion. iiut what was the result A
monstrous hue and cry of "fraud" was raised
against these airents of our Stuta- innnMtrniia
Stories to the injury of the Democratic party
were telegraphed by the Government, then in
control of all the "wires" 0f the oouutry
telegraphic and military, financial, official, and
politioaW but when the need was over, and the
rreBiaemiai . eieuuon an accomplished fact
then the Government, with all its ingenuity
and vast resources for suborniue neriurv
could not so much as trump up any clianjn
on which Colonel North and his fellow-agents
could be brought to trial I i That Seymour was
thorouchly and znalou-ly loyal durinc the
entire war we are satisfied, and have reason to
be satisfied. That he occasionally dosponded
aud saw no hope for success, as thing were
tnauatred. is most true; but which of the most
loyal anions: us can bay even the loyalest
siinddv rontractor that there never were mo
jneuts during the struggle in which we all did
"despair of the Republic?"
As to the "Copperheads," and straightout
Recession sympathizers of the rvortu me vu
lain who should and would have been hung
lv rmblio aoclaim. if their labors had not been
f 9 useful to the ralica.l party to breeding dis
gust and dread of the loyal -' Dnrnooracy why
let these scoundrels, also, hold a national con
vention and put forward their distinctive can
didatesmen representing their principles;
and let them try by a vote, of how many fol
lowers their oontemptible but olamorous crew
was composed a crew only possessing the
slightest consequence through the efforts of
their Republican allies. I hey can take for
their nominees Vallaudigham, Voorhees,
Thomas II. Seymour, of Connecticut, Chaun
cey Burr, Fernando Wood and his brother,
Jeremiah Black, John Rodgers, of New Jersey,
and perhaps some live Hundred others after
which their limits of choice will be exhausted;
for we believe they never had much more than
five hundred and ten members in their entire
party, though it suited the "little game" of
the then Republican press to make it appear
that the persons above named were trne "re
presentative men" for the whole of our loyal
Democratic masses. Above all things, gentle
men, let us have true representative platforms,
with trne' representative men to stand on
them, in the next Presidential contest l
Tb Weitern Democracy and the Debt.
From the N. Y. Time.
Among the causes which contributed to the
Democratic success in Ohio must undoubtedly
be included the agitation of the greenback
question, and the favor with which Mr. Pen
dleton's views are regarded by a large portion
of the Western people. The fact is not an
agreeable one, but no good can result from its
concealment.
In the West, more keenly than anywhere
else, the questions of taxation and currency
are being discussed. There especially impa
tience of taxation manifests itself; and there
the characteristic boldness of thought and ex
pression finds scope in the examination of
matters which, in the more reserved and cau
tious East, are handled tenderly, if touched at
all. We have the radical testimony of the
St. Louis Democrat that the dissatisfaction in
the West "is mainly caused by the neglect of
the financial interests of the country." Un
the same authority we learn that "the artful
appeal of Ohio Democrats has had some effeot'
the said appeal being that which Mr. Pen
dleton originated. The not less radical Tri
bune, of Chicago, concedes the spread of the
feeling in its locality. "There is no disguising
the fact," it says, "that there is a growing
leenng among the masses or the people m
favor of the proposed substitution of green
backs for bank notes." Nor is the disposition
likely to be checked by Mr. Jay Cooke's pon
derous epistle. The people have little faith in
an oracle that pronounced a national debt a
national blessing; and we fear that other argu
ments than his will be needed to prevent the
spread of unsound and most dangerous views
on the subject of currency and finance.
The Democrats of Minnesota and Wisconsin
do not attempt to conceal the course of their
sympathies. Mr. Pendleton has thus far been
the great gun of the Minnesota campaign, and
the leading Deniocrati journal of the State
has taken its stand on the ground occupied by
that politician m common with General liutler
In Wisconsin the mischievous heresy has been
oiiieiaiiy indorsed. The Convention which
nominated the present candidates adopted a
resolution affirming the inviolability of the
national debt not, however, without evident
signs of a strong opposition. But ' the Demo
cratic State Committee, with a more correct
conception of local feeling, have sent forth an
address, in which they ask: "If depreciated
paper was good enough to be received for the
bouds, is not the lawful money of the
nation good enough for the creditors of the
Government V The destruction of the na
tional banks, and the substitution of Govern
ment paper for their circulation, are other
points in the same document. Both in Wis
oonsin and Minnesota, then, violation of the
national faith is a cardinal point of the Ddino
cratic party.
