Pioche daily record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1872-1876, 1876-03-18

The election OF Democratic House Of
in 1874 now proves to
be national blessing. Not that the
Democratic party is the custodian Of the
honor of the country. but that the exist
ence Of powerful opposition in Congress
ia necessary to honest administration.
Would Republican House have investi.
gated the corruption of the War Depart.
ment2 Never. Party pride prohibited
the admission that inquiry was needed.
IN. Y. Herald.
There is good deal of pith and meat
in the above paragraph. Not on account
of any peculiar merit Of the Democracy
but OF the absolute necessity fora search
ing, rigorous investigation of the admin
istration Of public affairs. So long as
the party which has controlled the ma
tional councils since 1861, retained
majority in both Houses Of Congress, oil
attempts at inquiry were practically a
dead letter. The result of most efforts
looking toward a scrutiny of official acts
was the manufacture and application Of
pail OF the thickest kind of whitewash.
Political partisanship acted as an ex-
tinguisher Of patriotism. The good Of
the party was the all-controlling motive
which destroyed every aspiration toward
a higher, better and purer standard.
To prove that this was the case
it is only necessary to refer to the
testimony given in the whisky frauds.
1t is in testimony that for years before
any attempt was made to check the
| whisky frauds and discover their authors,
their existence was known TO the highest
officers Of the Government. the Presiden!
included. But there, as in other cases,
the exigencies Of party controlled, and
the frauds were permitted to go on,
though the country was annually losing
millions upon millions, and the fail
trader and manufacturer were being ru.
ined. 1t was only when the certainty OF
detection stared the great officers Of the
country in the face that they tardily placed
in motion the machinery Of outraged jus
tice. II there had not been a majority
in the House of party opposed
to the administration, the whisky frauds
would never have been unearthed by the
| present administration. The rotten SORE
was there; that was known, and so pat
ent that it could not be hoped to escape
the keen scented scrutiny of politica
opponents. AS we said before, it was o
no consequence as to the party bias o
the criminals or the detectives. The ne
cessity was that the latter had no politica
utilization with the former. Regarded IL
this view, the fact that majority of thu
House is politically opposed to thu
administration is blessing to the
country. 1t will not only search out ant
punish form er crimes but the fear OF de
lection will prevent them in future. Ii
fact the great use Of parties in a nationa
point of view, is that one acts as chez
on and the censor Of the other. On tn
other hand. the great evil is, that part
san purposes very frequently cause tn
welfare of the country to be entirely fol
cotton. More especially is that the case
when q great majority in both legislativ
chambers are for an extended period c
the same political leanings as the e1
ecutive and administrative branches o
the government. In that case, as la'
events have proven, the public intere
is sure to be neglected and abused an
corruption OF the very worst characte
are certain to prevail. Those evils no
exist, and are of most obnoxious an
baleful type. That being the situation
it must be conceded, that the preser
House of Representative is proving
be national blessing. because it is @,
posing and Furnishing, the most deian
strongly fortified and sturdy set of rol
bers who ever depleted and stole tt
national revenues Of any country.
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