The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-03-09
From TiltOn'S Golden Age"
The PresIdent,s Opportunity.

Opportunity for the display Of admjniAtra.
tive abilities aud high order Of patriot.
ism than Gen. Grant has to-day We
leave the matter OF stateSmanship entirely
aside. According TO his own theory, he
Is merely the administrative head OF the
Government He lays no claim to the
character Of q statesman. Not even lis
most extravagant admirers in their most
excited eulogies claim that ho possesses
that high quality Of mind, that compre.
hensiyencss Of view, that intuitive pene.
tratl0n into causes and fOreCasting Of
events and grasp Of circumstances which
enter into our idea Of craftsmanship. IIe
Is merely theexecutive head Of the gov
ernment. But as such he, has 10 ,dayltLe
mostsplendld opportunity ever Afforded
TO an American Chief Magistrate 10
signalize his Administration by acts
which would render It famous forever.
The present Administration inherited q
vast amount Of corruption. The machine.
ry ol the government had been used very
largely to fill tho pockets OF speculator9,
and secure positions for ambitious politi.
clans. Thepresent Administration chang.
ed the men, but retained the mechanism.
We see the results. The public serviceis
demoralized Stupendous frauds have
been discovered In many places. The
taint OF corruption covers every depart.
ment Of the government. There Is scarce.
ly an Office holder in the United States but
ls haloed with suspicion oil dishonesty.
Every new investigation unearths new
nina nj 1t1tlt anA 1tanInuou ,rnrn nf tho
vast system Of fraud and villainy which
nets the whole country with its ramillca-
tions and is rapidly rotting away the
foundations Of national honesty. The
people ofall parties begin to comprehend
the significance Of the facts and the real
dangers to which our institutions are ex-
posed. They demand reform Their de-
termination has shaken Tammany into
the dust. 1t has compelled re-
luctant committee to look into an
equally offensive mass OF corruption in
our Custom House, and though they tried
their utmost not to see anything in par.
ticular, they were compelled TO turn their
faces away in disgust. The same dis.
graceful and dangerous facts exist every.
where, and everywhere cry aloud for re.
form. Reform is the only hope Of the
government, Of the country. And if re-
form is not speedily organized and carried
energetinally into every department ot the
public service, that service will sink be-
low contempt, and offlce.holder and rob-
Der will be universally regarded US
synonymous terms.
Old party issues are dead. There are
not sound planks enough in any Of the
old party platforms Tor decent man TO
stand upon to-day. The one real issue
before the country to-day is,z ahall we
have. an honest Government? All other
questions are centered in that penetrating,
burning interrogation. Things as they
are, or thingsiasthey ought TO be, that is
the sharp alternative Corruptionfst or:
Relormer, which shall bear sway?
Gen. Grant has the opportunity of put.
ting himself at the head Of grand pop.
ular demonstration in,iayor Of reform, a
demonstration which shall shake this
continent with its magnificent tread and
benetlcent effects. He can put his Adj
.ministration directly IN the van of the
greatest popular enthusiasm this nation
has known since the uprising ut tho be.
ginning OF the war. Tho way is open.
He can forestoll the action Of any man or
body Of men by right earnest policy OF
his own. he can make Republican and
ReLormer stand for one and the same
thing, and so preserve unbroken the unity
OF party identified with. all the great
achievements and heroic memories oEthe
war, by his own determined acts pledg-
ing that party to the most earnest, deter
mined, radical measures of reform. He
can sweep the States so clean at the next
election that the scattering votes will not
be worth the counting, will he shake
himself clear from all completely with or
responsibility for the men who are sus.
pected OF plunder and peculation, and
make his Administration utterly honest.
VIII he do thiss Alas we see not the
remOtest hint that he comprehends the
situation, and every step of investigation
that he has taken has already been taken
against his will His friendsare begin!
ming to be looked upon as the public
enemies, and every day he seems more and
more determined to let things run on in
the old grooves toward destruction. And
still the occasion waits for the Man.