Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-09-07
DUPLIcITY SOMEWHERE,


English Swindle' was before Congress,
Douglas opposed it by his speeches and
votes in the Senate, while Cox and Mar
tin, and all the other Douglas men in
the House, from Ohio, after opposing it
tiercely, suddenly caved in, and voted
for it, Cox is renominatcd for Congress
by the Douglas party. But Gen. Gel
ger, and other real Douglas men, won't
support him, in consequence of his vote
for that bill, Thereupon Cox comes out
and publicly declares that he changed
his course, and voted for the swindle, ut
the earnest personal solicitation Of Doug
ias himself! Geiger says that "either
Cox is the basest of all liars, or that
Douglas is the vilcst Of all hypocrites. y
n good many people believe that by
changing the ''or'' to ''and," in the
above sentence, it would express the
exact truth. But Geiger processes
to believe that Cox lies on Doug
las, and therefore he opposes Cox's cleo
ton. What the facts may be, as be-
tween Cox and Douglas, we do not
know. Cox's story has the sustaining
help of circumstances. Let us examine
it. zssa 8
Douglas had his eye upon the Presi-
doncy. Without the Sete of the entire
South he had no hope of success. The
South, therefore, must be propitiated.-
Nothing but the passage of the English
Bill could do that But the South
could not make Douglas President with
out he could carry Illinois; and he could
not carry Illinois if he voted for the
Bfll. But there were Democrats enough
in the Senate to put 1t through that
body without the vote of Douglas
Douglas might, therefore, vote against
che Bill without endangering its passage
through the Senate, He would thus
secure the vote of Illinois, on the ground
of his opposition to the Bill. But it
could not pass the House without the
votes. of Cox, Martin, and the other
Douglas men in that body. If, there
fore, Douglas could induce his special
friends, in the House, where their votes
were needed, to vote for the swindle, it
would, as he supposed, secure the South;
while he, by voting against it in the
Senate, where his vote was not needed,
could save Illinois. Such are the cir
cumstances which surrounded the par
ties at the time. And it will be seen at
once that Douglas had the strongest of
all motives, except honesty, to vote
against the Bill, in the Senate, and in
duce his friends to vote for it in the
House. A mere trickster would do SO.
1t is just the double game that an un-
scrupulous demagogue would play. We
do not say that Douglas played this des-
perate game; but Cox, bis special friend,
did vote for the abomination, and now,
to save himself from the Indignation of
his friends, declares that he did so at the
solicitation of Douglas! We admit, with
Gen, Geiger, that it places the parties in
the humiliating position he describes
Cox voted for the Bill, after opposing
it with the utmost earnestness, as ''an
utter abomination. He now says that
he did SO only at the earnest solicitation
of Douglas. There is no escape from
the charge of Gen. Geiger. Either Cox
is most unmitigated liar, and slanders
Douglas, whose friend and supporter he
is, or Douglas is the most irredeemable
hypocrite unhung, who would sacrifice
his country and his friends in his des-
perate efforts to reach the Presidency
How will they settle the matter? Which
shall be sacrificed? It is family quar-
rel in which we feel no very great inter
est. But while we have very little con-
fdence in Cox, and would not place
much reliance ON his uncorroborated
word, we must say that the circum-
stances sustain him. The intestine war,
however, is fierce one, and the Doug
las men are placed in a very embarrass
ing position. Cox is the Douglas can
didate for Congress. A vote for him
brands Douglas as a hypoeritical dema-
gogue, while refusal to do SO brands
Cox as liar. In this interesting posi-
tion we leave our Douglas Democracy of
the central District to find their way out
ofss the dilemma as they best may. In
the meantime, we begin to hope that an
honorable man may take his place in the
next Congress. ar.a