National Republican., 1876-04-07
The GRADGRIEDs AT WORK.

II the generous excitement that exists
coocernlng the discharged women of the
Printing Bureau of the Treasury extends
far enough TO calluniverssl attention to the
dark side OF the life Of the Government
employee at Washington, it will not have
been called forth in vain if it goes fur
ther, and rouses the nation to indignation
at the spectacle of the gradgrinds of the
Forty. .foarth Congress at work, it will do
still more good. The pitiable sight Of
political faction expressing the poor. the
fatherless, young and deliC ate women with
dependent families. and others who are
desolate and poverty stricken. for the mere
purpose OF gaining a name for economy, is
enough to brand the political party which
incites and encourages such acts as infa-
nous beyond the hope Of redemption. The
public will see that, instead Of being eco-
nomical in any fair sense. q policy Of
aggression against the most sensitive
of the moral privileges of the people is
being pursued. The iusinua,ion is con-
veycd that niggsrdlIness is preferred by
many Of the American people to honesty
and fair dealing, and that contemplate
meanness is shining virtue in their eyes
compared with humane spirit. The pub
lie will not fail to see this and rebuke it,
too, for the fact that Government employ
ecs suspended from work by the action Of
these economists, have actually died from
starvation and from the deprivations con-
sequent upon their sudden and unexpected
dismissal from work, is substautiated be.
yond all question. In this enlightened age,
in this Capital city of the greatest and most
humane nation on the earth, with Congress
in session, women-employees Of this great
Government-have gone from door to door
and begged for food, and have died alone
and neglected in their attics and cherries
rooms of starvation, while these petty po-
litical gradgrinds have haggled over the
question of their pay, Will not the public
see this? Will they not mark these inhu-
man misers for political slaughter, or can
it be justly said that mercy has fled to
british beasts, and that the public support
this monstrous indignity? 1t cannot be.
The stain that now rests upon the commit
tee having the appropriation of means to
relieve these oppressed sufferers in charge
will not be wiped away in day, but will
grow and expand until that which is no
larger than hand will become an envel-
oping cloud.
They may have saved a penny, but it is
red with the blood of their victims. The
facts cry out against them. They have
been cognizant that suffering and misery
untold follow from their hardened disre-
gard of their most sacred obligations, and
yet they Go not heed or care. Useless in
vestigations follow upon useless invcstiga-
tioDs. Money which would save whole
city full from despair and wretchedness is
wasted to secure trifing proofs for political
ends, or TO garnish the regulations of de-
caying party hacks. The opulent commit
tees roll to the Capitol ia their carriages
and roll hack again. Soft cushions shield
their precious bones from injury. Luxury
surrounds them on every side. They draw
their pay Of thousands promptly and with
self-satisffed pride. But guant poverty
watches them GO by. The hollow-eyed
children Of want remember them, though
they themselves are unseen. They know
that they hold their noses to the grindstone
firmly and securely. They call it the pro-
cess of patriotic economy. and grind them
that they may flourish; and the public looks
on. l; the self satisfied reformers think
the public do not see the whole picture in
its shameful outlines, they are mistaken.
The time will come when it will be shown
that they realize it fully, entirely. The
gradgrinds are having their day, but they
will soon give way to a larger, nobler
shape ofreprcsentative men-men who be-
lieve that economy at the expense of hu-
man life and prolonged misery is an out
raGeous blot upon the name of humanity
itSr1F