The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-01-31
THE PR ESS.
WEDNESDAY MORNING. JAN. 81, 1877:


Does not the PRESS frequent use Of Judge
Rice's name in connection with railroad mat
tiers begin to SAVIOR little OF personanty?-sl
Bangor Commercial.
Very likely it does. Personality has its le-
uses When it is resorted to as a
means of gratifying mere personal spite, it is
commonly beneath contempt. When it is
employed to break the force of arguments
that cannot be answered, it is an indication
of intellectual feebleness. If used to intimi-
date those who are honestly battling for truth
and right in the interest of mankind, it is
crime. All these kinds of personality are in |
stinctively Stunned by men whose Intellectual
qualities enable them to meet an antagonist |
on fair field, and whose moral qualities are
sufficiently developed to withhold them from |
stabbing an opponent in the dark.
But as a means of resisting great wrongs,
of rendering crime odious by giving it publici-
ty, of deterring men from wrong-dolng
through the fear of exposure, of directing the
just censures of the people against outrages
upon their rights and liberties committed by |
men in high places, it is one of the most pow
erful agencies that can be employed. When
used without principle and for unworthy pur-
poses it is utterly futile, its only effect being
to bring contempt and ignominy on those /
who employ it. When used for right pur-
poses and directed against proper objects, it
is among the most dreaded weapons of con-
In the matter Of the Maine Central, for in
stance, it would be extremely pleasant for
Judge Rice and his associates if their conduct
could be passed by with some merely general
comment ON the undesirableness of railroad
monopoly. We know of nothing exposing
their private character to just reproach, but
we sincerely hold the public enterprise in
which they are engaged to be an infamous
one. In one or two years the brand of in
fanny will rest on every man in Maine who
has cooperated with them. i Then the full ex-
tent of the outrage viii be appreciated. When
the time for remedies has passed, the hopeless.
slavery into which the State has been sold by
its faithless servants will be realized. And it
is in the hope, probably a vain one, that the
placing of matters po,o in the light in which
they will then appear, may deter all concern
ed in the wicked scheme from proceeding fur
Their, that we have felt Justified in calling men
by their names when speaking of their acts.
We cannot, as some suave orators do, bal
ance every reproach with a honeyed ,conpli-
ment. We cannot speak with enthusiasm of
the independence and ''sterling worth, of
men the first week of whose residence at
Augusta is marked by sudden conversion to
views that are profitable. ;, 1t is folly to talk
of the honesty of men who sell their souls for
a railroad pass. 1t is .nonsence to say that
members Of committee who are unable to
say ''no'' to railroad king, because nobody
is present to dispute him, are men of remark
able intellectual or moral strength 1t is de-
sirable on every account that all these men
should be painted exactly as they are, in Or
der that the people may not a second time
place them in a responsible position and be a
second time betrayed. The personality
that blasted Winans did good work. sion
-gM tlffF +tft
GEN. M. M. RANSOM who was elected Tues
day to the United States Senate by the North
Carolina legislature in place of Ex-Governor
Vance who got discouraged about getting adj
mission, is a native of the states a farmer and
once a confederate major-generalsd He COM
manded the rebel forces in North Carolina dur
ing the siege of Plymouth and is held RESPONSE
BILE in a large degree for the massacre of Union
soldiers at that place. Union men from that
State now In Washington declare if the gov
eminent desires to make loyalty odious and put
premium on treason, there can be no better
opportunity than to admit this North Carolina
Democrat to the Senate. "'- - 1i'
THE FISHERIES Gen Banks Monday intro
duced bill in the House which is combina-
ZION of Gen. Buffers bill giving bounty to the
fishing vessels, and Mr. Lynch's bill to protect
and encourage American -shipbuilding. The
only difference between the bill of Gen Banks
and the bill formerly introduced by Gen. Butler
is in the allotment of tonnage duties General
Banks proposes giving the vessels engaging in
fishing prior to the passage of the act bounty
of six dollars per ton, and vessels engaged in
the trade after the bill has become a law only
three dollars per ton 't A7t 7a l5nag .5.1
A NEW YORK despatch says there has been
much talk among Custom House officials there,
growing out of report from Washington to
the effect that swee1;uss changes are contem-
pldU6u AZ CHSlc Oduu tSUdUllSIllueIt III DnaU
city. The report even goes 50 far as to say that
a new Collector is to be appointed, and that
the heads of departments generally are to be
removed. 1t was reported some time since that
the President had in contemplation a. general
reorganization of the Custom House in that,
city, on account of the testimony before the
Congressional Investigating Committed, so that
the Washington rumor is believed by mauy 80
ADvICEs from st. Louis state that the So
called Liberal Republican Convention recently
held at Jefferson City, was but meeting of
the left wing of the Democratic party. Such
liberal Republicans as Mckee of the Democrat,
ex-senator Henderson, Gov Fletcher, ex-Lieut.
Gov. Stannard, ex-Congressman Dyer ex-
Speaker Arrick, eBettinger of the st. Joseph
Herald, and many others of like promi-
nence denounce the pretended convention as a
fra i'd. tp -tttA51 eiH t7li+ 1f'H iiI5Vi
A PORTSMOUTH, despatch says it is reported
that government has in contemplation tbs[
abandonment of Forts McClary and Censtitu-s !
ton in Portsmouth harbor and to Slis end sur
veys have just been made Of a lot of land called
Jerry's Point, situated at the mouth of Little
Harbor whescon it is proposed to erect a fort 1
ress which will answer the purpose of a harbor
defence better than the two above named Fl.
SOME of those who claim to be the aeknowl-
edged opponents of the opinion at the White
House in Congress have been excited over
statement made in what is reported to be the j
Presidents newspaper organ, at Washington
that Gen. Grant has no mouthpiece in either
House. ah .s19oh anio- 1n gTiiist nes5 "A
-------------sit sFEaf Il
REPRESENTATIVE CARLETON amused the i
House yesterday with a short lecture on natural
history 'Mr Speaker said the Whitefield
Agassiz, ga molusk is four footed animal
without any back bonep'
WASHINGTON MATTERs.-The Secretary of
War proposes to erect a military prison the