Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-03-14
Three Years.

IT is three years ago to-day since
General Grant became President Grant.
BY these three years he will be judged at
the bar of public opinion on the next
national election day. The Presidential
office has, therefore, a triennial period as
distinct as its quadrennial, and it is more |
important to estimate it correctly. After |
a President has retired from public life,
or entered upon his final term, it is not of |
much practical consequence whether he
is appreciated or not; but when the peo-
pie are about to decide upon his retention
in office, an examination into his record
is intensely practical.
At the time L. S. Grant took the Presi
dental oath, he had never, we believe,
held any civil Office. 1t would seem as if
nature said to herself at his creation
America shall have at least one citizen
entirely free from the national mania for
ofice-holding. The graduate of one of
the best schools of the land an institu
ton for mental discipline quite the peer
of Harvard and Yale, and having mill
tary record which would have made him
an available" candidate, had he chosen
to enter that field, Captain Grant never
had anything to do with politics. Under
these circumstances, his elevation to the
Presidency was an experiment. All that
could be said in his favor was that good
Commanderin-Chief ought to make
good Chief Magistrate. But reasoning
from analogy is never entirely satisfact-
ory. In the general feeling of anxiety
no one shared so deeply as General Grant
himself
The period of faith has lost itself in the
epoch of absolute knowledge The ex-
pertinent has been tried. The military
record of General Grant has been eclipsed
by his civil record. This is not a random
claim made in the interest of party, but
truth from which there is no intelligent
escape. The chief points of the record
are as follows:
1. President Grant broke up the whisky
ring. That was his first triumph. He
laid the foundation for that in the ap
pointment of George S. Boutwell, to the
Secretaryship of the Treasury. No man
in the country understood more thorough
ly the system of internal taxation than
Mr.. Boutwell,. He organized that Bu-
reau, and had been in position to under
stand all it's ins and outs, from first to
last. Coupling honesty with intelligence,
he brought to the initial work Of reform
the qualifications of success. Incompe
tent and rascally officials were weeded
out as fast as possible, and every man
connected with the assessment and col
| tdACo lCdllLCo tllatt GilC vi
connivance at thievery were over. 1t
was not three months after the present
Administration came into power before
the whisky ring, and every other ring for
defrauding the Government out of inter-
nal revenue, had been broken up. The
proof of this is found in the increased
revenue derived from internal taxation
The Government has derived more reve-
nue. from spirits at fifty cents per gallon
under Grant than it did from the two dol
| lar tax under johnson. The amount dis
titled is no greater, if as great. From the
| logic of such fact there is no escape.
2. The next monster to fall dead was
the Indian ring. That was as old as the
Democratic party. When the motto, ''to
the victor belong the spoils," was made
this ring began to form. For twelve
years the Democrats held undisputed
sway at Washington. The Wings won a
barren victory in 1910, Tyler going over
to the enemy. Eight years more were
added to the ring. The Whig party either
did not attempt its overthrow, or utterly
failed to accomplish it during the Taylor
Fillmore Administration The Demo
Gratis found their pet in the full vigor OF
early manhood in 1859. No attempt was
made at reform during the next eight
years. Then came the rebellion, during
which the Government was so busy al
the front that the thieves on the frontier
had full swing, or nearly so. Under
President Johnson the height of corrup
tion was reached. President Grant fount
ring in power which was nearly as ole
as himself Having in his youth beer
Indian ring as no other President eve
had. Through Indian Commissione
Parker, and special commission com
posed of such men as John " Farwel
and W. E. Dodge, he commenced raiC
on the ring He also summoned to hi
aid the QuakerS. With them friendship
to the Indians is enjoined as special re
igious duty. Their ecclesiastical ma
chinery is eccentric on this point Witt
this three-fold alliance, the Administra
tion set about the work of Indian reform
So complete has been its success tha
Congressman Beck, of Kentucky, a leade
of the Democracy, has recently publicl,
testified 10 its thoroughness.
8. The next great reform is still incom
plete. Our Civil Service system was de
bauched into a party hack at the samt
time that the Indian ring was born. Aftel
considerable preliminary work, the ma
chinery of reform was set in motion will
carry out what has been begun The mi
tial steps were taken against the protest
of professional politicians, and could tn,
inner workings of events be laid bare
we should see that the Administration
had harder work to inaugurate this reform
than to carry out the other two-so stub
born is patronage, and so hard is it to los,
that layer of golden eggs. What thi
!; Presidential term began, the next vii
have to finish.
4. The reduction of the debt, coupled
as it has been with corresponding re
duction of taxes, is the most conspicuou
} merit of these three years. The reduc
ton has been, in round numbers, at tn
, rate of 800, 100000 per annum. No
only has this been coupled with reducet
taxation, but with marked general thrift
There has been no financial crisis; time
! are by no means ''hard." All section
!, and classes are very prosperous. TIL
people have bettered their condition duI
ing the last three years as much as tn
Government has.
There are other points that might b
mentioned, but these four will stand ou
in history with special prominence, an
! win for the present Administration tn
, proud distinction of having wrough
more reforms, and more important ones
than any two of it's predecessors. Chicag
Journal, March a..
Vice-PresIdent COlfax ON the COntrO
Versy Between England and the
United States.
AT q meetinr al the Rrook1vn A cade,,o,