Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-10-05

SPEECH OF PARKE GoDwfN.--In a
recent speech, Parke Goodwin, the en-
inent publicist, speaking of the great
evils which beset the country at the
close of the war and of the manner in
which they were treated by the Repub-
lican party, said:
Our managers struck at nothing but
the industries of the people: resuscita-
ted nothing bat paper money. ZAP
plause. They had not allowed siu-
gle Issue of the struggle, although final
y settled, to sink into oblivion They
had cxertcd themselves to preserve the
rancor and bitter sentiments which the
strife engendered, and had cast behind
them the maxim of the poet, The ,ol
dier's sword should sink before the
statesman's pen, and the calm head re-
place the violent hand. ["Great APP
piause.
And at the very close of the conflict
what had the Republicans done They
had chosen as ruler of this land, in such
need of wise and good administration,
an utterly incompetent man, and they
had so chosen him, and intrusted him
with statesman's duties, not because
he was statesman, but because he was
soldier. Their history for the past
ten years had been in strict accordance
with their action then. 1t had been
marked with blunders, incompetency,
and corruption Had IT been otherwise
their policy would have been, in the
very first instance, to consolidate the
public debt at lower rate of interest;
to reorganize the system of taxation; to
reform the civil service; to reduce ex-
penditures; and to adopt measures to
conciliate the South, which were abso-
lutely demanded, not only by this whole
country, but by every Christian heart
throughout the universe. Cheers.
Instead of consolidating the public
debt they had attempted to pay it off.
Now, it sounded very well as a
campaign cry that they were engag-
ed in paying off this debt, but the
prospect was less hopeful when it was
understood, as was the fact, that they
were grinding mems bones to do it.
The debt had to be settled, but it was
no time to pay it when the treasury was
empty and the country flooded with
starving men, unable to obtain food or
work. At such a time the only wise
and true policy would have been to
have consolidated it, and reduced the
unne cessarily large rate of interest,"
Applause.
But the stupidity evinced by the Ad-
ministration in their dealings with the
currency question, with taxation, with
their treatment of the South, and with
various other issues, paled into insig-
nifiCance before their management of
what they called "civil service reform"
Mr.. jerks, of Rhode Island, promi-
nent Republican, had said that he did
net think a more corrupt, vicious, and
a5ominable system existed in any coun-
try on the face Of the globe. Mr.. jerks
was right. But the public sentiment
that the civil service should be reformed
was too strong to be resi- ted, and tho
President instituted a co,nmie ion orin
vestigation, with Mr.. Geo " Curt %
its head What wa II snt} s
usual, prodIglpu praujsa rs.ro nst.
CunKHngi rrurT11, C-T-77. r77s.sy7fszz-s-
all the Republican Senator laasac1 ~
scorn this proposed reform. and Curi'
retired in disgust, amid \ gentle nipple
OF smiles. Applause. The Repubi
can Admini,tr atlon, continued The peak
er, became finally SO nagrantly corrupt,
that one after another the best ard par-
est of the party, seeing no hope of re-
form in its ranks, left it in disgust
Sumner, Adams. Trumbull, Schurz,
Cox, and Upton all seeded. The
President set the example of abusing
the power vested in him by treating
his patronage as something he could
confer upon his friends and relatives at
will. His entire kith and kin, to three
or four removals, were provided by him
with comfortable sinecures, and Offices
were made for his friends. Moreover,
his Commissioners went about the
country levying tribute upon every con-
tractor who was fool enough to submit
to the extortion. Now it was quite inn
possible for these things to have occur
red unless the leaders of the dominant
party were willing that they should go
on; but how could the Republican mem
bers of.Congress set up to be reiormers
of others when they were so badly in
need of reformation themselves p
Laughter ard applause. They had
Just pocketed salaries for which they
had done no service, and with the mon
ey IN their possession it would have ill
become them to assume the role of re-
formers.
The army of the United States, the
orator continued had been used to sus-
tain parcelof scoundrels inpower. "a
voice, "Carpet-baggers. This charge
was not from a Democratic source, but,
like all the others he had made during the
evening, it was supported and endorsed
by the expressed opinions of leading
Republicans. Evarts, Bryant, Dodge,
Cooper, and hundreds of others of its
chosen mouthpieces had repeatedly said,
in public addresses, that the .inteEfHAII
ence atthA.eAh mis- country before the
laIl s,S " The whiskey frauds, too were
e ~UrrS apss.ssss 'smIaans eas.s;
They had been traced TO some OF the
highest officers in the land, land, said
the speaker, 81 blush to say it, even to