The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1875-09-30
THE STANDARD.
THURSDAY. SEPT. 80, Isz.
From the Cincinnati Commercially

1t was expected that the Catholic Tel
egraph would come to the defense of
Mr.. Geghan and score the Enquirer to
the quick for its clumsy and cowardly
attempt to force him off the Democratic
ticket And the editor of the Telegraph
enters upon his work with right good
will. The denomination of Mr.. Geghan
was demanded by the party, and it was
understood that it would not do to re-
fuse to comply with that demand. A re-
fusal would have swamped all the chan
ces Of electing the Democratic ticket in
Hamilton county. The demand was
backed by a power for which your ward
politician has profound respect. The
editor of the Telegraph tells US in a word
what would have been the result of max
ing a political martyr of Mr.. Geghan-
He says:
Had the Democratic Convention re-
fused to nominate Mr.. Geghan, every
Catholic citizen, who honors his man
hood and his religion, would have vindi-
Gated both by withdrawing his support
from the Democratic ticket Catholic
citizens would have punished the mean,
contemplate cowardice which suggested
the rejection of Geghans name, by po-
litical revolution, which would have as
tonished Democratic bigotry."
When Mr.. Geghan's bill was pending
in the Legislature, the editor of the Teie-
graph warned the Democratic members
who should refuse to support it, that
when any of them appeared in the po-
litical arena, he would put brand upon,
them that every Catholic citizen will un-
derstand This was no idle threat and
it was respected at Columbus. The same
hand held the branding iron, and would
have applied it to the back of any Dem
ocrat who, in the County Convention. re-
fused his ratification of the bill by de-
clining to vote for the denomination OF
its author.
The Enquirer put its opposition to Mr..
Geghan on the ground of his objectiona-
BILE open letter to a friend in Cincinnati
"a letter that has obtained notoriety for
its bold assertion of the claim of the
Catholic Church upon the Democratic
party. But the editor of the Telegraph
tells the Enquirer that will never do. 1t
reaffirms all that Mr.. Geghan asserted,
and bases the claim on the ground that
he did. He says:
That claim of Catholic citizens cannot
be denied. The Democratic party owes
Justice to Catholic citizens who have sup
ported it, and the Geghan Bill claimed
nothing more than justice. They gave
to the Democratic party, two years ago,
the political victory which enabled the
representatives of that party to put an
end to the reign of bigotry IN public in
stitutions, by which Catholics were COM
PEELED, in violation of law, to attend
Protestant worship"
And again:
Attracted to that party by the civil
and religious equality which 1T loudly
and persistently promised, Catholic citi-
zens had strengthened its ranks, they
were always loyal and faithful They
were content to be hewers of wood and
drawers of water, claiming as their only
reward that this party, in the day of its
power, would remove the injustice of
bigotry of which they had long COM
planned, and which their enemies could
not and dare not deny"
They had served long enough in their
bondage to the. Democratic party. They
had taken its promises to pay from year
to year, never hinching in their servility.
When Mr.. Geghan took his seat at Co
lumbus, the time had arrived to square
up accounts. Says the Telegraph
1.-The hour came to test the sincerity OF
the professions of the Democratic party
professions that gained for it tens of
thousands of adherents among the Cath
olics citizens of this State, because Catho-
lie citizens, who have felt the hand of re-
ligious oppression, are deeply attached
to and highly appreciate the liberty
which American principles accord, even
if that boon is frequently refused them.
Mr. Geghan was right in applying that
test.
1t was plain to the understanding of
everybody outside the Enquirer Office
that the Democratic party was in q posi-
tion where it could no more deny the claim
represented in the candidacy of Mr..
Geghan than the Democratic Legislature
would have dared refuse the test he ap-
piled to that body. He was candidate
before the Convention, not because he
desired to go back to the Legislature
second time, for he didn't and would
have preferred to be left to attend to his
own private affairs, but because it had
been determined to see whether the De-
mocracy of Hamilton county would have
the rash audacity to advertise its repudi-
alton of the claim which Mr.. Geghan in
his open letter said the Catholics had up
on the party The hewers of wood and
drawers of water have fetched and car
ried for the party long enough, and they
propose now to claim the reward of SER
vice. Behind them stands the editor of
the Catholic Telegraph with the brand
ing iron, heated till it Kisses, in his hand
ready to apply it to the back of any
Democratic politician. who hinches un-
der the tests of the church. There
would have been smell of burned flesh
in these parts, had the convention re-
fused to nominate Mr.. Geghan, that
would have been as penetrating and per-
meating as the stencil of a rendering
shop. Although the Inquisition is ex-
tinct, the skill which it cultivated to the
degree of fine art, of leaving a perma-
nent impression on the cuticle, has not
been lost. The Democrats of Hamilton
county need no reminder of that other
than that which is occasionally supplied
by the editor of the Telegraph, and they
can,, as they look over the number of
that paper for the current week, congrat-
ulate themselves that they did not fol-
low the advice of the Enquirer in their
political action week ago. By obedience
to the demands of the church in re-nom-
mating Mr. Geghan they escaped the pos
tive loss of the Catholic vote in this
county.