The New York herald., 1869-01-18

Flank Mevenens Of the Jacebins.
Andy johnson for the last three years has
been under the care Of Congressional Com
mittee Of Safety-the joint Committee ON
Reconstruction. On motion Of Mr. Wilson,
in the Senate, the case Of General Grant has
been referred to the joint Committee on Re-
trenchment. This is grim joke The sans
culottes of the great French Revolution were
fond of such jokes They began with poor
Louis XVI. by making him wear the cap of
Liberty, and they finished him at the guillo-
tine. The House passes bill for the repeal
of the Tenure of Office law by an overwhelm-
ing vote. The repeal is known to be desired
by General Grant, although recommended by
johnson and introduced by Butler. Hence,
on being Scaled to the scratch" there are
only forty-seven radicals in the House who
have the moral courage to risk the suspicion
of suspecting Grant We like their pluck,
but we fear it means mischief in the party
camp.
The bill of repeal goes over to the Senate,
where it is referred to q smothering COM
mittee, together with a substitute in the way
of compromise. They cannot venture upon
blind presumption to give the incoming
President a full vote of confidence, but they
win go half way. They will release him from
the shackles of this officeholders' protection
law in reference to his Cabinet, and they will
not require him to give his reasons for the
suspension of any oficeholder in the alb
sence of the Senate, but that is all. If
any such suspension, when laid before the
Senate, shall not be approved it shall
not hold good. There is some comfort in this
to the whiskey rings President Grant may
turn their chief engineers out, but the Senate,
with the assistance of the lobby, can turn
them in again. The retention of this check
upon sthe man at the other end Of the
avenue is urged by the editor of the
radical organ upon the plea that in 1872
Robert E. Lee or some other "old line demo-
crat" may come into the White House, in
which event the only security Of the office
holding radicals and carpet-baggers against
general clearing out will be this needed ''con-
sent" Of the Senate. A poor excuse, they say,
is better than none; but the Jacobins are
apprehensive not so much of the election of
General Lee in 1872 as they are of the defec-
ton of General Grant in the interval.
This halfway repeal Of the Tenure Of Office
law proposed in the Senate is, therefore, only
an adroit flank movement against Grant. The
real design, no doubt, is to smother the bill in
the committee and to lie. this Congress expire
without any definite action upon it. The Jaco-
bins want General Grant to show his hand.
If Johnson protested too much in advance
Grant has protested too little, and that was
the game Of Captain Tyler. To be sure, Grant
has been the salvation of the republican party.
Upon any other candidate, even against Sey-
mour, they would have been swamped last
November-President, Congress and all But
while Grant as the democratic candidate
would have beaten Chase as the republican,
Chase as the democratic candidate would pro-
badly have beaten even Grant. At all events,
the republicans are indebted to General Grant
for their success in gaining the Presidential
succession and the next House Of Representa-
tives. He did not seek the Chicago nomina-
ton; he did not want it. As General in Chief
of the Army he had the best office in the
country. Moreover, to the radical leaders he
was Hobson's choice. The editor of the radi-
cal organ, for instance, gave signs of following
Chase even into Tammany Hall.
''The devil is fond of fishing in muddy
waters" SO says the Rev. Father Weems in
his ''Life Of Marion = and his Satanic Majesty,
we fear, has discovered the weak points among
the Jacobins at Washington-whiskey, to-
bacco, petroleum, gold gambling, railroad
jobs and spoils and plunder in every shape.
Like Jack the Giant Killer, Grant is coming in
to cut them down. But il they can save this
Tenure Of Office law they can hold him. Here,
then, is the chance for the democrats in Con-
gress to do something They made sad
botch Of it under Johnson in playing into the
hands Of "Old Thad Stevens" They were
scuttling their own ship in that precious trick
of stupidity. And where were Messrs James
Brooks, Fernando Wood and John Morrissey
when the vote was taken on Buffers repeal
bill in the House? Finessing, perhaps. They
could have saved Johnson in the beginning,
and in saving him could have gained the sue
cession but they preferred the fools expert
ment of dancing to the fiddle Of Stevens. Now
if they have any sense or sagacity they will
assist the republican conservatives, without
hedging or lodging, to give President Grant
free course and . fair trial. Little things
make the beginnings Of great revolutions.
LOTTERY SwINDLEs. that will be
rich fall into temptation and snare" So says
e - D-Il