The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-03-28
MIR. Ewing and his sl.nderers.

tary of the Interior. From the day that
his appointment was announced up to the
present hour, the Bitter-enders have main
tanned constant, incessant attack upon
him, in the hope Of embarrassing the Gov
eminent, and impairing his usefulness as
public officer. They have established a
perfect system Of espionage upon his con-
duct, official and private and almost
every act Of his life, since he entered the
Cabinet, has been made the subject of
Wilful perversion and malevolent criticism.
| All the assaults have been conducted in a
spirit Of malicious detraction, hardly paral-
leled for virulence and intensity in the
annals Of political controversy. The as
saiants have been furnished with unusual
facilities, by the extreme lenity and liber-
atty exercised by the Cabinet in the re-
tention of men in Office who sympathise
with the enemies of the Administration,
and supply scraps Of intelligence capable,
in the hands of an ingenious and unscru-
pulous man, of being turned against the
head Of Department, when, if fairly
considered in connexion with attendant
circumstances, the transaction to which
they relate is susceptible Of satisfactory
explanation, and can be shown to be in
strict conformity with the principles of
law and justice.
We have been led to remark upon this
subject now by the re-perusal of an article
recently published in the Union, in which
there is an uncommon infusion of vindic-
tive malice, appropriately accompanied
by an utter recklessness of truth and de-
ceAcy. The article contains series of
slanderous allegations against Mr.. Ewing,
most of which have already been refuted
or explained. One of them we propose to
advert to, as it is of recent origin, and
must have been made with full know
ledge of its untruth.
Speaking of the Operations of the Sec
rotary of the INTERIOR" the Union says:
"while Congress has neglected to pay its atten-
rion saat upuious pa. tsan, -.
nothing TO advance his own party and private ends
he has not himself been idle, as will appear from
the following paragraph which we extract from
the letter Of able correspondent of the New York
Herald, whose means Of information are as great as
4 those of any other gentleman connected with the
| press. The writer says:
| "'By- the-by, speaking Of Mr.. Ewing's morality,
/ may well mention the circumstance of his al
lowing the paltry sum of one hundred and ninety
thousand dollars interest old revolutionary
claim-a snug little sum-which Is another proof
of the astonishngly rapid progress of the popular
ty Of the Secretary of the Interior with the agents
| for claims'"
The Union, it will be seen, vouches for
the reliability of the source of intelligence
to which this correspondent has access.
This endorsement we must regard as an
admission or implication that persons en-
ployed in the departments furnish the in
formation which that paper and its coad-
tutors distort into calumnies upon men,
bers of the Cabinet. Who supplied the
information Was il one Of the many
Locofocos employed in the public Offices,
or is the fabrication to be charged to one of
the Wings imposed upon the administration
under the direction of Mr.. Polkl The in
formant knew that Mr.. EWING had no
agency whatever in the transaction alluded
to-no connexion with il in any form. The
editors OF the Union also knew this, OF
they we're ignorant of all the circum-
stances Of the case. Thus they stand be-
fore the country in the attitude of wilful
calumniators, or as men ready TO give
currency to foul imputation upon high
functionary of the Government, without
seeking TO ascertain whether it was true
or false.
There have been almost innumerable
instances, within the past year, OF conf
dental transactions in the departments
business not proper to be promulgated-be-
ing communicated to the public through a
hostile medium, and for purposes Of mis-
chief. This can never be done except
through the faithlessness of some one
there employed. And il is in view of this
injurious consequence that we have spoken
freely of the impolicy of retaining in Office
persons who show themselves ready to dis
close TO the opposition detached facts and
circumstances that can be so perverted as
to create an unjust suspicion; or throw a
color Of wrong over transaction right in
itself and conformable TO law.
The matter referred to by the Union
has been grossly misrepresented and it
furnishes a striking instance Of the per-
verse ingenuity with which these unprin-
cipled maligners treat every thing per-
tanning to the conduct Of the Administra-
ton.
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