American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1867-10-23
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND
l5 POLITICAL PURITY. dp

The leaders of the Democratic party
hope to confuse and blind the people, Of
the county to the vital issues of the sit
uation by denouncing the corruption OF
the Republican Union party. What are
the facts 4f slif ~
They are simply tina. the Union party
having been for some Years the domi.
nant party, has naturally been joined by
all manner of camp followers, while the
war has produced a system of taxation
requiring an immense increase of the
number of government Offices To some
of these offices doubtful and dishonest men
have been sometimes appointed, and the
disgrace of their exposure has of course
fallen upon the party. This is misfor-
tune 1t is a pity that the dishonest
men will not go with the minority, and
that the agents appointed by party lof
good principles should not be always good
men.
That there is great corruption in poll
tics everywhere is not doubted The
practical question is whether that cor
ruption is peculiar to any party, as such
and whether the antecedents of the Dem
ocratic party are such as to justify the
expectation that it would purify politics?
To ask the question IS to laugh. The
politics of the city of New York are an
epitome of those Of the Democracy. Is
It possible to conceive more utterly
rotten and degraded system /? 1t is nc
toriously a matter of bargain. Even
Judges are known to have bought their
way 70 the bench, and the prices which
they have paid are known. Moral worth
intelligence, capacity, fitness, are official
qualities wholly disregarded in the bar
gain % Democratic politicians which
results in filling by enormous majorities
the various municiptl offices.
Or look at the States in which the
Democratic aseendency is unquestioned
Is it supposed that the politics Of Demo,
cratic Kentucky and Maryland are pur-
er than those of New England or Wis
ccnsin The Republican party has been
the dominant party in New York since
the election of 1864, when Horatio Sey-
mour was happily defeated OF late
there has been loud outcry against
Legislative corruption and rotten canal
management. But no man has ever
heard that the Democratic members ofthe
Legislature were not, in proportions, quite
as venal as the Republican, while the
Republican majority did not hesitate to
investigate and expose the frauds in the
canal contracts without inquiring wheth-
er or not the scrutiny might not impli,
cate some Republican agents. fssal
Or, viewed nationally, it was the Dem
ocratic party whose agents gave US the
synonyms of windlers and corruptions
1t is enough to suggest Swartwout and
Price, Floyd aud Fowler, land the
whole Cabinet of Buchanan. John
Slidell in the Plaquemine frauds in Lou.
isiana merely repeated the repeating"
system practiced and taught in the City
of New York.
We do not mention these things as
'you're another" argument. We speak
of them to recall to our readers the char,
acter Of the Democratic party in the mat
ter of political purity, and to remind
them that if that party does not very
widely steal at present it is because it has
no opportunity. 1t is out of Office
Even Andrew johnson keeps it out
The New York World complains that
the President expects the support of "the