The New York herald., 1875-12-16
President Grant and tho Whiskey
Ring.

Awkward and mortifyng as the indict-
ment Of General Babco,k must be to the
President, we suppose th$e are but few can
did men, even among Us political oppo-
nents, who suspect him bf completely with
the Whiskey Ring or kndyledge of General
Babcocks completely, if he be really guilty
AT the very worst Presidht Grant is the vic
tim OF misplaced confidence and blind
hdelity to undeserving people to whom he
has given his friendship. But although the
head and front of his off,nding 'hath this
extent no more, he is, nevertheless, charge
able with a very graye dereliction Of
official duty. The constitution COM
mands that 'he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed. The
discharge of this Obligation requires
alertness, vigilance and pretty constant
surrender of his time to public affairs.
President Grant would .eem to have dis
inclination to the close labor which his
Office imposes. While he likes its dignity,
splendor and emolument he is bored by
it's duties, and spends al large portion of
his time as possible away from the capital.
We have no doubt that the greater part of
the corruption which has grown up under
his administration is the consequence of his
distaste for public business and of the feeble
sense Of responsibility which is it's natural
accompaniment. President who shrinks
from the laborious attention whichhis office
demands must put great trust in others, and
is easily hoodwinked and deceived. Such
Incidence and inattentidn do not excuse,
nor even extenuate, the laxness and in
efficiency of his administration; but it is a
very different fault from conscious COM
plicity with fraud. The President may be
justly arraigned for unftness, but discrimina-
ton must be exercised in selecting the heads
of accusation. Baseless charges OF eorrup-
ton, when his real fault is culpable negli-
gence, will only damage those who bring
them.
The private secretary if he be a shrewd
man of mature age like General Babcock,
has great facilities for misleading the Presi-
dent. He is necessarily trusted with the open
ing of letters, as the President would have
time for little else if he should undertake to
read all ofhis own correspondence. He must
have somebody to select from the voluminous
mass such communications require the
Presidents personal perusal, giving him
brief oral statement of the substance of
others and sitting out and suppressing such
as are utterly unworthy of attention. If the
confidential secretary is dishonest he has
great opportunities for making false i'm
pressons on the Presidents mind by garbled
accounts of such letters as the President
does not personally read, or by withholding
as trivial letters of real importance. If he
should be in collusion with thieves he could
shield them so long as their arts of conceal
ment were successful against general public
scrutiny.
We do not intend by these remarks to ex-
press any opinion as to the guilt or inno-
cence Of General Babcock, but only to show
that his conviction on the indictment might
be perfectly consistent with the honesty of
the President. We do not believe, and do
not think any candid man believes, that
President Grant had any knowledge of Bah
cocks illicit correspondence with members
of the St. Louis Whiskey Ring. 1t would, of
course, De eAceeullSiy HulHllitliHb W tne
President to have his private secretary con-
victed, but the President himself would be
no further implicated than for the indolent
neglect for which he has been notorious
throughout his administration. We trust
we may never have another travelling, junk
citing, pleasure-seeking President, who hates
business, shirks minor responsibilities and
prefers every other place to Washington.