Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-12-07
a TA,IMANY, sENATOR.

The St. Louis Democrat (Radical) oppo-
ses the reelection Of Mr.. James Harlan as
one of the United States Senators from
Iowa, on the ground that che has been
charged with long series of delinquencies
while in the Cabinet of Mr.. Lincoln as Sec
Rotary of the Interior, and he has never
made satisfactory disprovd or refutation."
The Democrat says:
she has on one or two occasions de-
nounced the allegations as nothing but
newspaper ISLANDERS, the statements of ir-
responsible newspapers, etc; but general
denunciatiOn will not do where specific
charges Of malfaasance and corruption are
not only made, but, TO all appearances,
proved. The war against Tammany was
made ND of irresponsible newspaper state
ments,' and Mr.. Tweed had just as much
reason to complain on this score as Mr.. Har-
Ian has. The time has passed when men in
public life can brush away an arraignment
of their official conduct or of their
personal character with assertions of this
kind. Newspapers have more at stake than
Senators, and value their own regulations
too highly to risk them in the wantOn de-
struction of the reputation of man hold
ing the position of Mr.. Harlan. So, when
men like the Senator from Iowa can make
no better defense of their conduct than to
deny the responsibility of their accuSers,
they confess their guilt, and may as well
make up their minds to retire from public
life, unless they have an unlimited amount
of assurance ana a constituency of a not
very inquiring mind"
For several months past the Washington
correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette
(Radical) has been making the seat ofSena-
tor Harlan decidedly hot and uncomfortable,
and it is to these revelations that the Dem
Ocrat refers, and which Harlan denounces
as the statements of irresponsible news
papers," Il will be remembered that this
Senator was one of the most prominent
supporters of the San Domingo swindle, in
return for which Gen. Grants Chaplain of
the Senate wrote letter urging his re-elec-
ton on religious grounds. But the Gazette
correspondent disturbs this well laid plot by
q, asserting that in 1866, when Senator Harlan
was Secretary of the Interior, he ordered the
Commissioner of Pensions to turn over TO
a special agent the sum of $4,000, and to
instruct him to proceed at once to the In
dian country, to pay certain Cherokee pen
sioners. The agent was to judge whether
they were entitled TO pensions, and he was
authorized to retain and pay over to j. w.
Wright, the agent, such fees as might be
agreed upon between Wright and the Indi-
ans. OF this extraordinary order the cor
respondent writes 'In this case long
list of names sufficient to require $4,000
for first payment was added to the rolls
by one paragraph Of, an order; in the sec
ond paragraph they were called pen
sioners,' and in the third a
special agent was directed to pay
them, unless he should ascertain that their
names did not belong on the list" This
transaction has lately been investigated, and
It was found that in very few cases could
any accurate proof be obtained that those
admitted to the rolls under the order had
any right to be there. OF one hundred and
two admitted and examined, fifty-nine were
rejected. OF one hundred and fifty-two
pending all were rejected. What became of
the money which was intended for those
whose claims were rejected? A second
investigation is now in progress, and
the Gazette'S correspondent gives some
facts to prove the character Of
Secretary Harlan's order: 'An assistant
secretary, on being applied to for copy of
it, said it could not, on any account, be fur
nished, assigning as a reason that it would
seriously injure Senator Harlan. A secre-
tary declined to allow it to be published,
assigning the same reason. Another high
official of the government, who, though
fully aware Of its contents, had no authori-
ty to furnish it, said that, if not withheld,
lit would exercise a most disastrous in
fuence upon Senator Harlan's election"
All these facts are known at Washington,
and yet Gen. Grant insists upon the re-
election of Senator Harlan. Of course.
This is the kind Of men to be used in the
Senate by the 'Ring7 Of plunderers, who
bask in the sunshine Of Presidential favor.