The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-08-07

part OF lne ueDt has strongly tended TO keep
up the price Of gold, cheaper greenbacks and
embarrass the process of funding the debt at
lower rate of interest
Mr.. Pike, having been properly rebuked for
his want of principle and true political in
sight, suddenly discovered that the Republican
party had become corrupt, and he began to
proclaim that he was ''ready for revolu-
tion." But the people were not, and from
that hour the ex-member from the fifth dis
trict has been the very Livingstone OF his
State, plunged in the Central Africa of OBJ
scure private life, trying vainly to discover
the sources of political influence. Mr.. Tai
bot has been the Sir. Roderick Murchison,
who has lived and gone to Europe in the en-
joyment of lively faith that his vagrant
friend would some day emerge from the wilds
triumphant. The story of his wanderngs is
curious. Now there have been rumors of
him on the Zanzibar coast of Repubicanism,
now has come a report that he was in the
mysterious Mazitu region of new party,
and anon in the jungles of Copperhead
LUCINDA. Up and down, this way and that,
crosswise, diagonally-every way, he has
foundered, till at last comes perfectly anthem
tic intelligence of him in that condition which
the original Livingston so manfully antici-
pated-in forlon beggary, among the Demo-
cratic UjUians! Nor are the reports of his
estrangement from men of his own race, and
his unnatural dalliance with the wild tribes
of the political desert at all vague or uncer
tain. He is married fast to the swarthy
bride that worships monsters and feeds on
human flesh in the middle of the nineteenth
century. To trace him with more particular
| ity,-at the close of 1869, after the death of
| Senator Fessenden, he was found to be some
what recovered from his revolutionary fever,
inclined toward Republicanism again, having
lurking suspicion that the people secretly
cherished the design of giving him the great
mans place. Finding that the people were
| guilty of no such weakness, and that
this was not the opportunity he was look
ing for to retrieve his fortunes, he suf
fered another serious relapse and spent
the summer in trying to organize
third party which was to bring for
ward Gen. Chamberlain as candidate
for governor and to unite with the Democra-
cy to elect him. In this matter he sent Ger
tain of his friends forward to reconnoitre,
keeping himself in the background until they
had discovered that Gen. Chamberlain could
not be used for his purposes, when he quietly
withdrew, leaving them exposed to the CEN
sure and raillery of all observers. Then Mr..
Pike became Republican again, after GER
tain tentative movements that proved abor-
tive to get himself before the people of the
fifth district as a candidate for Congress.
This is perhaps the most disgraceful episode
in disgraceful career. 1t would be difficult
to imagine anything more plainly indicating
an utter lack of even a rudimentary con-
science than this little run of Mr.. Pixies out
of the Republican party to see if the pros
poets for forage were better elsewhere, fol-
lowed by an immediate run back again! But
nevertheless he got his Calais neighbors to
send him to the lower House of the Legisla-
ture the next winter, where he figured as a
Morrill, Republican, having deserted Gen.
Chamberlain because the latter would not
consent to become his tool. His career in
the House was extremely uneventful and
nothing more was heard of him, except GER
tain rumors in regard to fillibustering enter
prlses undertaken only to be abandoned, I'M
til the winter of 1872 when he appeared once,
more in the Legislature and secured from the
Republicans of that extraordinary body an 4
appointment as delegate at-large to the Phil |
adelphia Convention. Before the Convention |
met the giant intellect of the Calais states
man was evidently the seat of Thousand
conflicting emotions. One day it was report
ed that he was for Grant, the next for Gree
ley and the third that he had gone boldly
over to the enemy. He found it hard indeed
to discover the true path. to official prefer |
ment. He was ready to go in any direction |
if it would bring him to a large salary. But |
he finally proved not to be a sufficiently good |
Republican to trust himself at Philadelphia,
and so he staid sulkily at home, devising mis-
chief. Still protesting to be Republican, he
took part in the caucus to elect delegates to
the Ellsworth convention to be held Oh the
9th of June to nominate candidate for Con-
gress. He had now espoused the cause of
Waldo county and favored the nomination of
Knowlton delegates. Beaten in his own
town, he repaired to Ellsworth with the avow-
ed purpose of ''disorganizing," and he was SO
far successful as to induce apart of the Waldo
delegates to withdraw from the convention on
the ground that the inst claims of their
county had not been acknowledged, though
MIR. Knowlton himself was satisfied with the
result. Five weeks afterwards, forgetting all |
about the claims of Waldo, he. accepted at
Belfast the Democratic nomination for him
self in pursuance of definite bargain he had
made with the opposition to support their
State and National ticket, if they would give
him their votes for Congress! How could so
sudden change of base be honest? How
could less than forty days make Greeley more
hit for President than Grant, and Kimbal
better qualified Governor than Perham? How
could Waldo county be so clearly entitled to
the Representative on the 9th of June that
ignoring its rights was sufficient reason for
breaking up Republican Convention, and
yet not worthy of a thought on the Both of
July? 1t must have been a salve indeed to
the wounds of sighted, injured Waldo when
the man from Washington county, who, in his
own proper person, had kept it from its rights
for eight long years, was put again in nomn-
alton! The candidate evidently felt embar-
raised and apologize at Belfast,-how could
so sudden change be justified? He told the
"Liberap' conclave that he accepted their
nomination because the Republicans had not
dealt fairly with Waldo and Knowlton, but
how the selection of man acceptable to
neither could make that right it is difficult to
see. But supposing this excuse to be valid,
was there aught in this to carry him bodily
into the Democratic camp? Mr.. Pike felt
this difficulty, too, and met it by telling his
new friends that he came because there were
'ncw issues" and for a specification said that
Cameron had Summers place as chairman of
the Foreign Committee with the consent of
the President. And this was his ney issue!
1t was certainly no newer than it was on the
9th Of June and the week preceding when he
was endeavoring to dictate the policy of the
Republican party in his district. 1t could not
be newer than it had been for many months
while Mr.. Pike had been the eager seeker of {
place and office from the Republican party.
n Qu ioar avr.o Il. A.. |