Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-08-26

thoughtful persons can hardly need more
conclusive evidence of Gen. Buffers unftness TO
be governor of Massachusetts,, than is furnished
by the speech he delivered in Springfield,
Thursday night. The INSCRIPTIONS and wan
ton personalities of that speech would be
sufficient to show it, if there were nothing else
His method of seeking the office is something
new in Massachusetts, something strange and
offensive to the customs and traditions Of the
commonwealth, something so incompatible
with the cherished ideal of what belongs to the
spirit, character, and behavior of an honored
Massachusetts, governor, that many who are
not inclined to be his enemies shrink from ac-
cepting him as candidate. To this he now
adds the most wantOn personalities. and, in
contriving them, makes use of falsehoodS or
misuses facts in such 4 manner as makes them
worse than falsehoods. Evidently he delights
in the ways of political roughs and pugilists
One of his personal assaults is astonishing.
He actually denounced Mr.. T. b. Sanborn for
refusing to 90 TO Washington and tell jeff
Davis and the slave powers senate committee,
all about John Brown and his friends. The
southern rulers of the administration sought to
find out who sympathized with John Brown,
who gave him money, who assisted or encour-
aged him in any way, in order TO have them
prosecuted and punished. Mr.. Sanbon was
well informed in regard to the matter; but he
was not disposed to tell JEFF Davis & Co., what
he knew. He was kidnapped and handcuffed
by the fellows employed to carry him to Wash
ington, and the kidnappers were prosecuted,
Gen. Butler being their abettor and counsellor.
And now, Gen. Butler has the audacity to stand
up before Massachusetts audience and talk as
if MIR. SanbOn did something infamous He
actually stood there and exclaimed against him
as "that fellow who ran away when he got John
Brown into trouble, and would not go and testify
before the senate of the United States in his fa-
vor" Gen. Butler knows very well that John
Brown was not on trial before the senate. He
knows too precisely what jeff Davis & Co. want
cd of Mr.. S9nborn, for he was one of their most
faithful helpers. And he spoke on their side
again when he assailed Mr.. Sanborn for his
noble behavior on that occasion.
His unfitness to be governor appears, also, in
his manifest ignorance of our state affairs, and,
especially, of the financial condition of the
commonwealth. One of our contemporaries
supposes he dealt in Misrepresentation deliber-
ately contrived; but charity and circumstantial
evidence incline us to believe he spoke ignorant
ly. The Boston Advertiser has the following
on this part of the speech:
"The expenses of the, commissions, appointed
for special service, are dwelt upon as if they
were, each and all, burden upon the state
treasury. Here are two or three of the most
striking instances: The commissioners on street
railways, during the short time they were in of
fee are charged with receiving twenty or TWEEN
ty-fve dollars day. The fact that they never
received farthing from the state treasury, but
were paid by assessment on the railway compa-
MES, is suppressed The expenses of the board
of education are given at SIS, 131.9S, but no
mention is made of the fact that it is mainly
paid from the income of trust fund eStab-
| lished for the purpose, and not from the treas
ury. The expenses of the insurance commits
| sioners are given at $50, 119.3S; but the fact
| is suppressed that the income of the depart
| ment for the same time was S34 ,90296, the
surplus accruing to the treasury amounting
TO nearly fifteen thousand dollars. In the
ten years reviewed by General Butler the life in
surance companies doing business in Massachu-
sets increased fOur-fold in number, and more
than four-fold in the amount of their business
The expenses of the board of state charities are
given at S47 ,043.37, and no mention is made of
the fact that the surplus from collections accru-
ing TO the state in excess of all expenses was up
wards of two thousand dollars. Speaking of the
visiting agency of the board, the expenses of
the agency are given at SIS, 1922, of which
SS44.O3 only was used for placing out, care and
clothing of the children. The statement shows
an entire misapprehension of the Office of the
visiting agency, and does injustice to one of the
most humane and most useful officers in the
public service. The inference from this indis-
criminate assault on the organization Of the SER
vice of the state is that if he were governor his
influence would be used to overthrow this well
established system Of appointments according
to law, and leave the selection of agents and the
assignment of duties in all cases to the judg-
ment or the caprice of the executive"