Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-03-08
MEMPHIS APPEAL
WEDNESDAY, MARCH S, 1876.
GRANT AND BELKNAP.

feasance. We make place for every
shade Of opinion, from that of the YER
lest toady and sycophant of the Grant
administration, up through the various
grades Of RepUblicanism and Independ-
ency, to the pure Democracy which for
years has been struggling with corrup.
ton in an earnest endesver to secure the
administration Of all the State as well
as the national afairs for capable, ener-
getic and honest hands. We have no
desire TO assume for the Democratic par
ty the exclusive possession Of every vir-
tue, or to assert that it comprises ell that
is "grest and gOodn of the msnliness and
intelligence of the Union. But we do
claim that the Republican party has per-
mitted its worst elements 10 take posses
sion Of place and power, and even after
the saddest experiences were brought to
light, TO release and hold that pow
er with the shfbboleth OF 10y
ally upon its lying lips and
the pretence Of superior claims for
past services in its hollow heart. We
claim that notwithstanding the cry Of
the people Of South Carolina, Of Missis-
sippi, Of Arkansas and Louisiana, ii per-
mitted Grant to work his will through
packs Of thieves the most nefarious and
infamous that ever cursed country;
that it supported Grant in his usurps-
lions in those States, and in his en-
forcement therein Of carpetbag rule
at the point Of the bsyo-
net. We claim that it applaud
ed while the carpetbsg thieves, under
pretense Of loyalty, robbed our already
downcast people of more than three
hundred million Of dollars, shot down our
citizens, rsided our fsirest territory with
s wild and brutal negro militia, demon
allied our labor and laid waste our most
productive acres. We hold it RESPONSE
BILE for Kellogg, for Spencer, for Moses,
for Ames, and the long list that once
ruled in Arkansas with bloody hand.
We hold it responsible, and 80 will
the country at large, for Williams, who
murderOus thieves, and who disgraced
Pierrepont's present place by lsndsulet
savings. We hold it responsible
for Delauo, forced from the head
ship Of the Interior department
on account of his misfeassnces; for
Cresgwell, whose transactions as post
msster-geneTal are a legacy Of wrong
the country never can right; for drunk
en- Chandler; for Robson, whom the
New York Sun every day brands as a
thief; for imbecile Bore, for corrupt
Richardson and fOr Jewell, who, though
scarce year In the postal department,
is smirched and befouled by the ma
neuvre Of the dirty nest. We hold them
responsible for Bslknsp standing to. day
q self-eonfessed felon, guilty Of robbing
the poor private soldier that he and his
wife might shine as the leaders of a so.
clety rotten to the core. We hold 1t
responsible, toe, for Grant, the type Of
supreme loyalty, who, branded as a liar
by Andrew Johnson, is, to-day, con-
victed OF lying q second time, aud Of
being all but confidant and sharer in
the gains Of the disgracsd secretary of
war. We hold this party respOnsiblsfor
all the bloOdshed since the war, for the
mountain Of southern State debts,
for the whisky thefts, and the mall
feassnces and misfeasances in Office
which have brought the moral credit of
the country down below thst Of Turkey
The Bslknsp downfall is the last fruit
Of this disgrsceful condition Of our pub
lie sffzirs, aud we fear is not the worst
II is the natural result Of a system based
not upon principle but passion, Of par
tisanshlp which strengthened itself and
renewed its lease OF power by the cry Of
loyalty long after so-c8lled disioyalty
had ceased TO make an armed resistance,
aud when the States in rebellion had
sealed the results Of the war by the in
corporation of all that the dominant
party required in their organic law. A
sad, very Esd sffsir-a disgrace out CT
which the republic can only come
by prompt and severe punishment of
the crimiDsl-it is the legitimate OUT
growth Of the ssvagery displayed at the
south by Grant and his party. Belknap
represents to-day all the evil Influences
which have controlled Grant, and have
too often ended in robbery Of
the people. he was the ally OF
Shepherd, Of Bsbccck and Of the bsstr
kind Of politicians all over the country,
end his influence Overthe President aud
upon public affairs was purely evil, snd
evil Of sordid, vulgar and dsmoraliz.
ing kind. His crime Is vulgar and sor.
did, and the mans character il the
same. He represents the lowest element
OF American political society, aud his
exposure and disgrace are an unmixed
benefit to the public. In the cabinet
he was the superserviceable tool Of the
worst influences which surround the
White House. He had no sense of the
dignity Of politics; no regard for Justice;
SO little regard for propriety that be
could telegraph to Louisiana last year
the notorious dispatch that "sll OF US |
(meaning all the cabinet) approved Of |
the dispersion Of the Legislature by the
bayonet;" and so little sense Of personal
dignity that when he was directly called
To account by other members Of the cab.
Inst Tor having made a false statement
about them be submitted 10 questions