New-York tribune., 1876-12-07
Ey-GOV. SEYMOUR ON CORRUPTION.

College at Albany on tuesday, kho" liau
:" seek only to save the honor of our common
Z" country and to secure the welfare OF the
" American people without regard to party
" distinctions" But we recognize also the
candor of the declaration with which he pre-
faces the statement, "My faith in the party to
." which I am attached and my Indebtedness
&" TO its members may cloud my Judgment"
With great respect for Gov. SeymOur's high
character and perfect faith in his personal in
teerity and tho honesty Of his intentions, we
must still say not only that there is posi-
bility that partisanship may cloud his Judg-
ment but that to an Impartial nina
familiar with the facts the conclusion
il unavoidable that his Judgment has
been so fouded, notwithstanding the purity
Of his motives and his manifest anxiety
10 free himself from prejudice. Coy Seymours
speech, of which the sentences we have quoted
are the conclusion, is a vigorous, and, for him.
harsh and bitter arraignmcnt of the party now
in power for attempting, az he believes, to de-
fraud the people of the country of their choice
and count in the Republican candidates by
fraud. The premises being true, nc exception
could be taken to the vigor and force OF the
arraignment or to the earncstness OF his de-
nunciatiOn of the crime. Whatever may DC
said of the good taste and propnety OF Gov
Seymour's appearance in the role of accuser or
nudge. to which we shall presently refer, there
certainly is no dispute as to the magnitude OF
the offense charged and no question as to the
sutableness of the terms IN which he ex-
presses his righteous Indignation. Gov. Sey-
mour's views upon this subject to-day are
precisely those which The TRIBUNE has always
held, and to which it gave frequent and posi-
tive utterance as long ago IA 1868, upon an
occasion which the Governor may possibly
remember.
One reason why We think be has allowed his
Judgment to be clouded by partisanship Is the
obvious haste with which he has jumped to
the conclusion that corruption on the large
scale he intimates has been practlced, and that
fraud on much larger was intended.
II was not Gov. Seymours habit to fall In so
readily with current rumOr and credit charges
of fraud upon State officials and others fe"
years ago. when, AS all the world knows there
was very much more proof Of them than III
the present case. IL our memory serves us he
WAS quite content to wait until the proofs were
indisputable before making up his Judgment
And even then we do not remember any such
protest OF indignant denunciation of this great
crime as his speech of Tuesday contained
Possibly faith in the party to which he was
attached and his Indebtedness to Its
members may have clouded his Judgment
then. and made his action conservative
and cautious bat we think we detect another
sign Of clouded Judgment in the stress he lays
upon the fact That the Democratic candidates
have popular majority, and the inference
"a tbn lara election
of their opponents must be by unfair methods
and is revolution. Gov. Seymour knows, of
course. that the election Of a President by
minority of the popular vote is quite possible
under our Constitution, without any resort to
unfair methods, that it has several times so
hanpened. and that it is in thorough accord
ance with his own and his partys theory OF
the Federal system, the rights of States, and
their relations to the General Government.
There ia no occasion certainly for any out
burst of Indignation here. 1t was c0ntin-
pency contemplated by the founders of the
Government, was fully discussed in all Its conse-
ouences and has so often happened that the
apparent inconsistency and injustice of 1t have
becp fully discounted in the public mind. Had
Gov. Seymour spoken with little more
frankness upon this subject, even as Demo-
CRATIC partisan, he would have said the ques-
tion ia not one of popular majority. The
President is elected, not by the people, but by
the States. That is Democratic doctrine.
Now as to the proprety of Gov. SeymOur's
anpearance in this particular role. We repeat
that we do not doubt his sincerity or the hon
rsty of his indignant denunciation of the Lou
iHana Returning Board. We believe he has
an honest aversion for the members of that
BOARD ; that he thinks "their touch and pres
" ence are polluting !" and that he is profoundly
in earnest when he says such plots as he be-
lieves them guilty of "invoke anarchy, dis
" tress, and dishonor." And he utters n solemn
truth to which the country should give heed
a truth as cOgent now as in 186S-when he
says: "Aroused patriotism can crush resistance
ito law, but corruption kills honor, virtue,
and patriotism, saps the foundations OF So
ciety, and brings down the structure of
States and nations IN ruin and dishonor."
All forcibly and clearly stated, and as true as
Gospel. And yet these things were just as
true in 1868 when, by the most gigantic elec-
ton frauds ever known in the history of the
country, the electoral vote of Newly York was
given to HOratiO Seymour, and John L. Hof-
man was counted in and held the Office of
Governor. The men who perpetrated those
frauds were full as bad as the Louisiana
any other Returning Board has ever been
charged with being. But they were Demo-
Gratis. Mr.. Seymour never thought their
touch and presence polluting." 1t never oc-