New-York tribune., 1875-11-17

the approval aud active influence Oi hcDou'''
and Mckee.
Mcdonald a steamboat-runner at st. LOUIS
prior TO the war, became closely connected
with Gen. Grant while the latter was COM
manding armies in the cotton region, ana mas
been an intimate friend ever since. lie maue
some money in cotton operations, ana aiter lhe
war was on familiar terms with men VINO were
accused Of whisky frauds in the time OF fresl-
dent Johnson As soon rs Grant had Deeh
inauguratcd. Mcdonald applied for the position
of Supervisor of Internal Revenue and, not
withstanding the united and earnest opposition
of Senators Schurz and Drake, all the repre-
sentatives from Missouri, and many Of the most
influential Republicans and business men III
st. Louis, he was appointed. lie had taken
no part in politics. is man OF genial man
ners. and had made neither political nor per-
sonal enemies, and the opposition to his
appointment arose wholly from feeling that
he was not proper man for position SO
peculiarly responsible, in which the tempta-
tions are so constant and so strong. But the
President appointed him, and has since sus-
tained him with singular tenacity and, ap-
parently, with absolute confidence. Charges
of fraud in that district were made, sometimes
through official channels, and often IN pub
lished statements The Tammany frauds III
this city were not more notorious, nor more
generally believed To exist prior to their
formal exposure, than were the whisky frauds
in St Louis for wears. Yet the President not
ONLY treated all accusations with contempt,
gave Mcdonald audience at Washington while
high dignitalies waited, rode with him on
o,,I paI Nj
the most public occasions in st. Louis, but al
lowed HIM to exercise 4 very unusual lniiu-
encc, as was shown when the order Of Secre-
tary Brstow, transferring supervisors to other
districts, was promptly revoked by the Presl-
dent upon McDonad's personal application.
Even Gfter the full exposure OF the frauds last
Spring, the President evidently believed Nc
Donald innocent, for he allowed him TO re-
sign. and continued to receive him on terms
of personal friendship until after his indict-
mcut
1t is not strange that opponents OF the
President have drawn very unfayorable IN
fcrences from these facts. Especially in st.
Louis. where members Of the ring were wont
10 boast that they could remove Secretary
Bristow, their superior, easier than he could
remove them, and where presents were openly
alleged to have been made to the President by
Mcdonald and his associates, not longer ago than
October of last year. such interences were nat
ural. Yet the President has thus far sustained
the prosecution of the whisky thieves without
any wayering or hesitation, and the Tact that
his former friend, Mcdonald, has been brought
to open trial is of itself strong proof that though
the President has been grossly in error IN
trusting tho Sc men, he has not been implicated
in any fraud or cognizant of violations of law
Indeed the strange confidence which has
so exposed him 10 suspicion, and the firm
ness with which he now sustains the
prosecution, were both forcibly illustrated
when he last visited st. Louis, for Mcdonald
and Joyce sent up their cards TO him. and were
answered that the President would hold no
intercourse with men indicted for crime. On
Monday this same Joyce was fitted with striped
clothing and locked up in a felon's cell, while
Mcdonald on the same day, appeared In the
prisoners dock and listened to his scathng
arraignment by the prosecuting attorney. Ii
the President continues to insist upon the rigid
enforcement of law in all the cases growing
out of these frauds, without any suppression
Of evidence, prevention OF further disclosures,
or mercy for the guilty, he will convince can
lid men that any suspicious as to his own in
srgrity. growing ont of his personal confidence
in Mcdonald or other conspirators, were wholly
unjust and ggoundesS.
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