The Republican journal., 1874-03-05
Buffers Triumph,

and important consequences. 1t has hurt
the aristocratic and protesting portion of
the republican party OF Massachusetts in
that most tender point their self-esteem.
1t is the triumphant self-assertion Of the
mud-sills of the organization. And not the
least ominous feature is the threatening
manner in which Butler enjoys his triumph
and avows his determination to keep the
wound open. Richeliu's grand maxim of
craftsmanship, was.
| "First, all means to conciliate,
Failing in that, all meaus to crush,'
| Ofthis, Butler remembers only the latter
portion.
If we consider this appointment with
reference to its effect upon the public serv-
ice, it will be difficult to say where it will
be seriously affected thereby The Custom
Houses. not only Of Boston, but of all the
principal ports. have been made party in
Strumentalties for the control of elections,
and for the robbery Of importers through
the Sanborns and Jaynes. They can be
scarcely worse under the manipuations of
Butler and his protege. The republican
| politicians Of Massachusetts who took Ben
| Butler to their bosoms knew when they
| did it the manner of man that he was and
that he would in all probability continue
to be. BY them he has been given prom
| inent place in the politics of the state. and
rana1fnH a1aafinnc to tho notiono1 Nil
Cunning, bold, aggressive and unscrnpu-
lous, he made himself useful at times to
his employers, who were vastly amused at
the disgust which his practices caused
among their political opponents They
never seemed to remember that the vii
lainy they We're amused at might one day
be executed on themselves. The tactics
that he puts in operation are the same that
he formerly practced He was Ben Butler
then-he is Ben, Butler now. He has only
done what such men must OF necessity be
continually doing-making foes of former
friends The trouble with the highly re-
spectacle radical politicians of Massachu-
sets has been that they refused to look
beyond the acts of to-day to the consequent
ces of tomorrow. A trihe of forecasting.
little meditation upon the philosophy of
politics, would haye taught them that
when they use such men as Butler to carry
out their purposes, the danger is that he
may presently use them for his purposes
AS the Scotch maxim runs, lie needs a
lang spoon that sups with the Devil"
At the best the dose is bitter one. No
wonder there is writing and nausea But
if the medicine shall be salutary, it will
not have been without its uses We shall
cheeriully stand at one side and see it
work
1t is said the Maine State Prison investigation
insisted on by the Democrats. will cost so 600
1t has simply resulted, was predicted in
showing that the management of the Institution
is above reproach. Lewiston Journal.
The Journal is little too fast in the
above paragraph. This investigation, we
think we are justified in saying, originated
in a quarrel among the state prison of
ticials over their salaries. Prison Inspec-
tor Wilson said in his testimony before the
committee
The salary of the warden in 1860 was 81 800;
could not swear that it was SO fixed by the In
Spectors, or that 81 800 was the sum paid to his
recollection. Every time the salary was i'll
creased from year to year, it was approved by
the governor and council The Inspectors fixed
the salary in Jan. or Feb 1872 at 81. 600. Pre-
ViOIlS that date fix the date when if
was increased from year to year. The salary of
DR.. Chase, when he was physician, was Sl10
up to April LIST, 1872; then it was increased to
$3.50 DR.. Chase wanted 5000. The salary of
the salesman was fixed by the warden. and APP
proved by the Inspectors.
Dr. Chase, seeing that the salary of the
Warden had been advanced from $500 to
$4,000 per year, naturally felt dissatisfied
with his meagre pay of $3.50 and dissatis
faction became Indignation when he found
that the inequality was to be continued.
The result was that a series of articles at
lacking the prison management were pub
lished in the Rockland Free Press, a repub-
lican paper; and these We're copied by the
democratic papers. These articles are un-
derstood to have been written OF inspired
by DR.. Chase Ont of those articles and
the direct and positive charges OF misman-
agement made in them, grew the investi-
cation and the $4,000 expense. Demo
CATION. And when an official of the prison
publicly declares that the expenses of the
institution are enormous, and that the ac-
counts are not an honest showing of its
condition, it is time to insist upon investi
CATION. Ii the result proves that the whole
matter has its foundation in a quarrel over
the matter of salaries, among the repub
lican officers of the prison, the ingenuity
that can fix the blame of the investigation
upon the democratic party. is something
remarkable. The argument of the Jour
nal is like that Of the fellow that was
caught in the pasture cutting the throat Of
aneighbor's sheep. His excuse was that as
he was passing along the sheep jumped
ont Of the bushes and bit him-''and,
said he ''no sheep shall bite me and live
party has been severely bitten by the
democratic sheep, that's all.
The Bay and River Railroad.
A writer in the Camden Herald, over
the signature of OBJ has level head on
railroad matters Reviewing the proba-
bilities Of the Bay and River Railroad as
a reality, and the interest which the Bos
ton and Maine has in its construction, the
writer says:
1.-THE Boston and Maine intima1ed that unes,
the Legislature passed law oDliging the Maine
Central to draw their cars to Bangor, they
should be compelled to assist the Bay and River
to build their road, as a matter of necessity for
them to have an outlet East it would seem Il
very plausible conclusion, and would look like
amounting to more than an intimation.
But when they intimate, that if the Bay and