e do not forget that Mr. Pendleton's
opinions have been emphatically repudiated
by the World, or that the good faith of the
Government has few more steadfast advocates
than that journal. Nor are we unmindful
that in the Albany Convention Governor Sey
mour and Mr. Mayor Hoffman spoke out man
fully on the same side. But the World, with
all its ability, does not control, or on many
subjects represent, the Democratic press; and
neither Governor Seymour nor Mr. Hoffman
can compare in personal popularity and influ
ence with Nr. i'endleton, whom Western De
mocracy already proclaims itsoandldateforthe
Presidency. It is indeed notorious that even
in the Albany Convention a powerful element
was at work in support of repudiation, and
that the passages which fell most flat from
Governor Seymour's lips were those in support
of the public credit.
These circumstances are too slgniilcant to
be ignored by those who would estimate truly
the issues involved in the campaign. The
triumph of the Democrats would involve more
than complication and disturbance on the re
construction question. It would cast discredit
upon the national faith, alarm the business
and capital of the country, and open the
door for the Pendleton school of inflationists
and repudiators. They form the vigorous,
outspoken, and ambitious portion of the Demo
cratic party,
To OtnulBf Conservatives.
From the N. Y. Tribune.
Pour millions of our countrymen, lately
slaves, are now free that is a positive fact.
Y'ou may dislike it, loathe it, execrate it but
you none the less know it to be a fact.
Congress, in reconstructing the States lately
in revolt, has determined that these blacks,
unless they have voluntarily aided the Rebel
lion, shall vote, and they are voting. This is
another important fact. Hate it as you may,
you still know it to be a taut.
This Congress remain in power for nearly
two years longer, and the Republican majority
iu the Senate cannot be subverted witliin the
next four years. Though every election should
go against us meantime, the Senate will re
main Republican. Hut it is perfectly certain
that the majority will be strongly reinforced
from the soon-to-le reconstructed States.
And right well do you know that this majority
will not vote to destroy itself by disfranchising
the Southern blacks.
What, then, do you mean by conservatism?
Do you mean to keep this whole country in
turmoil aud contention throughout the next
four years, in the desperate hope that you
may thereafter be able to disfranchise the four
millions of Southern blacks, and put them
under the feet of their late Rebel masters f
if thai is your game, what sort of crops, of
trade, of payments; can you expect from the
South meantime t What hope can you cherish
that the country will ever be pacified f 1
It is one thing to deny the right of suffrage
to a downtrodden race; it is quite another to
deprive them of it after they have gained and
exercised it. We defy the wit of man to tell
how the Uacka of South Carolina, Mississippi,
ana fionaa, after they nhall have votod aud
cuoeeu raiave oiuoera aud member of Comrre-is,
are to i i oisrrauehWd, by usurpation
auvi ioiviuuwuij viomniw, viretuia has
shown you mat tuy will not dUframUUe
themselves.
Conservatives! ttractical man I devotees of I
peace and proyority I we conjure you to puis
find retlect I ihe antidote to social anarchy is
impartial liberty I
Thi Trial of Divli.
From the If. Y. Timet.
It seems probable that Jefferson Davis will
actually be tried for treason; and as the time
draws near it is impossible not to feel sonu
misgivings as to the results and ell'm t of that
proceeding. It is very easy to say, as the
whole country has been saying for the last tw
years, that treason is the Inchest of crimes,
and ought to be punished; but one Instinc
tively feels, after all, that this little argument,
conclusive as it seems, docs not dippose of the
whole case.
Davi3 is not to bo tried simply as an indi
vidual. His own punishment for his owu
Crime is not the sole object, or the main ob
ject, songht to be accomplished. It is the
Rebellion that is to be put on trial in his per
son. It is the principle on which the Rebel
lion rested the States that entered into it
the great community involved in its guilt,
which are to be arraigned before the judicial
tribunals of the nation; and the object of that
arraignment is to procure a solemn decision
on the case which is to settle the law for all
time to come, and leave no room hereafter for
the claim that any State has a right to seoede.
