Capital Articles on the 1876 Presidential Election

              THE CAPITAL.
^WASSMMftTOW  CITY.
SUIDAY MORI^^II[&. lOYEMBEE 5, 1876.
Average Circulation, 10,100 Copies.
THE KI.ECTIOS. The hour for waiting and watcliing has arrived. The quotas have been filled, the armies have heen drawn up, and all that is Avanting is the signal for battle, and tliat will come with the rising sun of Tuesday morning.
Tiie riiost philoso]3hic and patriotic course to pursue here at the capital, where we have none of the excitements incidental to the I meeting at the polls, is to hold our souls in patience and not let either joy or sorrow reign supreme.
It would be well for the District people not to forget that they are of necessity identified with the administration to a certain degree, no matter what or who that administration is, and although the election of Governor Til- den is devoutly to be wished and almost cer¬ tain, Ave think the municipal mind should be prepared to gracefully acquiesce in the sub¬ stitution of Governor Hayes, if the unforeseen ^    accidents of a day should change the aspect of affairs, and strip the purple from the Jaek- '' son Democratic Association and clothe its ven¬ erable and reinvigorated legs in sackcloth. Although we have no votes, we do have voices in a Presidential election like that of Tues¬ day, and we venture to say that we will con¬ tribute a full quota of sanguine orations in hired halls,  and along the streets hideous '    yells,  the spontaneous   enthusiasm of   tlie highways, torchliglits and bonfires to the ex¬ tent of the available barrels of the commu¬ nity.   In consideration of these premises we recommend mutual forbearance between fac¬ tions that meet at street corners with a desire to pound each others heads with transparen¬ cies and the other paraphernalia of proces¬ sions.
One thing is certain, whichever Avay the day is decided, the fact that the doubt and ex¬ citement which have militated against every pursuit, delayed every anticipated enter¬ prise and disturbed the business relations of individuals. States and the whole country, will be allayed, shall be after all the most welcome incident of election day.
It will be the duty of every Democrat, es¬ pecially of every Southern man, to let the next week find him turning his back on the maelstrom of pohtics and devoting his atten¬ tion to the material prosperity of himself, his State, his section and his country.   If Mr. Tilden is elected the South Avill enjoy what it has craved and what is most essential to its progress: freedom from persecution, thieves, carpet-baggers and rioters. It will be afforded the first opportunity it has had since the war of indulging in the luxury of the pursuit of happiness, Mdth some chance of finding the long lost jewel; but it will not expect that the election of the Democratic nominee will more than secure the constitutional rights of the people, enabling them to labor in their fields and   workshops and counting-houses with a certainty of safety and profit, and no fear of taxation ttiat amounts to confiscation. The idea of "ten acres and a mule," that once deceived the colored voter, is not more extravagant than the assertion that the elec¬ tion of Tilden means a grand feast of office and spoils to the South.   If such an expect¬ ancy possesses'the souls of the hungry it must be dismissed.   There will doubtless be a ju- • dlcious distribution of the loaves and fishes in¬ cident to changes in office that are essential and inevitable, but Ave haA-e no reason to suppose that there is to be an indiscriminate slaughter of the innocents, such as a Chan¬ dler might initiate.
The election of Governor Hayes, suppos-. ing it to be among the possibilities, is an event whose results would depend entirely mi Mo Cabinet, With a body of advisers taken from the better class of Bepublicans we have no reason to believe, v.'ith some of our friends, that the country Avould go "straight to the devil; "but the present pofit- ical and personal surroundings of the candi¬ date hang the hope of an honest and wise administration on a A^ery slender thread.
These possibilities, probabilities, prophecies and forebodings, hoAA^ever, deserve to enter into the meditations that occupy the lull v^rhich precedes battle; and they are sub¬ mitted to the philosophical man, Avho "aff"ects nothing so wholly that he must be a misera¬ ble man AAdien he loses it, but forethinks Avhat Avill come hereafter, and spares fortune his thanks and curses."