Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-06-07

I
While the Presidential family eNteaded in
! definitely. Il
49,
| Assuming that in case Of positive merit
/ DESIGNATING a citizen for particular post !
the President might appoint relation, 1t
would be only where the merit was so
shining tlatfhis absence would be noticed |
| At least=it must be such as to make the
citizen candidate without regard TO TAM
ily. But no such merit is attributed to the
beneficiaries Of our president, some OF !
! whOm=have done little but bring scandal |
upon the public, service At least one Is
tainted with fraud, and another, with Inc
commission of the Republic abroad. mas
been guilty of indiscretlOns lnconsisUe.t
with his trust Appointed orlglnaIy III
/ omen defiance Of republican principles, they
lave been retained in office after their I'M
fitness became painfully conspicuous. by
the testimony before Congressional com
m;ttee. one of these brother-in-law, was
| IMPLICATED in bribery and corruption. IL
is said that at last, after considerable delay
the President has consented to his remOv-
al.
Here [ leave for the present this enor-
nous pretension Of nepotism, waiting 10
hear if it can again find an apologist. is
there q single Senator who will not dismiss
it to Judgment?
| CAPTIVATING OFFICIALLY COMPENSATED.
From one typical abuse, L pass to an
other. From drOpsical nepotiSm swollen
to elephantasis, which nobody can de-
fend, / pass TO gift taking, which with our
President has assumed an unprecedented
form. Sometimes public men even IN our
country have taken gifts, but 1t is lot
known that any President before has re-
Maid the patron with office. For a public
man to take gifts is reprehensible for a
President to select Cabinet councillors and
other officers among those from whom he
has taken gifts is an anomaly In repubH-
| can annals. Observe, sir, that speak OF
it gently, unwilling TO exhibit the lndlgna-
ton which such Presidential pretensiOn
| is calculated to arouse. The country Will
Judge it, and blot it out as an example.
There have been throughout history cor
rllpt characters in official station, but
whether in ancient or modern times, the
} testimony is constant against the taking
Of Gifts and nowhere with more force than
in our Scriptures, where it is said, Z" Thou
= shalt not wrest Judgment, thou shall not re-
: spcct persons, neither take q gift for
Gift doth blind the eyes ofthe wise" (Deu-
y tcrOnOmv, xvi, 19) Here is the inhibition
and also the reason, which slight observa-
4 ton shows to be true. Does not a gift
5 blind the eyes of the wise? The influence
e Of gifts is represented by Plutarch i'll the
9 ! life Of a Spartan king.
. For he thought those ways OF entrap-
z, ping men by gifts ana presents which other
kings use. dishonest and inartifcial and
il seemed to him to be the most noble
method and most suitable to king to win
= the affections OF those that came near him
! by personal intercourse and agreeable con-
a vcrsation, since between a friend and a
n mercenary the only distinction is, that we
gain the one by our character and CONVEX
.qtiDn and the other bV money"
d The case of our President is exceptional
VIGOROUSLY he has taken gifts while in the
public service, some at least after he haC
been elected PRESIDENT, until g the Galena
tanner OF q few hundred dollars year,
r to borrow the words Of my colleague, (Mr
S Wi!sonD one Of his supporters, is now ricl
>, in houses, lands, and stock, above his sala
= Nv. being probably the richest President
II since George Washington. NOtoriOusly he
has appointed to his Cabinet several among
O these = Greeks bearing gifts, without seem
20 inc TO see the indeCOrum, IL not the lnde
ceHcy Of the transaction. AT least two /
e not three OF these Greeks, having no known
IS pos ton in the Republican party or lnfu
le cnce i'll the country have been selected hi
- c0unsclloIs III national affairs, and heads 0
great departments Oh Government. Again
n do | repeat the words Of Scripture gif
I'd doth blind the eyes of the wise" Again
re the words OF Washington, If | accepted
-, this should hot henceforWard be cOnSid
, cred a dependent ,"
e. Nor does the case of the first Secretar.
e. Of State differ in character from the othe
=. three The President, feeling under per
sonal Obligations to AIr. Washburne for i'm
~ pUrtant support, gave him a coInpEmentar.
is nomination, with the understanding that al
ry ter confirmatio4lshe should forthwith resign
&c IcannOtf Orgetthe indignant comment of tn
- late Dir. Fe>seuden as we passed out of tn
% Senate Chamber, Immediately after tn
ne confirmation: SO Who,n said he, {" eve
e, heard before of a man nominated Secre
is taly OF State merely as compliment ? -
But this is only another case OF the publ
I" service subordinated TO personal consider
r. ations.
to Not only III the Cabinet, but in Oti}e
40 Offices there is reason to believe that tn
President has been under the influence G
n patrons. Why was he SO blind to ThOma
Murphy? The Custom-house of NeV
nv Iorl, with all its capacity as apolitical ell
e. CINE, was handed over to this agent, who's
n want Of recognition IL the Republican pan
n ty was outbaIanced by Presidential favor
u. and whose gifts have become notorious
MI And when the demand for his removal wa
m irresistible the President accepted his re
or signatOn with an cfusiOn of sentiment liz
of tural toward q patron, but without justif
T. cation in the character Of the retiring Oft
be GER.
ny President GRANT deserves richly ever
OF censure for his disgraceful conduct, yet W
can take no pleasure in reading or reflect
ing upon this labored speech of the Ser
-, ator from Massachusetts,. The fact thu
lg the most prominent member OF the Unite
IL States Senate should deem it necessary
81 consume four hours Of its time in an effol
n to show that it is wrong for the Presde1
&c of the United States to appoint corrupt an
sc incompetent men TO office, simply beCaus
80 | they are connected TO him by blood or mai
nj riage, or have made him costly present:
G and the further fact that this Distinguish
Senator could get an opportunity to refe
to this great wrong only by a resort to
trick of parliamentary legerdemain, sho7
&c a degree Of Generalization and coEruptio
# that cannot fail 10 bring blush of sham
m to the cheek OF any man who, at any time
re no matter how far distant, was proud {
II call himself an American citizen.
T. z=--=~-u~z4-%=.z-=-m-
~ EfOtE Eg. Caldwell and the Campaign Is
SsIes
IN 1t has rarely # ever happened, we VeI
e. ture to say, i'll this or any other State, thu
e. so many issues OF such grave importanc
q have ben crowded into one campaign q
10 those which are now presented to the pee