The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1873-05-07
Party Virtue.


sentatiyes at Washington, a few
weeks ago, by which that body re-
fused the appointment of q commit
tee to prepare articles Of impeach-
ment against the Vice-President of
the United States, was one of the
most unpleasanly suggestive votes
ever recorded ia this country. FL
ther the Vice-President was evident
Iy deserving Of Sc high a proceeding
against him, or he was not. There
was not a fact of his case which was
not as well known to one member SIS
another. There was not q member
of that body, unless he had deliber-
ately chosen to be ignorant, who had
not coule to an intelligent conclusion
concerning the President guilt
or innocence of the charges that had
been preferred against him. 1t was
plain question of fact, on which an
unbiased jury of ordinary intelli-
gence could have had ne difficulty
in coming to a just conclusion; yet
one of the highest dehberative bod
les in the land voted upon it almost
exclusively according 10 party preju-
dices and affiliations. Half q dozen
republicans, whose motives, at least.
were open to suspicion, voted with
the solid array of democratic men,
bers against the Vice-President,
while the republicans, as an over
whelming and controlling majority,
declared by their vote that that Off
Ger had done nothing to deserve the
disgrace sought to be inflicted.
The country is thus left in doubt
as to the real merits of the case,
and knows no more concerning them
from this vote than it would from
the decision of a debating club of
boys. One of these parties has evil
IDENTITY lied, or borne false witness
for or against a man hitherto consid-
cred eminent for his personal virtues.
1t is sad to conclude that SO high
a body as the House of Representa-
tives is entirely untrustworthy in its
dealings with question of public
morality and personal rectitude.-
The country may we'll ask, in view
of this vote: IF they do these
things in the green tree, what will
they do in the dry p If such vital
questions as the incorruptibleness
and Yeracity Of one Of the heads Of
the government is to be settled by a
party vote III the House of Repre-
sentatives, what are we to conclude
concerning the whole Credit Mobil-
ier investigation? Indeed, is it not
fair to judge that this investigation
was ''put-up job intended exclu-
sively for political purposes? A de-
lightful set Of men, these, to pass
upon the moral standing of each
other, when the guilt Of doing it in
accordance with party interests is
blacker than anything that is charged
against AM one of theml Ay, q
pretty set Of men, these, who stand
self-recorded as maligners or defend
ers of public reputation and pri-
vate character, according to party
prejudices, to pass judgment upon
the moral standing of their fellows
We protest that, whether the men
implicated by this investigation are
guilty or not, the men into whose
hands the investigation fell convict
ed themselves OF their moral unfit
ness to settle it justly. We have
lost all faith in the investigation and
its results. We do not believe the
country knows, after all the reports,
who the guilty ones are, or that it
ever will know. Each party, it
seems to us, has simply tried to see
how much it could make or save out
of it; and the poor devils who have
come from the scrimmage with soiled
linen and unpleasant adjectives at
tached to their names, will at least
have the comfort of knowing that
the country thinks as much of them
as of the most of those by whose
party votes they were defended or
conference.-the. j. G. Holland j;
Scrtbnel'S for Ap?H.