New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-27
"Iy ATROCTOUS CONSPIRICY.7

great care and dellbtrdtlOh, Tue itoh' N"iu''
bus Delauo, President Grants Secretary OF tne
Interior has reached tho conclusion, ana free'y
expresses il. that the recent newspaper cilats's
affecting his official conduct are the result Oh
an atrocious conspiracy to compel bis re-
tirep,ent from the Cabinet. But he Is III re-
ceipt of letters frem all points of the compass
from friends who urge him to abandon tne
purpoae which he Saws he formed last Fall, TO
resign his Office about this time. In accord
ance with this advice, "a well as with his own
Judgment of what il due TO himself and the
Rcpublican party. it j. announced that he has
postponed his resignation indefinitely.
lie could not we'll do less. The publication
OF the facts connected with his proposed re-
tircmcnt was q godsend to him. Had there
been no publication of the circumstances I'M
der which his resignation WAS called lot, lie
might have left tho Cabinet without any
present scandal. But the facts becoming
known and there having been on the part OF
the Administration press rs well ~ oil the IN
dependent and Opposition, very general cx-
pression of satisfaction, the peculiar hostility Ol
The President to the dictatou of the press, and to
"popular clamorr was awakened, and the deter
uination reached on the part OF tho Executive to
show n bold front against this as against every
other attack upon his friends. This left
Mr.. Delano securely intrenched. There
might DO now any number of charges,
of auv number of offcnscs, against the Secre-
tary; and they might he proven beyond shadow
of doubt, or possibility of denial; IL would
make no difference with his position. No
matter what his Offenses, the clamor OF
press and people against him only drew
him closer to the President and removed
further than ever all danger Of his being dis
tnrbed. The publication OF the facts drove
him under the President's wing. He Is sale
there. lie knows it. Why should he resign
now TO do so would be to confess that there
was ground for the accusations brought
against him. TO refuse to reagn leaves all
the responsibility with the President-from
whom ii rolls off eventually upon the party
which gives the President an unqucstioning
suppolt-while his remaining in the Cabl-
net may be of some service to him,
in giving him the appearance OF pres
ent "vindicatioD," and in aifordinS time
for the whole matter tn blow over.
Blow over" What comfort there il in
these words for persons whose moral ri"r-
actcr happens 10 get caught in high
wind. 1t il just possible though. in this in
stance, that Mr.. Delano, in standing OIL shore
for this little furry to blow over, will lind
himself in q worse tempest next December,
before he il able to make safe harbOr.
"Newspaper cliargos!n he calls these grave
accusations respecting his official conduct.
And Gan ntrOcious conspiracy to compel lbs
"retirement from the Cabinet" And
SUPPOSE they are newspaper charges
They are made by journals OF established char
actcr and undoubtcd responsibility. They arc
reasonably explicit and direct. They are either
true or false. 1t il 10 answer to them to say
that the President dsbelieves them, or says he
Jislnlcves them, and that biz confidence in
tle Secretary is unimpaircd. The President has
unfortunately ndnged largely in that sort of
certificate of confidence heretofore Certificate
from the President, indeed There has ut
been friend Of his caught In any dew
iltry since the beginning of hi. admin
istration who has not had one. And the
writing of them has kept him very busy. The
newspapers have discovered q great many
rascals, but the President has invariably
certified that the rascals were honest
men. The thug about it that
Mr. Delano does not seom to under
stand is that the people have to believe
the newspapers, and pay liitlo attention to the
Prc.idant's certificates. Ii does not dismiss IN
accusation against an Oh,ial nowadays 10 say
il is newspaper Charge Too many
of them have been proven true, aud too
many leading statesmen have been brought
down by them. A respectable newspaper has
too much at stake TO so about prefeIring
charges against public men in reckless, ire
sponsbe way. Its reputation for fairness, for
trlhfulness, for sincerity Of conviction. and
for an bouest regard for the public welfare il
too large part of it's capital to be riskcd in
any such fashion. TO be successful ~ either
the exponent or the leader. of public opinion,
il must be entirely Trustworthy, and that
h,rstworthincSs it cannot afford to risk
by gratifying personal resentmens or rcck-
essly slandcrnG public men. That il one of
the facts of modern journalism which some
persons connected with President Grants ad-
minstraiion have not yet found out, but which
they will do well to consider.
As to the atrocious conspiracy" to which
Secretary Deano attributes the charges affect
ing his official conduct, he says either too little
or too much. What is tho atrocio,ls cOnspir.
acy; In whose interest has ii been con-
cocted 7 What object can it havef Even
Dir. Delano will hardly have the assurance TO
say that his upright and iireproaclablc admin
est and corrupt men whose schemes he has
thwartcdi lilo knows, as everybody
knows, that tho administration Of
affairs in his department. has been the
thcmo of criticism and animadversion by some