The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1876-05-08
Chr 9ailg Argus,
The President Stands hx Relknan

The friends of the president will rejoice
that he stands by his friends under fire. -
He has probably no friend, unless it NAV
be Mcdonald, who is now ia Jail, who is as
much under fire. as Belknap. Belknap
is not before the senate for impeachment.
but before the grand jury for indictment.
His offence is that to make a show in
Washington society he entered into an
arrangement to plumber the poor soldiers
on the plains. This offence he confessed
and resigned his Office. The only pretext
upon which he can escape impeach ment is
one afforded by the president himself, who
accepted his resignation with regret and
allowed him to go free. This was standing
by friend under fire, and we under
stand it touched the hearts of such good
republicans as Matt Carpenter aud Gov
ernor Shepherd.
But this is not all Among the witnesses
against General Belknap is General Gus
ter, a distinguished officer 10 the army.
General Custer has for some time been in
command of lost on the frontier and has
had opportunities of knowing all that has
been done in the way of robbng the
soldiers and the Indians. Because of this
knowledge he has been summoned before
the court Of Impeachment. Suddenly he
is deprived OF a command which he has
has always held with distinguished honor,
and sent back to his regiment disgraced
professionally, 50 far as an order of the
president can disgrace him. We have no
rna .o,1 81
we read in the Washington column of
contemporary that the president did not
nean to allow Custer ito smirch the ad
mlnlstratlon. In other words, the presi-
dent announces to the army of the United
States that if any officer knows ANYTHING
about the doings of Belknap, OrviHe
Grant, General Rice, or any one of the
crowd of army bummers" VINO swarm
around the administration, he must keep
his lips sealed under the penalty of dis
grace. And as the president, as the COM
mander OF the army and the navy has
power almost unlimited in this respect his
action is virtually an order to every officer
of the army who knows of the villiany of
men about the president to keep their
counsel.
This action of the president in the case
of Custer is unfortunate. If the president
had any charges agains: the general he
should have ordered him before the court
of inquiry. But because General Custer
has evidence of the corruption and jobbery
OF Orville Grant, his own brother, of Bel
KNAPP, his former war secretary, and Of the
rest OF his army bummers," he is sent to
his regiment under circumstances that
amount to "a humiliation. This action is
on par with the presidents course in is
s1ing circular to all witnesses against
Babcock and Joyce, and Mcdonald warn.
ing them that they should not expect
mercy if they ''peached 1t shows that
Belknap, prisoner before the bar of the
senate. charged with crime which has
brought disgrace upon the American rame
ell over the world, is as much a power as
when in the VIZ department. The fact
that the presideut's order was issued in
spite OF the protests Of Secretary Taft and
General sherman shows that there is
power in Washington behind the throne
greater even than that OF cabinet ministers
9r generals 10 command of the armv.-N
J. Herald