The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1869-02-19
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY, 10, 1869.
stop Thief!

This is the cry Of the virtuou
Washburne, Of Illinois, in his lat
haranguc to the country, addrcsse'
ostensibly to the Speaker of tn
House of representative. He call
as Justify to stop the thieves VIII
arc plunlcring the public treasury
as if he and his friends were not tn
thieves. The fact is, this spasn
Of economy and honesty is a hypo
critical pretcnce. If Mr.. Wash
burne were really sincere in his con
demnation Of the wastcful cxtrava
gance Of Congress, why docs he ad
here to the party that perpctrate:
these robbcries ? There never ha.
been time, when the measure.
that have reduced the country tt
the brink Of bankruptcy. could no.
have been defeated, if Mr.. Wash
burnc had been as anxious to secur,
the treasury from theft, as be rcall,
was, and is, to perpetuate the rule
of the Radical party. In othe1
words, '..the man by the name O
Washburne," whom the Radica
papers arc now holding up to tn,
admiration Of the world, for hiS
honest condemnation Of fraud ant
jobbery, is an arrant humbug. NJ
man in or out Of Congress knows
better than Mr.. Washburne, tina,
the present, almost bankrupt con.
,lition of the treasury, is dircctl,
due to the party to which he be-
lengs, and Of which be is a leader.
The Democratic party owe no re.
sponsib;lity to the country for those
measures. On the contrary, they
were opposed at every step by the
Conservative minority, and finally
carried by Mr.. Washburnc and his
friends, generally notwithstanding
the veto Of the President. Had he
been half as Jealous for the public
interest as at this late day he pre-
tends, he would long ago have re-
pudiated bis party and united with
the true friends of the country, the
noble minority Of Congress, who for
years have raised their voices in
vain against the usurpations and
extravagancies of the Radical party.
The truth is, this pretended con-
domination Of extravaganza in legis-
lation is nothing more than an
adroit attempt at shifting the re-
sponsibility from tho guilty to the
Innocent. 1t is probably something
moro than that. Some gigantic
fraud, either upon the liberties or
purse Of the people, is probably in
contemplation, and this mock cry
If stop thief, is raised merely as a
blind. The devil is never to be so
little trust ed, as when he shows
symptoms of repentance. Under
THE hypocritical pretence, is always
hidden some pre-eminently wicked
design. SO with this thoroughly
wicked and corrupt Radical party !;
when its high priests begin to preach
virtue, the country need be doubly
on its guard.
Let us take as an illustration Of
the thorough insincerity of Mr.
Wash burnc, the fact that the Rad
zeal party Of which he is a leader,
has saddlcd the country with the
most frightful railroad monopoly
that has ever cursed the country.
When the public lands by the mill
ions Of acres, and the public money
by the Hundreds of millions were
heing bestowed as gratuity to the
Pacific railroad company, did Mr..
Washburne, sincerely oppose that
measure? Had he dorc so, with
half the zeal for the public interest
frat he pretends to feel, now that
the mischief has been accomplished,
there is no doubt but be could have
defeated that enormous fraud.
To show how enormous it is, we
will mention a few facts.
The line of road from Omaha, to
Salt Lake is l, 10 miles long, of
which $50 miles of rails have been
laid. The actual cost to the COM
pany for the road already completed
has been $3s, s24, sol. Now COM
pare this sum with what the gov
eminent Las. paid for it..
7,046, GOO acres OF land at sl,a5 s2l.3l2, 900
s;ovel nn,ent bocds .s,5o4 900
III, mortgage bonds, which 20 in a.
lcfore the government hen 56,647 $50
slo7, 49,. $50
In other words this enormous cor
poration receives from the United
States government through the votes
Of Mr.. Washburne and his party
$107, 4G3, $50, for work of which
they are to receive all the profits
which cost them but $38, S24, sol.
Which means that the government
has given to tho Pacific railroad the
sum Of sos, 63S, $40 over and above
the real cost of the road, and then
presented the company with the
road.
This is only one Of the numerous
schemes for the plumber of th'
Treasury that the country has beef
saddled with by Mr.. Wasbburne ant
his party, and now We are calle'
upon to 60 into raptures over Mr.
Nasbburno's economy, which come
after tho Treasury has been brougb
TO the very brink Of bankruptcy b.
him and his party.
Radical Consistency.
BEFORE THE ELECTION.
- d. / l..