The New Orleans Democrat., 1876-03-04
THE ROGUE,S RO(DST.

Can the Administration fall lower
Is there any deep Of infamy it has no
reached The exposure OF the scandal
Gus practices OF the Secretary of Wal
shocks the whole country, and brings
the blush of shame to the cheek o
every citizen. Will the President nov
give his disgraced Secretary certificate
of character, such as he gave Williams
when he retired from the post Of Attor.
noy General covered with the contempt
of the country, and Delano, when he
skunk out of the Cabinet with the repu.
tation of detected but unconvicted
scoundrcl Such a certificate from the
President now, we think, will not deeply
impress public opinion.
Nearly every intimate friend OF the
President; nearly every confidential
adviser Of the President, has been sus-
pected Of completely in disreputable
practices and in some swindling ring,
and nearly every one of the suspected
parties has been proved to be guilty of
the offense charged against him. Ex-
Attorney General Williams appropria-
ted public money to his private uses
Delano was saved from fate us shame
full as that which has befallen Bel
knap, only by the whitewashing report
of a partisan committee. Neverthe-
less, the country is satisfied that
ho was one Of the strongest
men in the Indian ring The
Minister to England has disgraced
his mission and Is now known to be q
common swindler. Mcdonald and Nc
Kee, trusted officials and friends of the
President, are penitentiary convicts.
Gen. Babcock, the Presidents private
secretary, has escaped conviction as
whisky thief, by the skin of his teeth,
but public opinion has pronounced him
to be guilty and his proper place is with
Joyce, Mcdonald and Mckee. The
present Attorney General lent himself
to the scheme to defeat the law and
clear Babcock and thus disgraced him
self.
Spencer, from Alabama, and West,
from Louisiana, are the Presidents ad-
visers on Southern affairs; Boss Shep-
herd, rolling in wealth he has stolen
from the District Of Columbia, is his in
innate personal friend; and now Bel
KNAPP, one Of the most trusted members
Of his Cabinet, has confessed himself
guilty Of the most shocking corruption.
The President will find it difficult to
convince the country that he was igno-
rant Of the scandalous corruption OF all
these men. The character of the men
with whom he has surrounded him
self is matter OF public notoriety.
The press for some months past
has been exposing their doings,
and representing them in their
true light. The corruption of these men
Is a topic Of common conversation at
and in every city and
in the land. It is utterly |
that the President could
nave been the only man in the United
States ignorant Of the notorious fact
hat the members of his Cabinet, his
advisers, his warm personal
friends, his secretary, his retainers.
we're all swindlers and thieves. It is ut
erly impossible now for the country not
% see that the President has converted
he White House and the Departments
nto rogue's roost, and that he has been
participant in the earnings OF the rob
oers. His own open practices have
been shameful and corrupt. and he has
ime and again appointed individuals to
at offices from whom he had accepted
'ich gifts. He has displayed the ut
most indifference to public opinion, and
las not even observed the decencies of
ice. t='s,4
A more melancholy and shameful spec.