Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1876-07-06
Grant and BriStOM.

Grant and BriStOw.
Now that Secretary Bristow. not
having received the Republican NOM
inatiOn for President of the United
States, has, for private reasons of his
own retired from the cabinet, we can
write of him dispassiOnately and with
out danger of misinterpretatioH. We
have no desire to disparage the ex-Sec-
rotary or his work. BY the act of the
President, he became an instrument of
the Administration for carrying out a
great work of practical reform, and
that portion of it which fell to him to
do, he did WELL So much we freely adj
NIT, and even claim for Benjamin III.
Bristow, but we have never been able
to understand fully the sort of consis-
tency which characterized the special
champions of Bristow, as a candidate
for the Presidency. We will admit that
their praises of Mr.. Bristow are well
deserved but the same papers and the
same men who regard men as the embOd-
iment of political purity and virtue
were and are in the habit of denounc-
ing President Grant in the bitterest
terms. No censure is too severe, no
Odium too great to be cast upon him.
He is held up as the embodiment of all
that is corrupt in national politics, as
one who seeks for his advisers and for
the chief offices within his control only
men deficient in mind and culture, and
debauched in morals. And yet the
views they hold concerning Grant
places Bristow in the category of the
low and corrupt. BY what sort of
blindness they are afflicted we cannot
fully comprehend, for it is clear to ev-
cry Observant person that except for
Grant, BristOw would now be a mOder-
ately successful Kentucky lawyer, and
would no more have been thought of
for the Presidency than hundreds of
thousands of others. Every position
in which Benjamin HI. Bristow has
achieved any distinction was conferred
upon him by President Grant. He
proved himself efficient in the discharge
of his duties, and Grant continued to
advance him. We do not yield to his
special champions in admiration for
him, but he is not entitled to all the
Treasury made him prominent, deserv-
edly so, but it is nonsense to give him
all the honor for the successful raids on
the whisky ring. He could have ac-
complished absolutely nothing without
the full and unqualified support of the
President. His words to .Bristow,
Let no guilty man escape" were an
inspiration as clear as his "Push
things were to Sheridan, just prior
to the surrender of Lee, and if he is
worthy to be known in the overthrow
of Lees rebel army, he is entitled to
the same degree of honor in the over
throw of the whisky ring. And it was
not merely the Presidents approval
that Bristow had. His active support
was given. Without it the Secretary
could have accomplished but little.
Most of the Secretary's work must nee
essarily be done through subordinates.
These were created by the President.
and the very best assistance the coun-
try could supply was furnished the Sec
rotary. Commissioner Pratt was APP
pointed for the express purpose of rem
ovating and making more efficient the
bureau of Internal Revenue, and it will
be known sometime that Daniel ID.
Pratt, Commissioner of Internal Rev
enue, has served the country i'm the de-
struction of the whisky ring, quite as
efficiently, if not as actively and direct
ly as the ex-Secretary. Solicitor Will
son also bore a prominent part in the
prosecution, and others still, connected
with the Treasury department and with
the department of Justice, worked
most efficiently. 1t should be remem-
bered that every one of them was en-
tirely dependent on the president for the
tenure of his Office, and the result has
shown that the condition of his retain
ing it, was zeal and efficiency in the
discharge of his duties. Does not any
one see that the Secretary could have
done little or nothing, if he had not
constantly received the active encour-
agement and support of the Presidentr
Under ali the circumstances it is the
height of nonsense, OF of unreasoning
malignity, TO rail at the President, and
in the same breath bestow the highest
enconiums on Bristow. He is entitled
to praise for Jealous and efficient dis
charge of his duties; but so is Commits
Toner Pratt, and Solicitor Wilson, and
Attorney General Pierrepont, and the
various District attorneys, and most of
all, the President, for his appointment
of the bes. men to be found for the
work in hand, and for the vigilant and
active support he has constantly given
them.