The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1869-09-23
THE RECORD OF JOHN ". GEARY,
HE MAKES WAR ON COURTS AND
JURIES.
His Intimate Associations with tIl
Ring.

His Intimate Associations with the
Ring.
The earnest attention of all citizens,
irrespective of party, who are hostile
to the corrupt ring which controls the
legislation of Pennsylvania, is invited
to an examination of the record of John
w. Geary, in the Office of Governor of
Pennsylvania. Neither the Geary of
dubious reputation in Mexico, nor the
two-faced Governor Of Kansas, nor the
hero of the battle IN the clouds, is be-
fore the people, but the Geary who
has held for nearly three years the re-
ponsible position of Chief Magistrate
of Pennsylvania. The manner in
which Geary has discharged his duties
in his present Office is what most nigh
ly concerns the people, and they are
not to he diverted from the most
searching investigation of it, by the
beating of any number of drums.
Geary has said with hypocritical
whine, that he could not control the
| legislative ring, and that any attempt
on his part to check it would have led
| to the formation of "such ring' as
would have been perfectly dreadful.
If this be true, then is there the most
urgent necessity that the people shall
chose an executive who possesses the
honesty and courage to grappIe with
the spoilers, in the place of him who
| confesses his utter weakness and inca
pacity. John w. Geary's official rec
ord proves that he is one of the men,
bers of the ring-the very king bolt in
the chain of corruption and there is,
therefore, so much the greater the ne
cessity on the part of the'people to dis
miss him from the high position
which he holds. His confession, and
his completely with the ring, alike,
render him unworthy of the confidence
of the people of Pennsylvania.
1t is needless now to repeat the fa-
miliar history of John w. Geary's dis
graceful connection with the Herdic
act. II his purpose had been merely
to remove a judge who was obnoxious
to some of his accomplices, the act
might have been in time forgotten.
If the effect would have been only to
deprive for ten years the people of Ly-
coming county of their constitutional
| right to choose their own judicial Off
GERS, the offense might not have arous-
ed much indignation In other portions
of the State. The people Of that coun-
ty could have settled their score with
the Governor in their own way. But
this outrage did not affect the people of
| LycOming alone. While it snatched
from them the right to elect the high
est judicial officer of their courts, and,
| in effect, crowded their dockets and
caused veXatious delays of justice, ii
also assailed every judicial district in
the Commonwealth. Had not the Su-
preme Court interposed, John w. Gea-
ry, by his corrupt signature of the
Herdic act, would have furnished fa-
! tai precedent to invite the ring to as
| sail every honest judge in the State.
Having completed the degradation of
the legislature and the executive, they
would have turned their attention to
the intimidation or corruption of the
judiciary-the last safeguard of the
rights, the liberty, and the property of
the citizen. For the accomplishment
of his own selfish ends and to CRAFTY
the malice of another, he did not hes
itate to abolish one of the courts of the
Common wealth, snatch from Judge
his commission, deprive the people of
a county of their constitutional right
to choose one of their own public SER
wants, and thus throw wide open the
door for the admission of the greatest
dangers to the State. He believed
that powerful friends could avert the
wrath of the injured and insulted cit
liens of Lycoming county. But whom
did he imagine to possess sufficient
power TO save him from the indigna-
tion of the rest Of the people, who
were all attacked by the blows which
he. aimed at the county of Lyeoming ?
When he and his followers had full
time to contemplate the consequences
of the act, to perceive the just con-
tempt which it had brought on all con-
cerned, they sought for some doorway
of escape. Then it occurred to them
to charge the responsibility on the At
torney General. But Mr. Brewster
wss not present at the time of the ac-
complishment of the act, and he did
not hesitate to Indignantly repudiate
all connection with, or even knowl-
edge of the outrage. While the peo-
pie are about to gather in their maies-
ty and their might to rebuke their
faithless executive, he may have the
opportunity to calculate what it has
cost to invade the sanctity of their
courts of justice, and lay his sacrile-
gious hand on the palladium Of their
rights. The appreciation of the ring
who assisted him in the preparation
of the Herdic iniquity will but poorly
repay him for the loss of the respect of
the people.
This was Geary's assault on the sta
bility and integrity of the judiciary, the
consequences of which the Supreme
Court averted by timely and righteous
interposition. Long before, he had
made an attack on the sacred and ines
timabIe right of trial by jury. By
signing the act of April 4th, 1868, he
took from the juries of the state the
RIGHT to Judge from the evidence Of the