The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-03-09

PreSiuent from COWpllCllS Ill tllc Soiu oM IL
die. General Grant is not held responsible,
forsooth. for the acts of Butterfeld for
the reason that he had transferred the
authority to appoint, in that case, to MS
brother-in-law, Corbin If even the almost
countless kegs of gold in the vaults Of the Sub
treasury at New York had been spirited away,
how, therefore. could his eXcellency become
accountable Or if, by connivance between
Corbin. Butterfeld and Fisk, the weight of the
government was brought to bear in favor OF
gigantic swindle upon the people, and TO the
detriment of the public credit. what had MS
Excellency to do with it I? The appointment Oh
Butterfeld was not his act. He had made lt q
perouisite of his kinsman Is this not the
identical defence of COvode, except thac 20
vode was not guilty additionally Of nepotism
For reasons known only to hlmself, ne cnose
to deliver over to friend the power placed In
his hands by act Of Congress to nominate
cadet. Allowing offices to be personal re-
ouisites, is it the business or the duty, under
the present national ruling. for snch an ap-
pointing power to meddc with the matter
after transfer, OF to see that no money is to De
forthcoming Covede's skirts are clear, anu
are so declared 10 be by the Sub -COmmlttee on
Military Affairs, because he had not SOLD the
place himself, but merely put 1t IN the power
Of another man to sell IT
observed, the other day, that the root OF
the evil lay in the supineness OF the people 10
the monstrous Innovations upon the moralS Oh
the country by General Grant So far as MS
example could influence the political World
here, it has operated to make politicians IN
power, high and low and universally, set OF
arraspng and unscrupulous traflickers IN puD-
lie offices, and to produce in the minds oi tough
hides and tougher consciences the firm belief
that the only legitimate and proper use OF O
government lies in its liability to be plumber
ed. If offices of all kinds are held to be the
mere personal perquisites Of those IN whom
the constitution places the power OF appoint
ment for the benefit OF the public, tne queS!ion
Is settled, and what the Military Committee
has done is sheer and monstrous injustice 10
the few they were organized to convict. l
must confess that was of the number OF those
who hoped that General Logan and his com.
mttee t'meant business" l would fain still
have hoped But, as the devil, who IS good 10
his own, will have it, it Is whispered that
the administration hold IN their ,als nanas
damaging documentary evidence against
the worthy chairman of the committee. Under
such circumstances the investigation" must
necessarily end in a fizzle. If there be an hon
est man on the Radical side in either brach OF
Congress, with the nerve, genius and power 10
ferret out and impartially expose the preVa-
lent Notwithstanding them to the fountain
head-the next Presidency awaits nun: 10
purge the government thoroughly OF lts ac-
knowledged impurity, or at least to miiy
arouse the people Of the whole country to the
enormity OF the misdemeanors of those they
esteem their public servants, would entitlc
any man to the highest honors of the State.
To the profigacy of the times Is to be attriou-
ted oil the othor villanies Of officials, and the
tyranny under which whole sections Of The
country are now groaning. In difference to
such q statesman, be he whom he may, there
is no Democrat in the land who would not
step aside.
Whatever tie committee may yet do In the
matter Of public bribery, 1t may be safely said
that this whole matter is beginning to excite
public attention.
That DisgraccfuI Massacre.
A telegram to the Boston Advertiser says:
In the matter of the Piegan massacre, Gene
raj Sully writes to the Indian Bureau express
ing grave doubts whether the bands surprised
and murdered had taken any part in the late
Lieutenant w. b. Peasc, the
agent of the Blackfeet tribe, sends full report
to Commissioner Parker. which puts worse
light upon the matter than the first report
through Vincent Colyer. After giving some
figures recently presented by that gentleman,
he proceeds:
''Out of 2l9 belonging to the Red Horn band.
only Sc survived. Among these are 9 young
men who escaped during the attack, aud
who were away hunting. The lives of lS wo-
men and 10 children, tnone of them more than
three years of age, aud many OF them much
younger) some OF whom were wounded, were
spared by the soldiers"
The affair is looked upon at the Interior De-
partment as the most diSgraceful butchery IN
the annals of our dealings with the Indians,
as, in one respect, it is blacker than the Chiv-
ington massacre, the band being terribly al
iicted with the smallpox-deaths averaging
at the time of the attack one in thlrty-six
daily. General Logan, on account Of this
affair, sustained, as it appears, by Generals
Sheridan and Sherman, will ask his committee
to strike out the clause in the Military bill
transferring the Indian Bureau to the War De-
partment.