The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-10-03
Partisan Violence.

IErol the y. !. JOuFrAl Of CoameEce)
Scanning the partisan journals OF the
day, We are moved TO ask: Who is hon,
esl? Assuredly not a candidate OF either
party, ii the political attorneys are 10 be
believed. Some Of the candidates, they
say, have been in the State Prison, and al
Of them ought TO be there. They are
generally iOrgers or incendiaries OF
thieves. Where they have not committed
some crime within the purview Of the law
they have gone 10 the extreme verge Of
penal OiIenses-turning the sharpest o.
corners and shaving the posts. II they
have escaped the Penitentiary, they have
done go through superior cunning. Atthi:
moment, il they had their deserts, they
would be hammeriDg public stone in re.
bra uniform. Most Oi them have been in
official life many years, and present the
too familiar phenomenon Of saving up
fortunes on small salaries. Bribery, black.
mailing, contract jobbing and selling ap.
DDintments arc the most charitable expla.
nations offered 10 account for this feat oil
economy. In private life the candidates
are prOved-by their political assailants-
10 be confirmed drunkards, terrible swear.
Crs and habtual liars. Such Of the can.
didatCs as fought in the civil war are
charged with being braggarts and pol
troous, in addition TO the Usual vice
Of stealing from the government All
the prisons in the land seem to have been
empIied OF their tenants 10 make up the
rival tickets. For our part, we do not be.
lieve all these stories. A number Of them,
large number, VIC hope, are untrue
purely malignant inventions coined by
interruptions editors and stump.speakers.
The policy Of political campaigning is
to be always on the attack. II candi.
date Of one party is accused Of stealing
sheep, that may be hard TO disprove,
But it is easy TO retOrt that the "other
man" dug open grave and aud robbed
the dead. The "Othcr mans" friends, Il
politically wise and correspOndingly un.
scrupulUus, will not fret themselves to re.
lutte this, but c0ncOct some dish Of crimes
still more revolving 10 offset il! Now this,
rs oil decent men must say, is scandalOus,
disgraceiul, shocking, disgusting, aud
other intense adjeciivcs TO the same ct-
feet 1t Is not on that worn SIDE Of the
case that We would comment. Oar de.
tcslAliOn OF these brutal charges and
Counlercharges is most deeply felt when
We think Of the encouragement they Of
fer 10 red! criminals. The genuine forger,
the actual thief, the matter Of fact conf.
denCe man and swindler, take heart OF
grace when they find such respectable
names rated high among their professions!
"What," say they, "are these ex.govern.
ors, senators, generals, and the rest Of the
great men, only robbers and scOundrels!
Do they differ from ourselves only
in not having been found out, though
some Of them, we see, have been
in Quod? So af(er all, robbiDg
and cheating Is the regular business Of
mankind. Thcae big guns only play o
finer game than we do. The crime Is il
being caught" To the dangerous classes
this is the moral Of campaign libels and
billingsgate. Wishing 10 believe the
stories, which inculpate all the chief poll.
tictans in the country, they do believe
Their own thG!ts and frauds seem small
compared TO the mountainous cheats and
rohheliCs OF the politicians, now set up US
candidates, And wonderful to tell, all
these exposures Of rascality do not pre.
vent voters calling themselves honest from
supporting such villains. Proof positive
this, in the vulgar thiers mind; that hon
esty lisa universal atleCtatlon and sham
Directly and powerfully, he Is thus slim
cd 10 so on in his career of crime, his
ambition being to work into politics and
rob under tho friendly cover Of Office
There is no more debauching influence
now at It's deadly work 10 the United
States than the mslignity Of the party
press, toward all whom Il hates, and III
deceitGul excuses for those whom Il