The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-08-20
The Attack ON General Grant.

The Attack ON General Grant.
From the ". Y. Times.
The Tribune renews its attack on General
Grant. Under the pretense of inquiry, it in
dulges in Misrepresentation; feigning friend
ship, it assails him with falsehoOd. The ex-
cuse for the proceeding is as dishonest as the
argument with which it is supported. Our
contemporary assumes that General Grant is
before the country as candidate for the
Presidency, and thereupon undertakes to show
that he is not entitled to the confidence of the
Republican party. 1t assumes his occupancy
OF position, and then goes on to insinuate
that he ought not to be trusted. The manner
in which the assault is conducted is as dis
honest as the motive which dictates it. The
vocabulary of Wendell Phillips has been ran
sacked for phrases suited TO the OCCASION
General Grant is by implication sneered at as
"a deaf-and-dumb candidate;'' "one of the
uniformed Sphynxes-sashed and girded
| statues" "Silence and uncertainty" =" we are
| told, crest like pail over the name of Grant,"
his ''recent record" is pointed at as damna-
tory; and he is called upon to make speech
that shall please the Tribune, or surrender all
hope of becoming Republican President.
In this course there is indecency as well as
impertinence. General Grant has not an
nounced himself a candidate for the Presi-
dency. A very large proportion of the people
look upon him as the man to whom the coun-
try may most advantageously intrust the
completion of the work of reconstruction but
personally he has done nothing to encourage
his own nomination, or even to render certain
his acceptance if nominated. All this talk
about his position" and the necessity of
declaring his opinions explicitly, is sheer folly
and impudence. The time to discuss his Pre-
sidential aspirations will not come until he is
formally known to entertain them. His accept
ability as candidate on the Republican plat
form will be fair subject of discussion when
he seeks Republican votes, and not till then.
Meanwhile the Tribune forgets that General
Grant is soldier, not politician. AS COM
mander OF the army of the United States his
business is to superintend the military affairs
Of the Republic, to maintain the efficiency of
its soldiers, and, if need be- to lead them on to
victory; not to travel over the land hobnobbing
with politicians, organizing cliques to operate
in the nominating Convention, and making
speeches to applauding crowds. The Tribune
might see no special improperly in career
of that sort, and indeed a precedent for it
might be found in the political journeyings of
a distinguished judicial officer whose preten-
sions our contemporary is known to favor.
But the country looks at these matters from
a different point of view. The spectacle af-
forded by the Chief Justice was humiliating
enough, though Ineligible considering the
active political life which preceded his eleva-
ton to the Bench. For General Grant no such
excuse would be avilable. AS a soldier, he
disdains the arts of the demagogue. AS the
first soldier in the country, his honor and
duty alike remove him from the foul atmo-
sphere of partisan intrigue, and disincline him
from that passion for speechmaking which
Wendell Phillips and the Tribune exalt into
the first condition of nomination for the
Presidency. ..T .e.t d. .......l.
But though General Grant is a soldier not
politician-and though with characteristic
good sense he neither writes letters nor makes
speeches on political subjects--his "position"
in relation to the Congressional policy of re-
construction does not admit of doubt. There
are some, unquestionably, whom nothing
would satisfy when Grant is under considera-
tion. General Butler is one of these: our
neighbor of the Tribune is another. But the
representatives of the Republican party in
Congress have no misgiVings on the subject.
Our Washington correspondent refers to
General Grants late examination before the
Judiciary Committee, and the impression
which his testimony produced upon promi-
nent members of the party. That this i'm
preston was not confined to Mr.. Speaker
Colfax, or Mr.. Coyode, or Mr.. Williams, is
proved by the singular unanimity with which
the majority in Congress invested him with
the absolute power Of administration in re-
| gard to the Reconstruction acts which had
previously been intrusted to the President.
If the Butler faction were persuaded of his
untrustworthiness, why were they silent when
! Republican Senators and Representatives thus
| declared their confidence In General Grants
| sympathies and integrity WHY did the
J Tribune withhold its hostile criticism at the
time when the faithful execution of the party