New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-06-04

upon tho causes Oh tne ueicat "hiSh A"'""-'
II il enough to say that it was vote OF lack
of confidence of distrust OF the motives
and purposes of party 80 largely made
I'D from the ranks Of an organization
which had been voted down for twelve years.
A majority OF the people, as we believe, were
opposed to what seemed even then to be tho
Obvious tendencies of the party in power, to
recklcssness, extravaganza, and corruption, In
administration and In legislation but the dis
trust of the opposition was so much more gen.
eral. and so much more deeply seated, that the
neonlc made n choice of evils, and accepted the
nromise of the Administration leaders to
reform that party from the inside. So IN
1879 the power of the Administration party
culminatcd in a Presidential triumph and
Congress overwhelmingly their own. And the
peopIe waited and watched for a fulfillment OF
the campaign promises. Not one of them was
kent Bad went to worse. The Congress
which went out as President Grant came in on
his second term, crowned with the infamous
Salary Grab the hour of its dissolution, and
left the public nostrils filled, and the
public sense sickened, with the stencil
raised by its own Investigations. Scandal
was hcapcd upon scandal; investigation fol-
lowed investigation; inquiry into one abuse
discovered another and another-a honcycomb
"A rotten system-of them the probe touched
bottom nowhere; no matter how profound the
depths of corruption, there always seemed a
lower deep that waited to he sounded. The
public service throughout was either weak or
wicked and in many cases both. There was
no department through which the detectives
rap would not send confusion and alarm;
none which the appointment OF an lnyesti-
eating committee would not set into n sliiver
or cold sweat. Amid all this. the party in
power, when arraigned before the people, made
answer that the number Of Investigations which
had been ordered was no sign oil unusual
decentralization in the public service, but rather
a proof that the dominant party was honest
and sincere in its efforts to purify it. And as
for the future, the best assurance FOR that, was
the record of the past, to which, it will be re-
mcmbcred wherever there was one hand IN the
treasury, the other pointed with pride.
The people got tired. Much as they dis
trusted the Democracy, they began to see that
the party might have lis uses; and they began
to feel that somebody outside the party in pow
er ought to audit the lattcr's accounts and ex-
anime the government bookkeeping Then
came the panic, and business depression, and
the conviction grew. 1t was decpened by the
growing belief that there was a conspiracy on
foot to perpcuate the political cOnditiOnand post
ponc indefinitely the oyerhanling of accounts, by
a denomination Of Grant. Tho elections of 1873
sounded to the Republican leaders a note OF
warning, to which they paid no heed. Congress
met in December; the Senate, arrogant and super
cious, treating with lofty disdain any criticism
of the conduct of its members, and Vlndlcatlng
against popular clamor whOmsoever itpeascd;
the House, schcmng tricky, treachcrous,
full of weak cxpcdicnts and cunning
devices for redeeming promises with east wind.
To these, add President, consumed
with the idea that the Government had
been turned over to him for his own personal
Use and behoef and offering to the Senate, for
confirmation, appointments to high official
stations. at which even the gorge of that ser
vile body rose, and yoa have clements enough
to destroy a much stronger party. The story
of wranging over little things, and putterlng
over great, with which they frittered SIN months
away, does not need to be recited; everybody
knows it. Many things were tinkered. nothing
was done that had in it grown mans brains
and conscience and foresight. In the midst of
tho tnkering came the elections of 1874.
The WEAKNESS Of the people had changed into
popular anger and disgust, and the party which
"came up groggy" with the cuffs of the last
year, was seized up and whsked out of the
ring with suddcnncss that made a good
many statesmen stars. In the short session
of Congress which followed there was no time
nor opportunity to retrieve disaster. and scarcely
any to rally the forces that were left.
The present situation, then, is that of a
party dominant throughout tho nation for ff
teen years retiring from power and giving
place to its old opponent There is no mis-
taking it, The Opposition have already "a very
large majority in one branch of the Govern
ment: it has regaincd many of the States it
lost between 1884 and 1860, and captured
some il did not dream of. 1t is on the rising
tide Tho indications, as they present them
selves to thinking men, are that the
political revolution will be cOnsummated
in 1876, and the Democratic party will come
into power in the nation. There is Of course
some good reason for it. What is it The
people are not so capriciOus and unreasonable
as to set about 50 sweeping u revolution as
this will be, for the mere sake of change
There is a cause for it, Where shall We seek
hf Not, certainly. in any new claims of the
Democratic party 10 public confidence. I'm
happily, wherever it has been trusted to
any extent, it has shown an amount
of audacity and rccklessness, of unscrupu-
lous greed, of incompetency for high
trusts, and disregard for public sentiment,
differing from its opponents only in the degree
of opportunity afforded it. There is no need to
cite instances of this In New-lIampshire, Con-
necticut, and Pennsylvania the Democrats have
had their way, and the country has witnessed
al