The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1873-02-12
OUR "CHRIsTzir sTATEsMEN."
The Tribune's Reply to their Request
for "Juspension OF Judgment"
From the New York Tribuns,1

for q "Juspenston or j Judgment"
From the New York Tribunal
Both Mr.. Colfax and Mr.. Pomeroy ask for a
suspension of public judgment until the facts
In their cases are made known. They have
both arrived at that point where absolute 81
lence ls the best resort. Public opinion has
already pronounced upon their cases, and It
will be scarcely possible to reverse 1t. They
are both caught In a trap of cruel and cunning
mechanism. The more they struggle the more
they will tear their flesh. The best advice
which the many friends of Mr.. Colfax can give
him is to stop explaining. II bis good genius
could have stopped his mouth before he made
that sweeping and exhaustive denial at
South Bend last summer, how much
more tolerable would have been bis
position to-day? This speech was in
Tended to convey, and did convey, the I'M
slightest direct or indirees relation with
0akes Ames or the Credit Mobllier. Hls
friends 90 received IL. His opponents loyally
gave him the benefit of the denial. We printed
those frank and bold words In the Tribune
with pleasure, and with the conviction that
some one else must have been mistaken.
This was the great temptation and The great
dealings with Mr.. Ames, though improper
and indelicate for man In his position, were
venial compared with this denial of them.
That speech at South Bend placed him on an
inclined plane, down whose inex0rable
grooves be has gllded ever since, withouta elm
gle opportunity of checking his course, until
he reached that desperate plunge, the other
do Inf OF %
He has never said one word which has not
aggravated his case. Had he kept silence, or
told the whole truth, he wouid have been
beaten with few slripoB. Our advice to him
now Is that he make no more explanations.
We should regret now seeing him tell the
truth. 1t Ia too late 10 do any good. Let the
committees report, and then let the case be
summed up.
AS for Mr.. Pomeroy, his disaster Is mat.
ter of much less consequence. When Sancho
Panza falls from the back Of Dapple there Ia
no ouch rsttlDg OF armor as when Don Quix-
ote tumbles from the saddle of Rosinante.
Mr.. Colfax, up to the hour when, In bis nerv-
turning and rGndiDg him, had blamelesa
character. He was as much respected 8s he
was liked by moral and Chrlstlau people. he
made professions Of rather exceptional cor.
rectness which were generally accepted. he
had been In politics from boyhood, and had
never been guilty Of any indirecti0n. He had
had great opportunities, but remained poor.
After all, the sum he received was triflnR. 30
that bis lapse will be felt and sincerely regret
ted In thousands of Christian families where he
was admired. But In the case OF Mr.. Pomeroy
there Ia no such feeling. he was always more
or less gr0teeQue. he has made money rom
his youth up. The beans Of the charitable
paid tribute to him In the famine days. The
seed corn OF the founders of his State was
f,,h Tn q
prospered beyond his kind. His portly form
seemed nourished by subsidies and commits.
sions. He thoroughly enjoyed life, and look
ed With comfortable contempt on rough ras-
calls like Jim Lane who drank whiskey, and
spent all they stole. Everybody, except Gen.
eral Howard and Mr.. Harlan, knew his thrifty
ways and smiled 10 the indugent way that
honest worldlIngs have, over the wlckednesses
OF the prudent. Probably no one, except the
TWO naive spirils we have mentioned, ever
regarded seriously the comedy of temperance
and religion which was part OF his system.
SO there is more amusement than surprise
or regret over bis downfall. He has said
to some reporter "that he has done some
service to the nallon, and that he has Its
confidence" he may have been called .
confidence man and mistaken the meaning OF
the words. He betrays an utter unconscious
ness Of the real trouble when he says he La the
victim of conspiracy. or course he ls. 30
ls any rat, caught with bait Of cheese. Hia
opponents In Kansas knew him TO be corrupt,
knew that nearly half the Legislature had hia
cash 10 their pockets, and they wanted to
make this appear. They knew he was bribing
everybody he could, so one OF them said,
"Brlbe me-" These cunning men have their
odd moments of credulty like others. Mr..
Pomeroy. was pleased to hear Mr.. York talk
go sensloly, and Immediately opened 10 him
hIs heart and his pocketbook. York unpack-
ed In the open session the contents OF both
these precious Repositories, and the effect
must have been startling even to himself.
These unclean dallyings with corruption,
which had appeared 30 commonplace
In the atmosphere OF rum and good
denly seemed monstrous and shameful
when exposed to the day. The edlace which
the senator and his friends had laborlously
reared by the plunder OF dozen years crum-
bled all at once like q house Of cards. HYork
had pocketed hs money and kept quiet, Pome-
roy would have been elected on The first bal.
LOT. But York rose and told story, the de-
tails of which were familiar to nearly the
whole House, and Pomer0y was from that
instant an impossible candidate. That breath
of publicity was fatal. The very men whose
pouches were stuffed with his greenbacks
were seized With sudden dlegust as Mr..
York described the process by which they
were D0ugQC, anu Lney Cast Iuolr Votee aSaloot
their owner. It's q singular proof OF the
power of publicity. Pomeroy had been buy
ing men for years. Yet the instant man
said, tie bought me, and here's the money"
the buyers occupation was gone.
The senator proposes to explain all this, and
asks suspension Of judgment. he cannot
damage himself so much as better man
would do, for he has nothing but his old bur.
lesaue character to lose. he still has plenty Of
money and friends enough Of tia KIND that
money buys. We are not sure but that We shall
see him again, after bis little disgrace has
blown over, using his old influence once more
with the baser kind of local politicians. But
we rejoice to believe that his old prestige az
an undiscovered fraud ls lost, and that nc. .eas
worse than he can be sent to ill bis place.
There are times when the feeble-hearted take
gloomy views Of politics. But what could be .
better sign than the unmasklng and overthrow
of untrue and unworthy men2 One by one
they are falling by the way. They are lett At
for nothing but foreign missions, and perhaps
the civil service commission may persuade the
President that they are bad form even for
envoys and ministers.