But do we intend to admit, by resorting to
such a tribunal for a decision, that there is
any doubt on this point now? If a trial is
wanted, it must bo wanted to decide some
thing which is doubtful. It cannot bo to affirm
something which is decided already. If Davis
is put upon his trial, that very act assumes
that his guilt is still open to doubt that the
question is undecided; nay, on the assumption
that a trial is required, he is, in the presump
tion of the law. innocent, until the trial is
ended and his guilt is proved.
Do we mean by this trial what the trial
itgelf thus of necessity implies ? Do we pre
sume do we admit, for a moment, that Davis
is innocent ? Do we not regard it as little less
than treason to doubt his guilt ? If Davis has
not been guilty of treason if secession was a
right what has been the history of this nation
for the last six years but the most awful and
tremendous revelry ci crime the sun ever
shone upon ? If he is tried, he may be ao
quitted. Unless the trial becomes itself a
greater crime than the alleged offense unless
what pretends to be a solemn appeal to abso
lute and supreme abstraot justice is turned
into a paltry and contemptible trick we are
bound to admit that this man mai go forth
from the bar relieved of all stain of guilt, car
ryincr the sanction of the judicial tribunals of
the nation for the whole tremendous transac
tion ot which he was the recognized and re
sponsible head. This nation certainly does
not consciously intend to pave the way for
such a result. We do not admit that a shadow
of doubt rests on the question of Davis' guilt.
We do not admit that the right or wrong of
secession is open to argumen, tor that it awaits
a decision at the hands of any tribunal on the
face of the earth.
And the reason is, because the whole ques
tion has been decided already decided by the
highest of all earthly tribunals, and beyond
all possiDiiuy oi reversal or appeal. Nations
Know no niguer law man me law ot lorce no
higher tribunal than the field of battle. Con
stitutions and laws, senates and courts, have
value and force only as means of avoiding that
final arbitrament, and only while they succeed
in substituting other modes of judgment for
its stern decrees. But when war is called iu
to settle disputes, it holds no divided court
It takes jurisdiction of the whole oase. It
does not allow its decisions to be oalled in
question, nor are Its judgments open to re
viewal and reversal. Davis and the Rebellion
appealed to the sword to decide their contest
with the nation; and the answer to that appeal
will stand as the verdict in the oase, as the
law of the land, no matter what courts, or
btates, or Congresses may say to the contrary,
until arms, in another appeal to force, may
reverse it. It is not possible that a trial
in a civil ' court should add a
feather's weight to the dignity or the
solemnity of the decision that has been
already reached, ihe danger is that it will
detract from it; it must do that if it does any
thing at all. To submit a question over which
four years of war have been waged, for which
two million men have been under arms, aud
half a million have laid down their lives,
which has imposed upon the nation burdens
of debt which will ailect the wealth and wel
fare of hundreds of millions yet unborn, and
which has changed the political, industrial,
and social institutions of a continent and made
its mark, deep and indelible, on the history
of the human race to submit such a question
to the solemn judgment of a jury of twelve
men, to be drawn without distinction or race
or color, not one of whom may have ever
seen a law book or a book of any sort, who
mav be presided over by Judee Underwood,
and whose verdict is to reverse this whole
current of our national history, if it has any
weight or any meaning whatever is a pro
ceeding too broadly farcical to be regarded
with entire oomplacency. We think it is to
be deeply regretted that our Government ha3
not been able to devise some means of saving
us from it.
The forthcoming trial is very likely to do us
damage and discredit. We see no way in
which it can possibly do us good. If Davis
should be convicted, he will not be punished ;
no one believes for a moment that he will be
either executed or imprisoned. His oonvlc
tion wonld not deepen the impression of the
guilt of the Rebellion on the publio mind in
the least decree; indeed, the fact that its guilt
is allowed to be solemnly called in question
will Infalliblv weaken the tmblic Sense of its
ennrmitv. and pause it to 1 regarded as a3ub-
mi wlii.-h fitiininnn mav instly diller. If
h should be acouitted. as he may be, the
consequences, especially on publio sentiment
in the Southern States, would be still more
injurious.- And considering the character and
calibre of the presiding District Judge, the
mode of coustitutine the Jury, ana me yj
vailinc temper of the parties who have con
trol of the whole proceeding, there is reason
to fear that Btens mav be taken to prooure a
conviction which will reflect more lasting dis
grace and lnllict deeper injury on our whole
political system thau even an acquittal would
Involve.
