Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-05-28
A Party Victory.

While it was not possible for any
newspaper to withhold its approval of
the recent successful raid on the whisky
ring, the Chicago Times cannot repress
its Democratic proclivities, and il re-
| fleets the probable tenor of Democratic
partisan criticism in the following para
| graph:
| What does it meang BY what authority
has Secretary Bristow been secretly placing
mine under the combined works Of the whis-
ky-ring and the revenue servicef Who has
permitted him thus TO sap and mine the
strongest bulwarks OF the party, and blow up
It's fortifcations, sending sky-high hundreds,
nay thousands Of its most devoted Generals
and Lieutenants? What does it mean? Has
Grant Johnsonized? Has the Washington
Cabinet formed conspiracy TO destroy the
party ship and drown the swarms Of Office
holding rats that have solong multiplied and
| fattened in the cargo9
1t means no such thing as the Chicago
Times affects to believe, and nobody
| knows it better than that organ. 1t
means that the Republican party is now,
as in the past, the party of reform and
progress. Malign Influences and cor
| rupt agencies have from time TO time at
! tached themselves to this party-as what
great political party may. hope to es-
cape? Money-makeTs and scoundrels are
| shrewd enough to work their way into
| 'A4b parry III JNWNiy dub uOutoL llltu nave
| been deceived into indorsipg or toler-
ating dishonest measures. The RepubH-
can party, in its sixteen years Of rule, and
bcset with difficulties and complications
that no other party in this country
ever encountered, could not divest itself
| of these penalties of success But
it has, in all of its trials, developed in
time the pluck, honesty and ability to
expose the corruption and rid itself of
the corruptiOnists that have threatened
to weigh it down. During the war, and
since the war, the Republican party has
boldly faced the disasters that came from
internal rascalities, and has maintained
itself by exposing and correcting the
abuses, instead of shirking the responsi-
bility and endeavorlng to hide, and
cover up, and smother its own troubles.
There is q bravery in this course akin to
the patriotism and energy which put
| down the war of the rebellion. 1t is
this Characteristic of the Republican
| party which has constantly commanded
| the support of the popular vote, in spite
of serious dissensions, important disaf-
teetions and temporary reverses. There
! have been troubles and abuses enough to
have carried down any party not pos
sessed of this courageous spirit. But
every wcll-defined abuse has met with
|
and dismissal of the guilty parties. The
Republican party took the CreditMo-
bilier swindle by the horns and grappled
with it successfully. Though it could
not recoup all that had been squandered,
it exposed to public shame the men who
had been leaders in the conspiracy
against the public moneys and it author
lied suits which may in the end secure
partial restoration of the fraudulent
profits. The District of Columbia
ring was oAe of the most formid-
able raids ever organized upon the
! Government Treasury and it had
the support of the most powerful
personal and political influences. Yet
the Republican party broke it up and
scattered its forces. The New York Gus
tom-House clique was similarly sus-
tanned by strong supports of personal
and political character, but it failed to
escape the inherent opposition of the
party to corruption, and was driven to
the wall. The salary-grab was an abuse
Of the public trust which, like most of
the public abuses, was achieved by a
combination of the bad men in both par
ties; but the Republican majority in
Congress did what it could in the way of
atonement as soon as the drift of public
sentiment was apparent, and Republican
voters promptly punished those who
were chiefly guilty. When the senti,
mcnt of the country was plainly de-
clared against the grant Of public land
and moneys for railroad and other imi
provement schemes, the Republican
party abandoned its former policy, which
had been productive of great benefits as
well as abuses. Never was there more
persistent and powerful lobby than that
of the Pacific Mail, and, though one Con.
gress was deceived and controlled by it,
an exposure of its operations by the last
Congress led to prompt repeal of the
subsidy and left those who were impli-
Gated to suffer for their sins. These are.
fair samples of what the Republican,
party has done to purify its own house,
hold and to retain its claim upon the pub
lie confidence. 4...
The recent movements of the Admin
istration, and especially those in revenue
and mail service, are entirely in keeping
with the policy of the Republican party
from the beginning, as we have illus
trated it above. They show that this
party is still strong in the possession of
the right material to battle against its
worst enemies,-the scoundrels who act
with it for their own selfish purposes
and that this material comes to the front
when the emergencies of the public serv-,
ice call it out. The success of these
movements against corruption by the Re
publican party in the past warrants the
utmost confidence in Secretary BristOw's
breaking of the whisky-ring, notwith-.
standing the bold announcement thai he
has $400 900 and a vast array of poll
tieians to contend against The RADIO
this gigantic ring has been begun in a
manner that promises thorOughness in its
prosecut on. 1t will probably lead in the
end to very general change In the per-
sonRel of the revenue service and-aet as
warning and restraint on officeholdsrs
for years to come. In this way il is
grand victory for the Republican party.
grander and more effective than will be
the defeat of William Allen in Ohio and
the rescue of Indiana from the hands of
the Democrats .-Chicag0 Tribune.