The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-03-26
pOliHtal.
ACmtenterprlse.

Muck, writing rom Washington. 10. the
Cincinnati Enquirer, under the caption Of
'"phe Great Apierican Gift Enterprise, 7
says: General Grants cabinet IL more Of
a gilt enterprise, than I at frst supposed.
I havealready stated that Stewart'sappoint-
ment looked hketho qpid gro quo Tor the
house ami not recently occupied nv Grnnt
In this city. and that Bone's secretaryship
OF tho navy was "a receipt i'm full for the
Philadelphia mansion of the now President.
But WIS utterly Mt loss to discover where
wilhal Mr.. Atty-Gen. Hoar had paved his
why 60 the presidential affections.
Tho mystery is solved by the ascertainment
that Mr.. Hoar gave Grant q fine library. n
year or two ago. which however. Judging
from the knowledge of law displayed by
Ihe great captain oftlie age on lie second
dry Of his administration does not appear
10 have included n history of the initial
period of the United States government
So hero we have the gift enterprise feature
Of Grants cabinet .complet~. applicants
lor office under the new administration
must take notice that the safest way 20 ap-
proach the new administration is through
n house and lot, q h Stewart and Borie.
Hoar got through the cheap medium of q
library, but It Is safe to say TINT there is
nothing more TO be disposed Of AZ that low
rate.
Lest there be those who think / SANDER
the great captain, let me mention another
fact. The public have recently been in
formed Of tho gift Of Grants former resi-
denco to Con. Sherman. How was this
brought about, audby whom ? The leader
in this item Of the great American gift en-
terpise was n man who expects to be col
lector of the port Of Now York, and who
knew the influence of sherman over Grant,
and the importance OF placing sherman I'M
der obligations Of this kind. Nor is this
al CT % had previously offered to sell
the property ior $40 600, which was the
annual amount raised by the expeclant col
lector of customs. Mr.. A. T. Stewart then
came forward and said that the price was
too low; being only n little more than he
had paid for the house four years ago, when
it was originally given TO Grant, So he
put his hand in his pocket aud drew
ont a check Of S2l, 900, making SEQ, 900 in
all, which was paid to Grant for h ehouso
aud lot. Truly n nice thing for Grant, but
q nicer thing for the custom house man,
Just here let me enter n protest against this
kind % private sale Of public Office. | in
sist upon an auction Mt which all shall have
IN equal chance to bid. The New York
custom house would bring half-a-dozcn
such houses and lots rs Grants under any
sort ofcompetition. In the declining days
Of ancient Rome, the empire was put up mt
auction by the prptorian guards, and sold
to Didius J~ulinnus after some heavy bid
ding between him and Julpicianus, at a
price equal, l think, 10 $40, 600, 600. II the
good old American Republic is 10 be dis
posed Of la this way, let not all tho pro-
coeds be given to one man, or two or three
men, ms seems to bothe present disposition,
but let there be something in the nature Of
n fair divide.
Gen. Grants gift enterprise standard OF
qualification for Office is la strange and un.
happy contrast 10 the conduct OF his much
abused predecessor. Among the many
faults o fAndrew Johnson, faults which / have
not been slow 20 point out aud condemn,
faint of personal corruption or v~enality
eau not be Included, We all remember
that when some citizens ofNew York pro-
posed to present him with a carriage and
paid of horses the peromptorily declined
tho Gift. Aud 90 the last hour Of his adj
ministration has he adhered 10 the practice
of keeping himself i~rdopendent of such
personal obligations TO those who were or
might become candidates for Office. The
searching ordeal ofthe impeachment trial
hilcd 10 stain his character with n single
instance even Of constructive bribery. Let
those who have indUlged in those unexian-
pied yituportion of Mr.. JOhnHon'B 'corrup-
ton contrast all tho usual facts in their
possession AGAINST shin with those which
tho fI4t week Of Grant, administration
have hln2oned to the world, and then let
them draw their own conclusions.