The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-08-01


passing between Washington, Chicago and st.
Louis for period of six months. Associated
press dispatches manufactured every day of
the week-occult and sensational-preparipp
the way for the great event which was to star
tle the nation. Never stage manager nor show.
man made more prodigious efforts at scenic ef-
iect than these fellows did to usher in the in
dictment, which was to "carry the tsint of
WHISKY frauds to the very corridors of the
Vhite House." That is what 1t meant. Bab-
COCK was mere figure head. The aim and
end ofthe intrigue was to injure the good name
OF the chief magistrate.
Now when one comes to consider THAT these
Vaccinations derived their inspiration from
tne once OF cabinet minister, and were act
lively promoted and abetted BY the legal adj
wiser OF the treasury department-that they
were pursued within few rods of the Execu.
i've mansion-and that all the President was
permitted to know about them was what he
could gather from outside sources through the
leakages that occur in the councils of ever, ca
bal; the wonder Is, not that they finally pro-
duced rupture, but that the President was
patient so long under indignites that were an
anront alike to etiquette and decency. The
means by which the Indictment of Babcock
was procured was an affront to Justice. and n
perversion of the machinery of our court.
The actual grand jury which put him upon his
defence was the press. The petit jury ac-
quilted him after seven minutes' deliberations.
1t was not an acquitting kind of jury either.
third of the members had served the Con-
federate cause, and would have liked nothing
better than to convict a Unicn general, es-
pecially one so near the head of the govern
ment. And yet they agreed upon a favorable
verdict with promptitude which implied no
doubt whatever in respect to his innocence.
Ihe newspapers, on the contrary convicted him
before the trial, during the trial, and after the
trial was over. They were just as unanimous
in pronouncing him guilty as the twelve citi-
zens of st. Lonis, who heard all the evidence
and were on their oath, were on declaring him
guiltless. They struck in early on the theory
of guilt, ands it is one OF the proud boasts of
the palladium that it never takes anything
back. Mr.. Dyer and Mr.. Henderson had been
making speeches to the American people.
through the associated press dispatches of a
thousand newspapers. the journals generally
had endorsed the speeches and encouraged rep
etition of them, and long before the case came
to trial every human being who mistakes dec
lamation for argument and accusation for proof,
had settled down into the belief that Babcock
was irreclaimably attainted.
1t is not worth while to traverse the finding
of either of these two jqries now. The smaller
one had nothing more to say after its verdict
was rendered. The larger one has been
screaming guilty! guilty! ever since. With
such odds against him, if Babcock were YER
liable saint, his reputation would be past re-
demption, until the country grew sober enough
to reason about the merits of the case. 1t Is
very clear that President Grant was entirely
satisfied that the charge of his being an &C
complice in the whiskey frauds was false. So
believing it was characteristic of him and
credtable to him, that he rendered his secre-
tary all the assistance in his power to extricate
himself from the net which his enemies were
weaving around him. One of the appliances
resorted to for getting evidences lof frauds on
the revenue was the tender of perfect immu-
nifty to informers. The common sense of the
President suggested to him the dangerous na-
ture of such proposition, and he ordered its
modification. If it had been allowed its
course, it would have acted as premium on
tittle-tattle and slander, and tempted many a
worthless adventurer to strike at the good name
of some thrifty and successful competitor.
The difference between making the govern
ment oppressive and keeping it vigilant seems
to have been better understood in the Exscu-
tive chamber than In the finance or law de-
partments. The prevention of fraud was the
aim of the one, the punishment of fraud the
object of the other. The New York merchants
who have had some little experience of the
first and vast deal of the second, will appre.
ciate the distinction. In all such matters, lay
men as general rule have far better judg-
ment than lawyers. The President was right,
the Secretary and Solicitor wrong. 1t were
better that some guilty men should escape than
that system of subornation should be estab.
lished which would subject the innocent to per-
secution and outrage.
The scandal mongers are terribly disap.
pointed that Wilson has failed entirely to in-
culpate the President Absurd as it was to
suppose such a thing possible, when fifteen
yCoiS Va tOhoPiSoOuo puuAO iilC udFC chtdDuSueQ
beyond peradventure the purity and rectitude
of Gen. Grant, there were people base enough
to hope that he might in some way be reflected
upon. He is going out of office soon, and it as
much as ever the habit of time servers to turn
from the setting to the rising sun. The ass Of
the fable kicked the lion when he was shorn of
his strength. The descendants of that doughty
quadruped, reveal their lineage by braying at
the retiring President. For the credit of hu.
manity, it is to be hoped there are not many
of them, but their power of vociferatiou is in
keeping with their pedigree
have no doubt the public. pulse in the main
beats BEAUTIFULLY in reference to the point. 1t
is very rare to hear any one in private coaver-
sation say anything derogatory to the Presi-
dent. There are certain manly instincts in the
the average human breast which incite utter
loathing for the vulger brutality which assails
with ribald jest or coarse buffoonery blsms-
less citizen on whom the Republic has twice
bestowed the highest civic honors in her gift,
and whose name will be inscribed on the his
toric page as that of the most illustrous soldier
of his age.
The prevailing irreverence and indecency in
the tone of criticism of men in high station is q
deplorabe evil. 1t is dreadfully destructive OF
refinement and good taste, and is rapidly Great
ing vocabulary of slang. 1t evinces the decay
of patriotism and national pride. 1t is aston
ishing how some people accustom themselves
to the dialect of the slums through seeing it in
print. Derisive nicknames are indiscriminate-
ly applied to persons and to things, and our
language is becoming perceptibly debased.
The real missionary work of this generation, is
to elevate its manners and to purify its idioms.
1t is amusing to note how the Democratic
House backs and fills, twists aud turns, cuts
and capers about the repeal of the Resumption
Act. Any believer in honest money who does
not feel thankful that there is an impossible
barrier to any such "step backward" in the per.
son of the President does not appreciate his
blessings
Quite another view of Democracy is permit
ted to an astonished nation, in the vote on the
contested election case of Platt uersus Goode.
In the face of such shameless act of partizan
unfairness, how hollow the pretences Of homes.
ty and 'reform" do sound.
That performance, and the majority report
on the Navy Department, are such notable ex-
amples of craftsmanship that it might be we'll