Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-10-24
Extracts from a
SPEECH OF THE
POSTMASTER GENERAL, At
jackson, Mich.
from the Detroit Weekly Post.

From the Detroit Weekly Post ]
Fellow CITIZENS The enemies
of the President and his Administra-
tion have inaugerated an organ
ICED campaign of falsehood and vii
litication. No man who has been
connected with public affairs for the
last three years, however pure his
private and. public life, however illus
trious his services to the country,
has been spared. An avalanche of
abuse has been hurled upon all alike,
and these new advocates for reform
have lnsulted the people at the out
set by endeavoring to impose upon
them falsehood for truth, and SLAM
der for argument. The President
himself, whose record of glorious
achievements far outshines that ol
any living man in the wide world,
has been assailed at every turn by
the most unscrupulous and unfound,
ed accusations. H has been charg-
ed with every vice of which public
man could be guilty-with nepotism,
with neglect of his public duties,
with larboring a military despotism,
and with every variety of corruption
and infamy. Many whom l have seen
creeping in the dust at his feet, and
like famished ours, licking his very
boots in the vain hope that in the in.
tervals OF their cringing subserviencv
they might snap the crumbs of pat
ronage. that fall from his table, hpve
turned aside with ill-concealsd mo =
tifcation, when they found that he
would not satisfy their uuappeasahle
greed. and banded themselves into
pack of bloodthirsty hounds, seeking
to defile his great name and to rend
and tear his spotless reputation. On
lv the other day they shouted before
him. Hosanna! Hosanna!! Now in
famed and maddenned bv the sight
oc his incorruptible purity, they cry.
Cruelty him, cruelty him! Against
their puny efforts at detraction, his
fame is secure. Truth is his cham
plon. and whatever they may say or
do. they cannot turn from $ilim the
great heart of the people, for there
in justice reigns immortal 1 shall
attempt no defense of L. S. Grant.
That duty is yours. For you he
drew his sword and staked his life.
For you he left the quiet and COM
fort of home, and assumed the dread
res possibility of military command
For you he dedicated all his strength
and talents, through exhaustive years
of toll and danger to the overthi ow
of the armed enemies of the Repub-
lie, and then at your call he laid
aside the glorious insignia with which
a hundred victories had decorated
him, and entered upon new career
of civil administration, that he might
heal the wounds which the nation
hsd received in it's terrible struggle
for life. A simple recital of his
great deeds is sufficient defense for
him: and as l speak | see by the
light that CLEANS in your eyes that
, ou are resolved to stand by him
faithfully and truly to the end
/ have left my desk in the Post o.
flee Department and travelled nearly
1000 miles to meet and disprove the
grpundless charges of man whom
the Republican party Of your State
has raised from nbscurity to some of
the highest positions in its gift, to be
repaid by treason and every conceiv
able act of treachery and meanness.
Selecting me for bis attacks. he has
waited until days and nights OF
weary travel have separated US, and
then opened his mouth and belched
forth a mass of vituperation and
SANDER, as from common sewer of
vileness and corruption. l am here
to day. to meet him, as l meet all
enemies, face to face, and to make
answer, full and complete, in the
presence and hearing of the very
people before whom he has seen
proper to arraign me. Let us, then,
proceed to consider his charges in
detail: In the New York Tribune,
of The 18th of July, instant, l find 6
synopsis Of his speech, which is the
only version in my possession; and
in order that the whole of the state
ment may be presented, | will read
all that part which refers @to me by
name.
1t will be observed that he assailed
my management of the Post Office
Department in it's entirety, and par
ticularly attacked me for my action
on
THE cHoRPENN1NG CLAIMS.
First then, as to the claims of
Chorpennlng. These claims nd all
the facts and circumstances coLceIn-
ing them have been before the Sen
ate Committee on Posi- Offices and
Post Roads. and have been fully re
viewed AMI examined bv that Com
mi'tec. Their report made Febru
airy 7, 1871, gives full history of
the matter, and upon its authoritve
statements I shall relv.
There were three contracts dated
respectively. on the 11th of April,
1851, 23d of April 1854, and 1st of
April, 1858, under the first two of
which Chorpenning made claim for
extIa compensation, and under the
last of which he made claim for dam
ages for eurtailment and annullment.
The RELIEF asked for under the first
two contracts having been refused
by the Department, an act of Con-
gress was passed and approved March
3, 1857, entitled IAN act for toe re-
lief George Chorpenning, Jr." and