The matter has beooma an nmDlioated by
the long delays and irresolute action already
had, that its solution now is a matter of no
small difficulty. But we believn the country
would feel relieved if the whole proceeding
could be dismissed. The Rebellion has been
tiled and condemned; and there is neither ne
cessity for a new trial nor possibility oi' any
greater punishment than it has already re
ceived. , t, j
Klvo Iluudr.d Mile, of Civilization.
V, owt th A. Y. Tribune. '
Vrom the base of the mountain range which
forms the backbone of the continent comes the
word that five hundred miles of the Union
I'acillo Railroad have been siif.iesnfully con-
t-tructed. Thirty-one miles more, now nearly
finished, will carry the line to the summit
which IS the highest elevation of the route,
from which point the head-light of the looo
motive will shine over towards the Pacific, pnN
haps before the lnow flies. This accomplish-
...-u ... B uiouKiuia miles in distance aud
the completion of the first grand division of
the enterprise from the Missouri to the base
of the Rocky Mountains forms a fitting point
from which to review the Work accomplished.
and note the importance of tha
taking.
This can best be done by clancinor at tli
condition of the reciou throneh whinh tha
road passes, as it was before the becinninir of
the work, two years ago. Through the five
hundred miles which intervened between the
Missouri and the nearest mining districts, all
the machinery and supplies for tha miner had
to be hauled by teams a process so slow and
expensive that it could only be undertaken by
mining companies who were confident of a
sufficient return for the outlay. Individual
enterprise on the part of the great mass of
miners was ho blocked by the freicht charges
of $500 per ton for machinery, that a vast
number of promising mines, which would
otherwise have added largely to the aggregate
production, were forced to remain unopeued.
And yet, spite of these enormous charges, no
less than 27,000 teams, with freight aud pas
sengers, left two points only on the Missouri
in a single season. The public lands through
all this region were comparatively worth
less, through the difficulties and dangers
of communication with "the States" and the
hostility of the Indians. The Government's
only tenants were the Indian and the buualo.
But, besides its loss of revenue from these
lands, the Government incurred enormous
actual expense in its military operations upon
the Plains. The expedition to Utah cost a
prodigious sum, while for Indian campaigus,
it was estimated that tne annual cost oi eacu
recipient of cavalry was counted by millions.
In addition to these extraordinary expendi
tures, there was the great cost of transporting
materials for maintaining the military posts
throughout the Territories. Considering these
facts, and the urgent need (as especially made
manifest during the late war) of more speedy
communication with the Pacifio coast, Con
gresg wisely made liberal grants of credit
and land to insure the rapid construction oi
the line.
With tbia encouragement, the Companies to
whom was given the construction of the
through line went vigorously to work, making
large personal advances, and giving every
proof of perfect confidence in their success.
A contract involving over sixty millions of
dollars was made by the Union Pacific Com
pany, under which responsible parties were to
build 014 miles west from Omaha, for $tJS,058
per mile, including all necessary buildings,
repair shops, and other appurtenances, and
supply rolling stock to the amount of $5,000,-
000. Lnder this contract five hundred miles
have been completed, some of the distance
under very special difficulties. Tha Indians
have looked with suspicion upon this
novel penetration of their hunting and
fighting grounds. The mystery of the
iron horse was too great tor the In
dian's comprehension, but he shrewdly
divined that the locomotive was the herald of
an army of pale-faces, and its whistle the knell
of his supremacy. The energy of the con
tracting parties has, however, overcome all
obstacles, the most palpable result thus far
being the fact that a passenger can now pursue
an uninterrupted railway journey from the
Atlantio at New York to the Rocky Mountains,
oOO miles west of Umalia. The financial ac
counts of the. road to this point show a re
markable fact. No one has doubted that
when the whole grand line to the Pacific shall
Le finished, in 1870 (as the Companies pro
mise), it will be very highly profitable, but
the actual net earnings of the way business.
during the past season, are officially reported
to be more than sufficient to pay the interest
upon the whole cost.
1 he building of this railroad Is a work of
public necessity. The Government has already
gained from it more than it lias paid tor it. An
immense tract of land in the valley of the
river Platte has been brought into market, and
made desirable' for the emigrant. Upon this
territory new towns are springing up, which
will become manufacturing communities,
adding to the productive wealth of the coun
try, and helping to pay the public debt. Coal
mines have been discovered in the Black Hills,
which, in that region of scarce fuel, will be
hardly less valuable than the deposits of the
preciona metals. Every, acre of land improved
or sold by the company increases the demand
for the Government's lands alongside, and
every additional ton of gold or silver mined
because of the Increased facilities offered by
the railroad puts money into the national
treasury. The saving to the Government in
freights, and the increase in its revenues, will
confirm ' the opinion that this is not
only the most onduring buU the most
profitable of all the internal improve
ments which have received Congressional aid.
