Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-01-18
THE CAMPAIGN OF SIAN
DER.

penses of the Government. There Is
no such disposition in the party
There was none such upon the part
Of the Senators who opposed Mr..
Trumbull's resolution. That there
is none upon the part of the Presi-
dent is shown by the fact that he has
but himself at the head of the move
mcnt for civil service reform 1t is,
however, the policy of those who are
opposed to him to make it appear
that in some mysterious way he con-
nives at fraud. Mr.. Schurz said, as
we stated last week, that no evidence
implicated the President in the alleg-
ed abuses of the general order sys
tenn. But he also said, and repeated,
and the remark has been diligently
echoed, that there was some mysteri-
Gus 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 plain
! ly declaring that the Presidedt 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 the coun-
try as a dishonest man, it will fail.
There is in politics legitimate and
an illegitimate method ofopposition !;
one which honorable men adopt, and
one which they reject; and the poll
cy of personal campaign was never
conducted with such rigor before.
Indeed, the innuendoes at the little
details Of the Presidents life are so in
cessant that it is evident that the
great measures Of his administration
are not supposed to be very valuera-
BILE. .----- -----.a
IL we were surrounded by a cabin
ct lils that of the last Dem ocratic
| President, for instance, it might be
wisely feared that he was either CO.
creed by it or IN collusion with it.
But the character of the cabinet is the
pledge to the country Of the patrio-
tism and pure purpose Of the Admin
istration. Or, if the Administration
in details were proved to be generally
extravagant or corrupt, there would
justly be deep distrust upon the part
of the country. But while there have
been-as under the old SYSTEM of the
civil service is nevitable-unfortu
nate appointments and defalcations,
they are in no sense the rule of the
administrations; and it would be
found. upon inquiry, that many of the
instances of this kind are due to the
characters of the persons whom the
President did not personally know,
but who were pressed upon him for
appointment by some of the very
gentlemen who now urge against h m
the character CT some appoint nents
that he has made. We shall be very
much mistaken if the same gentleman
do not receive the Presidents project
of reform of the civil service with a
smile of utter incred ulity, 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 sin
cere and honorable, is not derided
as Intentionally inefficient. Indeed,
those who have declared that they
think the President unfit for renomin-
alton are not likely to own that they
were mistaken as the day for the Con
vention draws near.
If before the Convention meets it
can be shown that he is directly or
indirectly responsible for the abuses
which may occur in any ofthe 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 Magistrate of this
country does not end with its success
or its failure. fit succeeds, he is
utterly disgraced. If it fails, those
who attempt it lose the respect Of
honorable men. We must not be un
derstood rs charging malignant mo
tives upon those who sincerely move
for Investigations into alleged abus
/, es. But the character Of the Presi
dent belongs to the country, anC
when that character is stained the
country is sullied. Therefore the in
vestigation of the charges which have
been made must be thorough and un
sparing. The general order system
must be and will be completely ex
posed. II abuses are discovered, and