The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-07-29

Whlttem0re can 90 no more, however ue
may ''hail withgratitude" what the Reform
ers accept as q fact, and however he may
pledge ..a firm, fearless and unfaltering sup
sport to what the Reformers acknowledge
as law To which, while it stands unrepeal-
ed, every citizen owes obedience The fun
begins when Whittemore, for the Radical
Ring, endorses s'the administration of Gov
ssernor Scott, as wise, economical and hon
sest." How Whittemore must have chuckled
as he wrote these saucy words: Wise
Economical Honest This wisdom, this
economy, this honesty, are defined by Cen
eral Butler and General Kershaw aud Judge
Carpenter, in their speeches delivered at
Pickens Courthouse as Folly, Extravaganza
and Theft. And Whittemore knows all this
just as well as the white people know it, but
then s'his constituents can't read" and his
work is only burlesque. But when Whit
temore declared that the party insisted on
ga continuance OF strict and close economy
Sin all departments of the government" " he
may have told the truth. A ''strict and
s'close economy" like that OF the last two
years, would make the Ring millionaires,
and enable Whittemore to snap his fingers aG
the sale of $500 cadetships.
If the Whittemore platform is not distress
ingly funny, what is it? The alternatives
are plain. Whittemore was either poking
sarcasm at the Ring, or he was telling de-
liberate untruth. Yet the man who can sell
cadetship, and argue that the crime was
Justified by the use said to have been made
of the price Of his shame, might well pick
the pockets Of the citizens Of the State, upon
the plea that carrying purses was unhealthy
in hot weather. The man who can sit
quietly down under the specific charge that
he stole $4,000 from mercantile house in
Boston, may give his hearty approval to the
administration of Governor Scott These
are whitewasbing times. Judas Iscariot is
treated as the victim of ill-timed zeal and
misplaced confidence, rather than as the be-
trayer OF his Lord. Whittemore may be re-
garded by the Ring as martyr, whose only
fault was his detection. And Whittemore
returns the favor in kind.
After all, Whittemore was well chosen to
chisel out the epitaph Of the Ring. Such
man was best fitted to praise the gang Of
adventurers who treble the public debt,
make taxation burdensome beyond endur
ance, prevent immigration, leave the re-
sources Of the State undeveloped, and neg
lect the education Of the people Such a
man was best fitted to eulogize the nominee
Of the Ring-R. K. Scott-who, after his
election, told General Wade Hampton that
she arished tie State TO go Democratic" " that
he was stirred ofthe negroes" and that she
''would make enough of them resign to gire
SHE achites a majority IN tie Legislature"
This damning statement was made by Gene
raj Butler, at Pickens Courthouse on Mon
day last.
The platform of the Ring is made up of
equal proportions of broad burlesque (or utter
falsehood) and glittering generalities about
accomplished facts. There is nothing in it,
outside Of its unqualified approval of Gene
raj Grant, which deserves consideration; nor
does it contain one catching appeal to the
voters of the State. The platform is worthy
of Whittemore, and Whittemore is congo
NAL companion to Ransier and Scott.