The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-05-15
SPIRIT or THE PRESS.
EDITORIAL OFIFioNs or THE LBADIEe JOURNALS
UFoE CURRENT ToPios-ooMPILED EVERY
DAY ROB THE EvAEiNG TELEGRAPH.
THE THIRD MONTH OF GENERAL. GRANTS
ADMINISTER ALTON

ADMINISTRATION
From the " y. Herald.
1--WE are In the third month of General Grants
administratlon, and still there are no visible
signs in the heavens of the dawn of the mil
lcnnium. The Generals inaugural was a good
thing. lt gave general satisfaction i'm reference
To the Cabinet, and likewise on economy. re-
trenchment reiorll an honest payment of the
national debt, the fifteenth amendment and our
foreign relations; but Washburne first choice ,s
Secretary of State was n riddle and the gene
raj makeup OF the Cabinet, as it now stands.
not only puzzles the politicians but is by oli
sorts of men accepted In the lump rs a mystery
past finding out All that the politicians profess
to know of the Cabinet Ia that Fish i'm dipiomncv
is a disciple of Seward; that Boutwell, is the in
strumeut of a faction in Congress-: That COY
CrgsWell, and lIoar are mere political moI,e-
weights; that General Rawlns, as Secretary of
War, is only the recording clerk OF General
sherman and that good old Mr. Bore, in the
Navy, is but the tender to Admiral Porter. All
accounts concur in eXtolling the pictv gentle
ness, and amiability of the venerable Borie and
how, alter spending n portion of the week i'm
Washington, under POrters Instructions he
leaves ON Saturday to spend hi, Sunday iu the
more genial Sabbath-day atmosphere OF Phila-
dephiu.
The Cabinet, taking all such criticisms with
a liberal sprinlllmg of salt. might be improved
by reconstruction; for, rs il is, i'm the lump, we
have no promise of great things i'm any special
department. Nor are there any hopeful signs of
retrenSlmcnt and reform in the general division
the House and the Senate and the ravcnous out
side crowd of Office Nultures and the TCnurc-of-
Office law, here was n tough Job. General
Grant, however plunged into this jungle of the
Wilderness, expecting hard knocks but resolved
to get through He has got through; but the
grOaus of the wounded are painful to hear, and
through the rank and file of the Republican
camps there are weeping and wailng and gnaSh-
ing of teeth. To change the figure, this scram-
bic for the spoils has been most dsgraccful
and demoraZing spectacle, and the prevailing
influences at headquarters do not promise much
in the way OF rctrenchmCnt and reform The
evils here brought to light may lie in the cstab
lished and pemicious system of personal re-
wards for party services, but still these evils,
since General Grants Inauguration, have been
developed more alarmingly than ever before; for
never before has there been in this country such
an exhibition of impudence rapacity, and shame
less wrangling over the public plumber.
The results were inevitable. II is simply inn
possible to give general satisfaction i'm parcClling
out the plumber when the Ollice-scekers COM
pared with the offices are rs ten to one. Hence
the prevailing hue and cry among the Rcpubli-
can journals over the stupid appointments of
this administration, its ingratitude to its friends,
and its reckless disregard of the claims of the
mlucky beggars, hat in hand, turned empty
away. They have become even sCandalous in
their accusations; for they say that the favors of
the administration are bought and sold, that
gifts of houses and lots, and horses and car
rages, and books and hats, and boots and shoes,
find cordial welcome at headquarters; and
these accusers ask us in derision, what can you
expect of an administration which invites APP
prOaches that were repulsed even by John Tyler,
Fillmore. and Andy johnson!
In relation to all such charges, we hold that
custom gives an excuse to General Grant, and
that the beggarly and contemplate stingness Of
the Government to its faithful servants whose
services cannot be measured by dollars and cents
| is an excuse for the custom of private subscrip
tions and individual offerings in such cases. The
| British Government rewarded Wellington in
| t,r lN pif nI n
| while for services incidentally greater and more
| important than those of the great Duke, General
Grant, poor man. receives from his GOVera-
| ment military promotion. with its perqusites,
| which hardly meet his proper expenses. Some
| of his fellOWcitiZens patriOticay step in to his
! relief, and he receives their offerings They
| make his mind easy touching his private affairs,
| and thus he may more largely devote his energies
! to his public duties. We may admire the re-
| marhable example of that sterling soldier Gene
| raj George Ii. Thomas in refusing all such pr-
| vate recOgnitiOns of his great achievements,
| from the Gift of mansion to the Gift of a SER
| vice of silver; but the fashion runs the other
| way, and General Grant has only followed the
| fashion. He is II practical man, and, moreover
| he has doubtless acted upon the idea that it
| would he squeamish to decline n Gift really
| useful, the acceptance OF which Is regarded us n
compliment by the giyer.
But, absolving the President upon these mat
| ters, the question still recurs, what is the pro-
mise of his administration He has given us
|
| his general division of the spOils upon which to
| form n judgment Judging from these things,
| the promise is not very bright He has reduced
to practice the radical doctrine of equal rights,
| regardless of race or color; for his appointments
cover all shades of race and color, from the Cau-
| casian TO the undiluted African. He has also
| practically recognized wOmen's rights in the
appointment of good lot of patriotic women as
| postmasters. And so it turns out, while the Re
| fublican journals par excellence have become IN
| some cases us bad as the Copperheads in their
| filings and denunciatiOns of the President, that
| Wendell Phillips, Fred Douglass, and the
! Womens rights women sing his praises ana
| crown him with flowers. This marks the con-
| summation of great revolutions but what
next! Our too sangune expectations have sub
| sided Saladin sitting in the White House, and,
| while lOungingly smoking his cigar, discussing
the claims of Tom, Dick, and Harry for the con-
! sulate of Chinchowfoo, or the Post once aJ
| Jones Crossroads, is a disappointment, Nor
! does is satisfy us to hear that while General
Grant proposes to do nothing for the present on
the Alabama claims, Cuba, St. Domingo, or
| Mexico, his private opinions on each ana all
of these subjects are those of Young America
| Public acts are what we want, not private
| opinions.
To sum up-in the third month of an admins
ratiOn with four years before it for the develop
| ment Of policy, if hut little is promised put
| little can he reasonably expected. The PROMISE
| however, upon one manifest deficiency, Is not
| encouraging. We refer to the deficiency IN the
administration in the sagacity to grasp, and the
| energy for decisive action, demanded by the
| crisis in reference to our domestic and foreign
! affairs. We must have retrenchmcnt and reform
| on grand scale in our domestic affairs, or u
| vigorous foreign policy of expansion from ms
administration, or in the elections for the next
| the short method of removing our present burden
of taxes and debt will work another pouCcal