North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1866-07-11
The Assessorships,

sussssss.s .sa5g The Assess0rshlps ss-ssss-
The contest for the assessorship of this
district between the friends of the Presi
dentand the Disunionists has been rather
spirited. Not SO much on the part of the
former, on account of its profts-for they,
to Mr.. Clark, the Presidents appointee, are
of no consequence,-but to settle the ques-.
tion whether the President shall have his
honest friends, or his. dishonest, sncaking,
and mer;enary enemies in office.
P. John, the political God. father of Bill
ly Burgess, the Draft Sneak, of this place.
He, by whose influence. Billy .wormed him
self out-managed by lying and false prom
ises of Loyalty to wriggle himself into the
position. His want of character, truthful
ness, common decency and fitness for the
place,sO outraged public sentiment amongst
the con servative portion of his own party
thatthey asked bis removal and the ap-
pointment of Robert f. Clark. Mr.. Con.
gresham Murcur, at whose instance and
by whose aid Z. John was appointed, threw
himself into the breach and endeavor ed to
save his friend by preventing the confr-
nation of Mr.. Clark. How well he sue.
ceeded in his labor of love, will appear by
the following, from a correspondent of the
Columbian, the new administration paper
started in Bloomsburg. 's.
The Assessorship --Mercur badly whipped
p -..., --Paleman john nowhere--
-- Clark Confirmed! .-
WAsHINGToN, ID. c., June 27, 1866.
DEAR CAPTAIN-The Senate of the
United States, composed Of thirty nine
Republican and ten Democratic members.
on yesterday confirmed the nomination of
Robert +. Clark, Esq, as Assessor for the
Thirteenth Congressional District of PENN
Sylvanla, by unanimous vote. This hon
orable testimonial of confidence in the NOM
inee, and of Indifference to the views of
Ulysses Mercur, and To the interests of his
friend Palemon John, onght to be instru C.
tive in your section. Mercnr has followed
this case with his hostility from the Bu-
reau of Internal Revenuc to the Secretary
ofthe Treasury, from the Secretary to the
President, and from the President TO the
Senate. His labors have been very ardu-
Gus as well as unworthy, but he has receiv-
ed rebuff at every point. .H
Although the proceedings of the Senate
on nominations are secret, some things con-
nected with them always transpire. Mer-
cur has stated that he appeared before the
Senate Committee on Finance, and made
a speech against the nomination; which
was, no doubt, bitter one; and he also
solicit ID members to oppose it. The in
glorious result of all his operations is a
unanimous confirmation by the, Senate
He might have got few members Of very
Radical proclivities to vote against MI.
Clark, by importantly and mlsreprescnta-
ton, if it had not been for a tier of P.
John to the Secretary of the Treasury
John seems to have thought the Secretary
as great rascal as himself and wrote to
him that he would sustain the Admipistra-
ton if he were continued in office. This
was in March, after the Presidents veto, of
the Freedman's Bureau Bill, his speech of
the twenty second of February, etc, and
when the issue was fully made up between
him and the majority in Congress. John
thought it was good time to sell himself,
and like prudent man. stated bis terms,
in very plain language, in the proper quar-
ter. But be was very much mistaken in
the Secretary, who, Instead of being de-
lighted with making a valuable purchase
on easy terms, became somewhat disgusted
and has never thought of Paleman John
since without lively emotion of contempt.
And this feeling was rot at all decreased
by the extravagant puff Of the Secretary
which John put in his paper about the same
time.
This unfortunate cp;stlc, which somehow
found lis way to Senators, put the finishing
stroke, to poor JOHN. ,.
$50 the stuck eagle, stretched upon the plain,
No more through rolling clouds to again
Viewed his own feather on the fatal dart,
That winged the shaft that quivered in his heart -
Keen his pangs, but keeHer far TO feel
He nursed the pinion which impeIled the steel"
'. <." -'s. A NJ,
The n atioIIal Convention.
Missouri has taken the lead i'm the ap-