The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1876-03-29
The RepnbEIcam Party EeespOmst-
bile for the 3Efsdeeds Of the
Nen ID has Put ia Office.

If not, who is? Whose agents were
they? Who put them in power and
conferred upon them the opportunity to
commit the crimes which they have com
mitted Who put Gen. Grant in office,
and from whom did Beiknap derive his
power to convert the War Department |
into a brokers' establishment where post |
sutlerships were bought and sold like |
merchandise Where did Creswell get
his opportunities BY whom was Robe
son invested with Office? Certainly not
BY the Democratic party, or from any
source deriving its authority from it.
To come down to State affairs, who
elected Ames and the smaller offenders,
Davis and Cardozo? Responsibility at
taches somewhere, and there is no cum
ming sophistry which could place it any
where except on the shoulders of the
party that in spite Of the remonstrances
Of the intelligent, tax-paying classes OF
the people, conferred upon them the
trusts which it is now conceded they
have forfeited.
These are the kind of agents the Re
publican party, deliberately selects to adj
minister the State government. In
August, 1873, the Republican party select
el seven candidates for as many State
Offices. Three Of this number have been
iInpeached Of high crimes and misde
meanors. Two Of the three have resigned
their Offices under circumstances which
implied confession of guilt, and their
crimes are dwarfed as a mole hill
bv the side of a mountain, compared
to the onenses of the third whose
trial Is yet to take place. In all
the history Of State Administrations,
was there ever a parallel case? Missis-
sissippi has not proclaimed her wrongs as
/ loudly as some of her sisters in misfor-
tune. but has she not had more than any
of them, even South Carolina, to try her
patience and her capacity to endure the
/ evils Of misrule?
To recur to the common sense PROPOSE
/ ton expressed in the title of this article,
that the Republican party is responsible
/ for the acts Of its agents, and by their cor
ruptions has proven itself unfit to be
/ trusted with power. The orthodoxy of
Harpers' Weekly as a Republican journal
will not be questioned. The little organs
may grind out what music they please,
/ bat here is what that able and authorita-
/ tive Republican journal says;
( Recent events. eliminating in the crime
! and disgrace OF the Secretary of War, the
return Of our Minister in England under a
/ charge of swinding and the declaration of
! the Attorney General that he has ''ascer-
/ taiaad" the private secretary OF the Presi-
/ dent to be a lh;ef of private papers, leave
! no sensible Republican a. Gonbt that there
! is but one way in which Republican success
! can be assured in the Presidential election
/ of this year. That way lies in radical and
/ thorough change OF the spirit and character
/ and tone Of the administration. II is puer-
lie n sag that Mr.. BeLt7sap is only an iRdtotdrtaL
! and that q 9GitY should not be held responsible
foY the contact and chGrGcter Of al tgItO choose
/ 10 act tc5th 1t. OR Government Is one Of par
! ties and the PARTY in p0leer cannot egade its re-
/ sa9nsiJtEitg. What is the value of party prin-
! ciples and professions if the men trusted to
/ put them into practice are unfaithful or dis
! honest? Can the Republican party, for in
! stance claim To be a party Of civil service
reform merely because at its last National
I 81,
/ unreseryed terms. bat when it had gained
/ power cOntemptuousiy discarded it? Or
/ can the Democratic party claim TO be IN any
! sense the party OF hard money, whatever it
may say in New ! orl or elsewhere, while
4 its majority in the House shvers and yields
/ to the rag champions? The truth is unde-
/ niable that ten years ago the Republican
I party had the fairest opportunity that was
/ ever offered to political organization Is
| it any less true that this year its only chance
| of success lies in Its power to persuade the
country that it is not hopeiessiy corrupt?
Tie President mast bear his share Of The re-
sponsibtzitg for Hjs IamentabIe result. The
very fact that his administration has been
peculiarly a personal goyernment-that he
has regarded his Office as a reward given to
him for his great services, and not rs trus
! to be administered for the common welfaI e
exposes him to stronger condemnation,
The sordid crime of a member OF the Cab
| met has seryed to conform popular suspi-
cions which were most unwillingly enter
tanned. No news paper can give any reader
any information in regard to the results of
the exposure upon the public mind. They
| have been most disheartening. Tt is not an
iadiridtsaE otenSe. It not only affects an
Administration and a party, but the good
name of the country and the principle of
popular government. Every American
shares the reprOach. and the Indignation will
logically and properly turn toward those
who under our system must be held respon
sible. Every intelligent Republican knows
this.
There IS deep and general dread of Dem
ocratic success III the election of this year,
but there is an equal Indignation ,cih the cor
f1pti0a thai hos been deUeloped under RepuJIi-
can auspices. And that indignation will de-
feat the party if the party cannot prove by
its nomination that those who have con-
troiled, control no longer. If it could be
known that the influences which have ruled
were to continue 70 rule at the White
House. the Republican party would be
already defeated. Safety lies in breaking
with the recent past absolutely and utterly.
We have been sometimes elasSed with the
grumbiers. But Is it those of lis who have
grum bled, who nave insisted that good poll
icy--if DO more-requirSd the tavoring of
men like f. II. Dana jr., and Judge TAFT,
aud net of such as shepherd, who haze
harmed the party, or those who have ac-
guessed in every thing, and vehemently and
pocilerously flstterred and defended every
gross aUI startling error of the Admins