Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1860-05-25
A most DisgracefuI appointment.

President Buchanan has appointed Calhoun
Benham, United States District Attorney for
California. Benham, il will be recollected,
was the principal second in the duel which re-
suited IN the death of the lamented Broderick.
Can it be that this appointment has been given
as reward for the part he took in that bloody
tragedy, which deprived the country of the
scfsiees q aa Aousst fsprsl,els4liTc, Gu4 afar-i
seeing statesman! In any light in which it
can be viewed. it adds another to the disgrace
ful acts of which the President stands charged
BY bis countrymen. 1t is al act which even
the worst enemy OF Mr.. Buchanan would not
have dared ask him to do, desiring TO hasten
him to his ruin. That man who has been
eonspicuously before the country as breaker
OF the Law, and accessory to murder whose
details he had assisted to arrange, should be
selected for position the first duty connected
With which is to punish the offending and to
keep vigilant eye upon the dIsorderly, to the
end that peace and quiet and sobriety may
reign-this puzzles the brain.
The .New York II ibune comments with just
severity upon this most disgraceful appoint
ment. We copy the closing paragraph of the
article -
at is one of the customs of the duel for
second of each combalant to examine the body
of the other principal, in order that no coat of
mail or similar obstruction to the comfortable
passage OF the bullet shall be concealed there.
This Is usually but mere form, delieately
done, courteously suffered. The second of
Broderick barely touched the breast of the
Judge, then bowed aud withdrew. Calhoun
Benham, who with alacrity stepped forth TO 90
this pleasant Office, 'sfeit the 5reast, abdomen,
and sides of Mr.. Broderick qUith scruputous
care" thus prefacing deadly fight with coward
iy, singing insult. The administrative eye
may be supposed to have glistened when this
fact shown upon it. The question was decided.
fhe official was found. The s'scrupulous care"
turned the scale, and Calhoun Benham entered
into his reward
The .Ncw York Times speaks of this out
rage In most severe terms. We copy para
graph -
"We venture to say, therefore, that under
such circumstances, there is not man in the
United States, of Mr. Buchanpn's age and
standing in the community, who, in Mr.. Bu~
chanan's place, would have done for Benham
what he has done. The appointment is char
acterized by all that reckless contempt for
morality and decency for which the Admins
tration which is now expiring has made Itself
SO notorious. Other Presidents have been cor-
rupt and time-serving and unserupulous, but
Mr.. Buchanan Is, We venture to say, the FIRST
TO glory lu his shame. What others do in
secret, WITH trembling and bushes, he does
openly with smirk aud leer. We do not
care one straw for the political aspects Of this
affair, aud we are fully aware that recent ex-
posures prove our Chief Magistrate to be very
much too old an offender to make it worth the
while OF ary journal to dwell any longer ON
his misdeeds. There is no chance of his re-
formation, and his powers of mischief will
soon expire. But it is due to the nation st
large to protest against this latest attempt to
vent petty spite By means of gross insult to
an orderly Christian community. He began
the practice of setting the opinions of the peo-
PIE, about the conduct of their representatives,,
at defiance long ago. There was en- unmista-
kable emphasis as well as impuience 10 his
giving CLANCY Jones the Embassy at Vienna, |
after his expulsion by his constituency, but this
performance in San Francisco IL something
more than violation of Democratic theories.