The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-06-17
THE PARASITES ONCE MORE.
From the N. Y. Times.

THE PARASITES ONCE MORE.
From the N. Y. Times.
There is no difference of opinion among
Republicans as to the causes which have con-
tributed most largely to the Generalization
and defeat of the party in this city. The
effect of corrupt and worthless management
upon the spirit and strength of the party is
too palpable to be denied. Every man with
his eyes open sees that its interests are in
the hands of knaves and tricksters, who re-
gard their influence as marketable COM
modify, and are Indifferent as to the means
by which they attain their ends. Who these
persons are with what tools they work, and
for what purposes they exert themselves,
are questions to which every new
event supplies sufficient answer.
Whether in the primary meetings, in the
committee-room or the convention, their
general character and schemes are always
the same. OF honest, disinterested service
they have no conception. In the potency of
a healthy public spirit and the value of repu-
table agencies for its development, they have
no faith. Politics are with them trade
partisanship is to them pretext, under cover
of which they perpetrate all manner of ras-
cality; the party zeal they always propose to
invoke is mine of gullibility which they
hope to work periodically for their own
peculiar advantage. Such are the people who
have for years contrived to control the Re-
publican body here, and whose expulsion
from every post of honor or trust is an indis-
pensable preliminary to reorganization and
success. Until they be swept aside, nothing
can be done.
But 'who will bell the cat?" When, how,
and by whom is the work of publication and
punishment to be performed? We must not
suppose that the parasites and pretenders who
now manage matters will quietly acquiesce in
the demand for their decapitation. No sense
,,f oh al tba,,
of conscience will induce them to make room
for better men. They know the strength of
their position, and will battle strenuously for
it's retention. They hold the keys and will
keep them if they can. The nature of the
trading politician of the New York breed is a
stranger to decency. And as the class of
whom we speak are for the time possessed of
will use it without stint or scruple
A regiment of small office-holders, who
look to them as masters, will rally to
their support. The hungry crowd who are
on the look-ou for Office, and who have been
accustomed to believe in the influence of
these managers in high places, may be ex-
pected-for a time at least-to do their bid
ding The hired ''roughs" who are service
able in an emergency will earn their pay with
| the desperation which arises from know
! ledge that their further employment is in
| jeopardy. AS matters stand, influences like
these should not be excluded from the
account. They will be more or less effective
in ward meetings, in packing primaries, in
| the selection of delegates and in the contest
which will be waged anew in the State Con-
vention. 1t were folly to despise them under
the most favorable circumstances. To under
rate them now, amidst the prevalence of
notifying apathy on the part of respectable
Republicans, would be to insure continu-
ance of the present state of things.
Party reconstruction will not begin in ear
nest until the integrity which exists in the
party ranks makes its real strength felt. If
those who are Republicans from conviction,
and who are disgusted with the want of prin-
ciple which is manifest in the party manage
ment, do not choose to exert themselves for
it's publication, the task may be given up as
hopeless. There must be energetic, COM
bined, and well-considered effort, or the
schemers who afliict the party will drive it to
death. Mere protests will not suffice Action
alone will be of avail. What shall be the ini-
tiatory step it is not for us to say. But in
some formal manner, the honest mem
bers of the party must reveal and
utilize their power They must attend ward
meetings, organize committees and
in due time elect delegates to the con-
vention. Otherwise, the creatures who cling
to the party that they may fatten upon it,
will once more have everything their own
way. There can be no appeal to the Repub-
lican sentiment of the State, no call for the
interference by which the sturdy men from
the country should put down the unprin-
cipled men in the city, without an organized
opposition; and there can be no organized
opposition unless those who now loudly de-
plore the condition to which the party has
been reduced put their heads together, and
do something effective towards its reconstruc-
ton.
For yet another. purpose an organized as
sault upon the usurpers who direct the affairs
of the party in this city is essential. Their
usurpation would not last a month if the ma
tional administration made known its appre-
citation of their character and aims, and Its
determination to listen no more to their re-
presentations in regard to patronage. Let 1t
be generally understood that their remon-
strances and recommendations are alike un.
Needed and from that moment their roll OF
followers will diminish. Let it be made known
that they no longer enjoy free access to the
inner offices of the departments, and no In
huence with the President or Secretaries
and their hold upon the noisiest element il
ward meetings and committees wall bt
loosened. The administration owes this as
duty to the Republican party and to this
State, and we will not believe that Genera
Grant will shrink from its performance
whenever he fully comprehends the position
But how is the President to judge OF tn
rt,.ht to speak authoritatively which thos
uSo approach him upon this subject shoul
nossess However weighty their individuf
influence. it is quite certain that the force Q
their opposition and the value OF their SUI
mort will be greatly enhanced II they spea
With an authority derived from Repuolioa
oroanization. Its functions will begin at tn