The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1872-12-06
Does Calumny Pay /?

to copy. We have been an observer q
every Presidential canvass that has oc
cured since 1924, and more or less in
tercstc6 in most Of them, but we dom
now remember any candidate for tha
high Office who was the recipient O.
moro uncallcd for abuse and scurrility
than Mr.. Greeley-not from the "littlt
eight by tens" as the unpretentiou;
country sheets are sometimes styled, bu
at the hands of leading journals, whicl
aspire and affect to give thought
tonc and direction to party politics.
The Tribune says:
Vice President Colfax, in late essay
over his own signature, discusses the
question, Does Ca!umny pay in politics
| With the result Of the recent campaign
before us, we should certainly DC tempt.
cd to answer that it does. 1t has beer
the fashion Of the administration press
since the election, 10 draw innumcrablC
moral lessons from the failure Of what
they term the ISLANDERS invented by OPP
position orators and journalists against
the President, forgetting that if dcnun-
citation has been freely employed on one
side, talschood has been still more free
ly used on the other. There has been
no limit to the license Of attacks upon
the personal character Of Mr.. Greeley
lie has been accused of feelings which
are disgracelul and of crimes which de-
serve the pcnitcntiary. lie has been ar
raigncd as hypocritc, who concealed
the most corrupt practices under an af-
fcctation Of honesty. In Washington
he was briber. In Albany he was the
head of the lobby. In New York he
was a partner in the Ring funds. lie
defended the rascalitics of Tweed. lie
tried to suppress the famous secret ac-
counts. He sold the influence of lis
paper to Tammany Hall. lie intrigued
to restore the thieves to power. lie
swindlcd the shareholders in tobacco
company. He was involved in schemes
for robbing the national treasury. lie
was plotting the payment of the Confcd-
crate debt. lie had promised pensions
to the rebel soldiers. He had made q
corrupt bargain with IIoIatio Seymour.
lie was an enemy Of Civil Service Re-
form. lie was an original Scccssionist.
He always opposed the war for the res
toration Of the Union. He was once q
slavc-trader in Memphis. lie was the
friend of the Ku-KluX and the ballot
box suffers. lie was the guilty COM
radc and ally of the worst gang of
rogucs ever organized in American poll
tics.
These arc specimens Of some Of the
stories told of him during six months
from one end of the country 10 the 9TH
cr. His language was perverted. Sen
timclts were put into his mouth which
he abhorrcd. His denials were unhccd-
ed, and though we frequently offered
proof Of the falsity Of every charge
which did not seem too absurd to re-
Cuire answer, no accusation once made
was ever withdrawn. TO the end Of
the campaign Gen. Dix went on bam-
ing him for expressing eleven or twelve
years ago sentiments identical with
those of Gen. Dix himself; Republican
newspapers upbraidcd him for words
which were pcnncd by the leading wri-
ter of one of the principal journals Of
their own party; Republican organ
made it one Of the charges against him
that he had signed q certain letter which
also bore the signature ofits own mana
ger; and the carpct-bag organs at the
South made him the author of express
sions respecting Southern women from
which he rccoilcd with horror. Some
of these charges were downright lies.
Some of them were distortions of facts
from their true meaning. All were un
true, dishonest in their origin, and for
the most part dishonesty repeated.
How much effect they may have had
upon the result we do not care to in
quire. But so far as we can Judge from
surface indications, they did pay.
The above was put in type before in
tclligencc of the death of Mr.. Greeley
reached us. Now that he has passed on
-asccndcd to the next planc-bcyond
the reach of human praise or ccnsurc,
all will hasten to do his memory jus
tice, and among the loudcst pancgyrsts
Of the dead will be found some of those
who were most bitter and persistent in
the living. At the grave even
partisan malignity and prejudice can af-
ford to pause and reflect.
Banks and Banking.