In short, the advances of the Government
bonds is but a loan of the publio credit, which
costs the Government nothing, but pavs it
handsome dividends.
The road must be finished as rapidly as
possible. The Pacifio coast has room and
work for ten millions of people, instead of the
half million who now inhabit a world by
themselves. The $100,000,000 yearly pro
duced in the mining regions can and should
be doubled, and all along the line of this
world's thoroughfare should be such indus
trial exterprises as will promote the pros
perity of the nation and of the several States,
and constitute the best evidences of our na
tional greatness. ' .
The Movement In Italy. nnrt th Powltlon.
of victor Kiuuiuil.
From the iV. Y. Herald.
The movement in Italy for the liberation of
Rome and the union of the Papal territory
with he kingdom advances witli such rapid
strides, that the ink which records one striking
event is hardly dry before news of others is
flashed through the Atlantio cable. The last
received is highly interesting in several points
of view. General Garibaldi was marching on
Rome, and was in sight of the city. The
amount of his force is not stated, but it was
divided into two columns, and the Papal
troops were retreating before the victorious
insurgents. The whole or Italy seems to be
in a state of fermentation. The ardor and de
termination of the Italian patriots appear irre
sistible, so that if the fate of Rome were to
rest on the Italians alone, there would be little
doubt of the result. But we learn at the same
time that the trench fleet had sailed from
Toulon for Civita Yecchia. The mission of
this fleet, doubtless, is to interfere iu the
affairs of Italy, to defend the temporal power
of the Pope, and to make war ou the Gari
bakliaus. It remaius to be seen how far the
Italian patriots may be able to resist the for
midable intervention of Prance. 'That power
thrown into the scale on the side of the Pope
makes the contest tery doubtful at present.
The news of approauhiug events, therefore,
will be anxiously looked lor throughout ' the
civilized world, and particularly in tha United
States. I
But what position does Victor Emanuel
occupy t thiii critical time f Evidently he hj
OM1
tve
THE LAliGKST AND BIT
F I fJ E OLD RYE W
IN THE LAND IS
HENRY S. II
tfos. 218 and 220
who errjEHTME kameto the tkapi:
. hlr St oak of Rjr WhlilUl, IN BOND, ,:rtsa U tli loorlta tr4
xtant, ad run a through tha arlva noatkt of laOb.'tie, and oftlila mi,
prcitnt data.
Mbaral eoatracta an ad a for lota to arrlva at r u l trmu la Ha II road lpj
.rrlcaaom Ma t barf, or at lokdd Warchcwaca. paitloa .i ay !.. .
CARPETING,
OIL CLOTIIb AND DHUGGKTiH,
HE EVE L. KNIGHT & SON,
K li IhatuZw RO. NOT C'HKMXrT KTKEin.
much embarrassed. In opposing the popular
movement, or by not going with it aud con
trolling it, and thus yielding to the policy and
dictation of the French Government, he inaka
himself the vassal of Napoleon, lie puts not
only Rome but also Italy at the feet of France,
and he virtually dethrones himself. Though
he is a bravff soldier, he shows a want of moral
courage and sagacity in this great orisis. lie
talks about hi3 obligations, under the conven
tion with France, not to disturb the Pope or
annex the Papal territory. lie , forgets that
the voice of a whole nation of a nation of
twenty-six millions of people is superior to
all conventions, particularly when forced upon
an unwilling people by the selfish diplomacy
a foreign power. Great popular movements
cannot be bound by such conventions. Nor
are governments bound by them when in the
way of their policy or interests. Napoleon
will not be bound by this one with Victor
Emanuel. By ordering his fleet to Italy, he
shows how little he respects either his treaty
obligations or the sentiments of an indepen
dent nation and an ally. Where Napoleon
had one reason for intervening in the atlairs of
Italy and Rome, Victor Emanuel .had many
and powerful ones to resist the intervention to
the last extremity. He haa humiliated Italy,
and. in doing so, runs the greatest risk of
losing the affection and allegiance of the Italian
people.
