National Republican., 1876-05-24
EDITORIAL Postscript.

Professor Merriman says that 1t is 20, 900 900
years since the cocoon first built its reefs in
the warm Laurentian seas. William Allen
says that he remarked when the tertiary de-
posits were being made that the organic re-
mains Of this species would one day delight
the geologist and aid materially in discover
ing the different formations of the globe. 1t
was urged during the recent contest in Ohio
that William should be Governor of the State,
because he knew from personal observation
just how the foundation and different strata
of that great Commonwealth were formed. It
was thought that it would take well with the
the grangers, but 1t didn't.
Man lives and dies, and the world jogs on in
its orbit all the same. The millionaire Stew
art died just five weeks ago. To-day the same
span of spanking bays at the same hour
come down Broadway and circle around the
marble store into Chambers street, there to
wait at the door precisely the same as when
the great merchant prince was engaged in
the active duties of life. Everything seems
the same, except that on the inside there is
another man and on the box another driver.
The world moves On. The mighty ee-hive of
commercial traffic, reared by the unrivaled
genius of Stewart, still huns and bustles with
it's immense trade. All is the same, except
"another man inside" Such is life.
We have a letter from D. D. Foley in an
swer to paragraph which appeared in this
paper yesterday morning concerning his testi-
mony before the Louisiana investigating COM
mittee. Mr.. Foley says We have done him
grieYous wrong. We hope not. We think
too much Of even the most Insignificant of
the human race to do them willful injury.
Life is too short and time too precious to be
elevated to general misery making. But there
are times when 1t becomes necessary to run
the keen knife Of practical criticism into
worthless exhibitions to expose the error men
make by attempting things far beyond their
capacity. Mr.. D. D. undoubtedly supposed
that he bad some great mission to
perform. He says he felt 1t q grave duty
to expose to the proper authority a bare
faced violation Of law. He claims that certain
New Orleans officials aided, for money, the
Landreau brothers in the presentation of the
Peruvian claim, the said action being a yiola-
ton Of section 1852 of the Revised Statutes,
because the United States were interested in
the matter. Mr. u. u. Is mistaken. Inc
claim was private one, and the American
Government had no right or interest in it
whatever. And in the next place, Mr.. D. D.
jumps at conclusions in a very wild way. He
testines that Richard Gibbs was appointed
Minister to Peru in order to secure a settle
ment of the great claim in the interest of
the New Orleans office holders. This
is one Of those strange phantoms that
sometimes arise in the mental gaze of man
which the poet calls the baseless fabric Of a
vision. D. DIS mind was crowded with the
idea that he had the bottom facts in the case.
Bottom facts, as they exist in the imagina-
tion of witnesses who are thinking of fees,
have proven a miserable drug in the commit
Tee rooms this winter. This man begged the
committee to summon him, as he possessed
important evidence, and after he had been
heard and dismissed he appeared before 1t and
attempted to convince them that they were
wrong in considering his testimony worthless.
The committee were unanimous in the belief
that they had been duped, or at least very
foolishly fooled by this witness.