The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1862-08-01
COMMUNICATIONS.
For the Portland Daily Press.
Corruption i'm High Places.

81 have not the slightest doubt on cart" " said John
p. Hale, in discussing the of Senator Simmons
of Rhode Island, that gentlemen who are commonly
considered as occupying higher positions than men,
bers of Congress- mean members of the Cabinet 10
be plain, because find that If Won mean to be UNDER
stood you must use plain language members of the
Cabinet have prosiuted their places to the grossest
iavoritism for the purpose of benctng their friends
In the bestowal of contracts"
MEssRs. EDITORS II find the above quota
tion in the Argus, accompanied with the fol-
lowing comment:
"When SO ingrained an aboltionist as John
p. Hale, makes such admissions, ought the
the smaller fry of politicians to denounce as
traitors or quasi rebels, democrats who object
to the same thing and who denounce efforts
to make abolition primary, and nationality and
constitutional law secondary? We think
not"
Now, Messrs. Editors, l do not believe that
any Democrat has been denounced because he
objected to such corruptions as Mr.. Hale
speaks of; nor can l see what particular con-
nection there is, necessarily or naturally be-
tween abolition tof slavery and executive or
Cabinet corruptions. To be more particular
Mr.. Buchanan was certainly not an abolition
ist in any sense; yet there were some spuri-
Gus contracts in which the initials J. d. fig
ured largely. Floyd and Thompson fourished
in his day, and they were no aboitionists.-
JEFF Davis was in Pres. Pierce's Cabinet, as
Secretary of War; and everybody under
stands now that corruption and treason were
the order of the day in the War Department,
under Davis and Floyd. Surely Pierce and
Davis were no abolitionists.
1t happens that Mr.. Hale has been in the
Senate long enough to know something of
three or four administrations, and what he
says above are not merely admissions, but as
sertions that Cabinets may be corrupt, and
sometimes are SOL He does not exempt any
party, and no one but rogue or fool will
pretend that all the men of any party are nee
essariy pure.
Senator Simmons was Wing, never an alb
olitionist, that we heard Of; and he speaks of
such conduct as his among Senators as if it
had been common; no doubt he tells some
truth about it. And yet we know that only a
few years ago the few abolitionists in the Sem
ate were shut out of all committees because
they belonged to mo healthy organization"
Senator Hale is right in exposing and con-
ucu1hHg tnc cUfruptlOn IN CaDlneJ ofncefS,
even though they be Republicans, or abolition
lists. shall not find fault with him for it; nor
shall find fault with the Argus, and the 'qua-
si-rebelsn for the same thing.
But when these latter gentlemen, and their
apologists, insinuate that such corruption is a
new thing, and peculiar to those now accused,
shall remind them and the public that the
leading Senators and Secretaries of the late
administrations, now among the leading rebels.
were not abolitionists, but were as arrant a
set of rascals as ever went unhupg. They
called themselves Democrats, and were ac-
knowledged by the party, and trusted with
high offices; but they played into the hands of
those who were then planning the slave en-
pire which they are fighting to establish on
the ruins Of our republic, and to fasten on the
necks of our people.
Every man who takes their side of the con-
troversy Is gross traitor and rebel, however
pausibly he may pretend to be for the nation
and the constitution,-and however he NAV
deceive himself, he can hardly deceive his
neghbors.
We know, If he does not. the difference be-
tween freedom and slavery, right and wrong.
We know what power makes war upon us, and
the allies of that power cannot easily persuade
us that black is white. FREEMAN.