Daily national Democrat., 1859-06-02
Corruption.

According to w. ). Long, who authorizes
the statement, certain friends Of John B.
Weller sent 81, 900 to Sacramento to be used
in carrying the primary elections in that
county for that great O Statesman" The
money failed of its purpose, but the crimin-
ality of the act is none the less heinous. 1t
is fair to presume, that John B. Weller in.
tends to carry the State Convention by the
same means, if possible. If delegates were
sought to be elected by corruption in Sacra-
mento county, why shall they not be sought
to be elected by the like means in other coun
ties Of the State?
What commentary is this upon the sim
cerity of Gov Wellerl After declaiming in
the most aboredly exalted style, in his Inau.
gural Address, against the corruptions of the
ballot box, and lugubriously bemoaning the
political degeneracy of the times, he pro-
ceeds to illustrate his theoretical views by
course of conduct Numerically the opposite.
So fearful was this profound statesman
and high minded patriot, that primary elec.
tions would not be fairly conducted, that he
actually recommended to the legislature, the
enactment of law which should apply to
them the same penalties for fraud and wrong
doing, as now apply to other elections. The
hypocrisy apparent in this course is of so de.
testable character that we really would
not believe Gov. Weller guilty of it, did the
statement not come vouched for by a respon-
sible party, authorizing his name to be used
in the connection.
Well, it is not the first time in the history
of the world that show Of honesty and de-
cency has covered treachery to principle.
1t is not the first time that high sounding ep.
ithets, literally drawn from the canting
vocabulary Of pretended moralists, have con.
stituted the entire virtue Of the loud mouth.
ed declaimers who used them. Indeed, We
have the high example of the present Pres-
dent Of the United States, in this business O.
masking the wrong by an outward assump-
tion of the right After buying up votes OF
the Lecompton Constitution by offices and
gifts, government contracts and promises o
future promotion; after wnking at all sort;
of fraudulent speculations in the Navy De
partment, and giving the Enforcement of his
name to transactions which did not and coulC
not bear the investigation which was made
into them by the authority of Congress; af-
ter suffering the post offices, custom houses
and mints to be crowded. at the public ex,
pense, with useless attaches and employees
who were there for no other purpose than to
be used as the hireling strikers for Lecomp.
tonism in carrying elections; after suffering,
nay requiring, his official appointees in Hi
nois and elsewhere to interfere with the ex-
preston OF the popular will at the ballot
box and control the peoples votes after all
this immense system of corruption, which he
himself has set in motion, he comes out in n
letter, especially designed for publication
and mourns the political degeneracv of the
present period of the existence of the Rennb
lie We suppose, that John b. Weller
hke,) as a man he deprecates corruption, btu
as statesman he sanctions it, {" am no
longer James Buchanan, but the Cincinnati
| Platform" said the hoary headed traitor 81
am no longer John B. Weller" said the lesser
traitor to Democracy, "Lut statesman -
| Tremendous platform tremendous states
man If the Cincinnati Platform is Jane.
| Buchanan, God save the platform, and if
John b. Weller is statesman, let us have no
more craftsmanship. Seyea thousand dollars
10 carry primary election Such mun
ought to be elected, whether nominated or
not. The people ought never to allow him
] to lapse into obseurity.