This view of Victor Emanuel's position is
predicated upon the presumption that he is
really opposed to the movement of the Italian
patriots. We might have thought his opposi
tion feigned and his real wish covered up, for
the purpose of throwing dust in the eyes of
Napoleon and the ultramontane party, haa he
not permitted intervention against the Italians
to go so far; but when he declines to take
possession of Rome, and stands still while
another French expedition sails for that
oity, we must conclude he 'has abandoned
the cause ot Italian unity out of fear and
at the dictation of the French. If he had
been wise, and had possessed moral courage
enough when the movement assumed the
grand proportions it has, he would have en
tered Home before the French could have
started to that city, and then have proclaimed
to France and the world un fait accompli. Then
he could have explained the neoessity for
taking suoh a step, could have shown it was
the only way to settle a troublesome question
and preserve the peace of Italy and Europe,
could have appealed to the sympathy of man
kind, and then could have entered into nego
tiations with the French and other Govern
ments on the basis of what he had done. Such
a course, probably, would have prevented the
intervention of Napoleon. There might have
been some sharp diplomatic talk, but it is not
likely any French fleet or Frenoh soldiers
would have been sent to Rome. At all events
the Italians would have rallied with remarka
ble unanimity to support their brave King.
He would have become the most popular
monarch in Europe. It is not likely that Napo
leon would have made war . on the King to
drive him out of Rome and to maintain the
temporal power of the Pope; but if even he
should have attempted it, twenty-six millions
of brave and ardent Italians, with the sympa
thy of tbe oivilized world to back them, would
have been a match on their own soil for
France, powerful as she is. ,
But Victor Emanuel seems to have lo3t the
opportunity of making himself great and all
Italy united. , Perhaps he has been unwisely
playing a game in behalf of the dynasties and
against the democratic tendencies of the peo
ple. He may have dreaded this popular
movement more than the threats of Napo
leon or military power of France. Ilia bro
ther monarchs may have advised him to stem
the progress of democratio ideas. But, what
ever may have been the cause of his incom
prehensible conduct, he has, we are persuaded,
made a great mistake. His unpopularity and
trouble have just begun, a3 we see in the diffi
culty about forming a ministry. The popu
lar general, Cialdini, was not willing to enter
the ministry, for his heart la wltn the Italians
and their cause. He is not disposed to favor
the King's French policy, and, probably, may
be looking to the future, when he may lead tue
Italian patriots in a war for Rome and Italian
Independence. Victor Emanuel has humiliated
Italy and placed himself in an unpopular and
most difficult position. He did Italysome ser
vice in times gone by, but he has done, proba
bly, all he can do. l oung xtaiy now neeas
another chief and leader. The best thine; he
can do, therefore, is to nbdicate in favor ot oue
of his sons, Humbertor Amedee. Theseyoung
men have seen service in the field, are brave
and full of fire, and better represent the vigor,
patriotism, and enthusiasm of modern Italy.
Unless he should do this or totally abandon
his timid pro-French policy, both he and his
dynasty may be swept away ere long by the
revolution.
The Vlra; tola Kin tion Triumph of tha
rvagroaa.
From the N. Y. World.
The election in the most important of the
Southern ttates, and the one where the advan
tages were greatest for defeating the radicals,
has resulted in a majority of sixteen thousand
or more in . favor of a Convention, and the
delegates chosen at the sam time consist of
thirty conservatives aud ity radioals, eigh
teen of the latter being negroea. . Considering
the fulness of the negro vote, aud the unani
mity with which it was cast for a Convention
ami for radical members of it, we doubt
whether the general result could hav mvxi
ditlerent if the conservatives had ben all of
one xuiudf although the radical majority miht
W "TP
STOCK OF
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NOW POSSESSED 13 Y
ANN IS &
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I'VMzskies,
SOUTH iRORT STTtEXST,
in
Mil 4H VKMV AHVA NT4 ' VI
have been kept down to a slender margin. O f
the registered voters the excess of whites was
less than 14,00. We have only to suppose
half this number radicals, to neutralize tha
conservative vote. The voting strength of th
radicals is doubtless much greater, so that with
the consolidated negro vote, they would have
carried the Convention, however perfect might
have been the unity among the conservative
whites.
