The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1872-02-02
The Campaign OF SANDER.
From Harper's Weekly.

nave been an impression not JuStihcu
by the facts, that any Republican Sena-
tors wished to hide corruption or pre-.
vent investigations of the methods and
expenses of the Government. There Is
no such disposition in the party. There
was none such upon the part OF the
Senators who opposed Mr.. Trumbulls
resolution. That there is none upon
the part of the President is shown by
the fact that he has put himself at the
head of the movement for civil service
reform. 1t is, however, the policy OF
those opposed to him to make 1T appear
that in some mysterious way he con
hives at fraud. Mr.. Schurz said, as we
stated last week, that no evidence I'M
plcated the President in the alleged
abuses of the general order system. But
he also said, and repeated, and the re-
mark has been diligently echoed, that
there was some mysterious power higher
than the Secretary Of the Treasury
which sustained those abuses. Yet
what power in that sense is higher than
the Secretary, except the President?
Did Mr.. Schurz mean him? We gave
him credit for plainly declaring that the
President was not implicated by any
evidence. But if the Senator had no
proof, were not his words an unjustifable
insinuation?
If the opposition to the President
hopes to brand him before country as a
dishonest man, it will fail. There is in
politics legitimate and an illegitimate
method Of opposition ono which hon.
orable men adopt, and one which they
reject; and the policy of personal de-
famation of the President is not honor
able. But the personal campaign was
never conducted with such rigor before.
Indeed, the inuendoes at the little de-
tails OF the Presidents life are SO inces-
SAINT that it is evident that the great
measures of his Administration are not
supposed to be very vulnerable.
Ii he were surrounded by Cabinet
like that of the last Democratic Presi-
dent, for instance, it might be wisely
feared that he was either coerced by it
or in collision with it. But the charac-
ter Of the Cabinet Is the pledge to the
country OF the patriotism and pure pur-
pose OF the Administration. Or, if the
Administration in details were proved
be generally extravagant or corrupt,
there would justly be deep distrust on
the part of the country. But while
there have been-as under the old sys-
tenn of the civil service is inevitable
unfortunate appointments and defalca-
tons, they are in no sense the rule of
the Administration and it would be
found, upon inquiry, that many of the
instances of this kind are due to the
character of the persons whom the
President did not personally know, but
who were pressed upon him for ap-
pointment by some of the very gentle
men who now urge against him the
character of some appointments that he
has made. We shall be very much
mistaken if the same gentlemen do not
receive the Presidents project of reform
of the civil service with a smile of utter
incredulity, not because they think the
scheme Objectionable, but because they
do not believe that he will put it into
execution. When he does that, it will
be remarkable if the Presidents action,
however sincere and honorable, is not
derided as Intentionally inefficient. In
deed, those who have declared that they
think the President unfit for renomina-
ton are not likely to own that they
were mistaken as the day for the Con-
ycntion draws near.
If before the Convention it can be
shown that he is directly or indirectly
responsible for the abuses which may
occur in any of the offices, those who
wish his denomination will not be very
large number. But if the attempt fails,
they will be the entire Convention. For
an effort to discredit the Chief Magis-
trate OF this country does not end with
its success or its failure. If it succeeds,
he is utterly disgraced. If it fails,
those who attempt it lose the respect Of
honorable men. We must not be un-
derstood as charging malignant motives
upon those who sincerely move investi-
cations into alleged abuses. But the
character of the President belongs to
the country, and when that character is
stained the country is sullied. There
fore the investigation Of the charges
which have been made must be thorough
and unsparirg. The general order sys-
tenn must be and will be completely ex-
posed. If abuses are discovered, and
the blame can be justly laid on the
President, there will be reason to de-
nounce him. The noble warfare upon
his cigars and his horses will then end,
and we may all well be aghast at the
real reasons OF opposition.
But meanwhile the President is not
harmed in the judgment of candid
men-and they are the great majority
by SANDER and Misrepresentation
Although he smokes cigars, and likes q
fine horse, and owns stock in Seneca
stone from which he has no dividends,
and house was presented to him as a
token of patriotic gratitude, and there
are dozen of his relatives in office,
some of them not appointed, but merely
not removed, by him-although these
things are true, it is also true that the
great results of his administration are
such as the country contemplates with
pride and satisfaction. 1t sees its wise
and humane Indian policy, its reduc-
ton of taxation, and the diminution OF
the debt; its peaceful and honorable
settlement of foreign questions, its pro.
lection of all good citizens everywhere,
"A IL III