Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-09-12


Ii i a curious and notable fact that Gen.
Butler himself. the New York Iimcs from
whose article upon him in yesterday paper
we have just quoted, HeTper'S WeeSy in is
cartoon in this weeks number, and his
friends and organs generally, date all what
they have TO say in his favor from the begin
ming Of the war But Massachusetts Is
not on the verge of rebellion her laws are
not set at defiance: there i no Immediate
necessity of hanging any of their principal
citizens. or reducing them 10 obedience and
good order by the stern exercise of n merci-
less and iron Will. There are in other words,
two kinds of governing. The qualities
needed, for example, TO command a peace
ful merchantmen sailing in quiet seas are
not at ali those needed 10 hold in discipline
the crew o! a pIrate-ship. - man may be
a very good governor over a city of rampant
rebels determined TO upset a government,
and yet quite unfit TO be the chief ma
gistrate of an intelligent people, law
abiding. Sell-gOverned. peaceful. industri-
Gus, to whose character the arts Of Intrigue
are hateful, and whose morality, public and
private, would be warped and snapped by
the unscrupul0us practices of corrupt poll
ticians. The qualities which General But
Ter displayed and which were so pre-emi-
nently needed in the march on Washington.
at New Orleans and at Baltimore are not
those needed in the governor of Massachu-
setts now. Has he Others which fit hlm Tor
that position? What are they? Where
did he acquire and where has he shown
them?
Up to the'Iear ls6O his life was passed in
the courts as criminal lawyer, in the de-
fence Of vagabOnds, thieves and murdercrs.
lie was the chosen counsellor and friend of
all disreputable and vile persons, who felt
that nowhere else could they find 50 able a
defender-nowhere else one 50 ready to set
at defiance all the decencies of society and
to defeat the law Here he won his reputa-
ton and his fortune. and in such school
was his mental and moral nature developed.
Somebody, doubtless. must defend the
wretches whose lives or liberties are
forfeit to the law. but the training is
not one. which results in the creation
of the best type Of man. \ constant
practice of making the worse appear the
better reason Is not conducive to scrupulOus
morality in deed and word in the practi-
TONER Familiarity with vice and the uni
form habit of defending it against an out
rag ged public are not the best education Tor
civil ruler who i to execute the laws and
study the interests of a peaceful and yirtu-
Gus people. The popular estimate of legal
gentlemen Of this class is not an unjust one.
and though they may not always be bad
men, there is always well-iounded indis-
position to entrust them with duties to the
discharge Of which it is always felt that
their training and the side of life with which
they have been familiar must have almost
completely incapacitated them.
That this judgment is sound the career of
General Butler as a politician both before
the war and since gives ample evidence. As
pro-slavery Democrat andas n Republican
whose political rule has been to serve the
party without regard to right, TO put him
self forward as the most conspicuous leader
when measures were to be carried in the
face of public morality he has always shown
that the man whom bench and bar dreaded
and despised as a criminal lawyer was un-
changed Always audaciOus, except when
cunning better serves his purpose, he seeks,
from natural proclivity the criminal side of
politics. and is the more dangerous because
his audacity is always seconded by great
ability. 0verbearing in temper, unscrupu-
lous as to the means and measul es, low in
manners and in his tone of thought, he Is
preeminently fitted for a leader in turbulent
times. when the worst elements of human
character come to the surface; and for pre-
cisely that reason he is unfit to be entrusted
with place and power in a time of peace.
when other and higher qualities are needed.
His election to the chief magistracy OF
Massachusetts, will be an evidence that her
people have parted with much of their an
cient virtue, and will be national calamity,
insomuch as it will be depreciation OF
that moral standard to which, whether con-
sciously or not, the nation has been accus-
toned to look-the measure Of New Eng
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