We think that the Richmond Enquirer, which
stiffly advised inaction, evinced more sagacity
than the Richmond Whig, which counselled
all the registered whites to vote. There was
no possibility of beating the radicals if the
full negro vote was polled; and the most effec
tive mode of opposition would have been total
abstention. The Convention cannot, in auy
just sense, be considered as a deliberative
body. It must act under the coercive dictation
of Congress; and unless it wishes its work
rejected (a case in which it would be idle for
it to assemble)', it must reach a foregone con
clusion. Its only choioe wilP be as to the
phraseology in which it will couch the Cou-'
gresslonal requirement to make the negro in
habitants of the State equal to the white. The
wording being of little consequence, and the
substance dictated beforehand, there was no V I
unless in the hope of defeating the Convention.
It would have been wider to surrender the
whole business to the negro party, whose ex
travagance, when acting without any check,
might lead them into blunders which would
recoil to their disadvantage.
But inaction stands upon reasons which will
not hold good when the work of the Conven
tion comes to be submitted for ratification.
The registered conservatives of Virginia will
be inexcusable if they do not turn out in full
strength to vote down the new constitution.
Very likely tney win not succeed; certainly
they will not unless the Convention falls into
blunders that disgust a part of the white
radioals. Still it is important, in reference to
the publio opinion of the North, that the ma
jority by which the new constitution is adopted
shall lie pitifully small; and the Virginia con
servatives can undoubtedly make it so. It
will then only be necessary to subtract the
total vote against the constitution from the
whole number of registered whites to find how
many whites favored ratification. A compari
son of the white votes for with the white votes
against, will show how overwhelmingly it
would have been repudiated if submitted only
to those fairly entitled to vote upon it. The
whites who stay away from the polls in bo
important a crisis aa the ratification will be
considered as indifferent, and the moral effect
of the vote will be impaired or lost if the whites
who vote aye shall bear a considerable pro
portion to the whites who vote no.
The protest of Mr. Gilmer against the va
lidity of the election iu Riohmond strikes us,
at this distance, as amounting to nothing be
yond an expression of indignant feeling. Mr.
Gilmer's law points may be well taken, but
they will have no weight with the tribunal to
which he addresses them. General Buhofleld
is accountable only to Congress; and if he has
exoeeded his authority by continuing the elec
tion one day and part of a night .beyond the
time when by law ft should have closed, Con
gress will sanction the extension. The supple
mentary act passed at the extra session made
it the duty of the district commanders to con
strue the law 'liberally," with a view to fulfil
its objects, and everybody knows that its para
mount object was to secure Republican "majori
ties in the Southern States.
The extension of the time so aa to get the
whole ne gro vote in, will never be regarded by
Congress as impairing the validity of the elec
tion. Mr. Gilmer's protest will therefore
accomplish nothing beyond calling publio
attention to the points he argues. We appre
hend that nothing is to be gained by fighting
the reconstruction scheme on mere points of
detail. It is of very subordinate oonsequenoe
whether the polls at an election remain open
two days or three, or whether the thirty days'
notice required to be given Includes the whole
three. Such points do not touch the sub
stance of the controversy. Unless universal
negro voting and partial white disfranchise
ment can be successfully resisted, it signifies
little how the details of the elections are
managed. i
This election in Virginia foreshadows the
future politics of the State and of the South
under radical ascendancy. The most, potent
and influential man jn Virginia politios at pre
sent is the notorious Hunnicutt, a violent
demagogue of the Parson Brownlow pattern.
All the Southern States will be surrendered
into the hands of vulgar, rabid dictators of the
same stamp, if the negro experiment succeeds,
llunnlcutt is opposed to every liberal measure
of State policy, because such measures would
make inroads into the dominion of ignorance
where alone men like him can thrive. He op
poses white immigration into the State, be
cause the addition of a few thousand white
citizens would turn the scale against the
negroes and remand Hunnicutt to insignifi
cance and obscurity. The value of the negro
element in our politics may be estimated by
the kind of men the negroes honor with their
confidence. In proportion as voters are igno
rant and debased they will surrender them
selves passively to the guidance of leaders;
aud the lowuess of their level may be
measured by the vileuess of the men they con
sent to be led by. The moon-oalf Caliban
ottered to worship th drunken Htephauo as a
gffd, aud asked to lick his shoes.. And the
Virginia negroes, many of whom forgot at the
polls the names by which they were regis
tered, regard Hiumivutt 9 thvtf flUtesiuau..
X