Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1876-05-10
Davenport, the Supervisor.

We had a slight touch OF the Su-
peryisor business in local elections, a
few years ago, in this city, in one or
two Wards, which was but a mild IL
lustratation of the kind of work which
John l. Davenport, Supervisor of Fed
eral Elections and United States Com
missioner, was doing in New York.
According to ex-Attorney-General
Williams, the President said that
Davenport is engaged in great
work up there" for which che must
have the money" The abuse of pow
er of which he was guilty in single
instance will be readily remembered.
It was his act of dragging German
voter from his own house and contin-
Ing him in prison until the election
had passed, because the latter declined
to answer his questrons. The Demo.
cratic press protested vigorously
against such a stretch of the authority
with which the new law OF Repub-
lican Congress clothed him as an
Election Supervisor, but the party in
power professed to see nothing in the
act which sayored of outrage or de-
served even harsh criticism. The law
under which fifty thousand dollars
were annually appropriated to the Sc
cret Service fund required that the
appropriation should be employed in
''the detection and prosecution of
crimes against the United States "
Davenport, the Supervisor, will be al
lowed to show, if he can, how nearly
half of that sum, which was deemed
sufficient for the protection of The
whole country, was spent by Daven-
port in one year, and in about two
months of that year, in New York
city alone. 1t will devolve on Daven-
port, the Supervisor, to demonstrate
that an unprecedented outbreak OF
crime against the United States was
imminent or occurred in New York,
in that year, which happened, too, to
be the year of the last general cleo
ton. 1872. in which the President
bore a leading interest.
1t can be accounted for only on Mr.
Blaines theory, as recently enunclated
on the floor Of Congress, that the Re.
publican partyis the Government and
, the Government is the United States.
Any sort of opposition, then, to the
party plans was to be considered Grim
inal Just as all citizens who formerly
dared to vote against that corrupt and
now thoroughly disgraced party were
pronounced disloyal-a word that is
not indigenous to our free soil, but is
transplant from the courts of mon
archical Europe Davenport, the Su
pervisor, called for money for whose
} disbursement he has been summoned
. to give legal vouchers. The case j:
, now eliminated of Whitley, William:
r and Akerman, and is narrowed dow
to Davenport, the Supervisor, and the
t President. The latter gave express
orders, as ex-Attorney- General. Viii
r liams test;fes under oath, for the pay
: ment of moneys from the Secret Ser
: vice fund of the Department Of Jus
T. tice to the former, and the receipts
$ for these moneys are not given b.,
y Davenport, as Supervisor, or as an OF
q fetal of the Government at all, but b.
!, Davenport for himself simply. l
v must have been, as the President says
J. "a great work" which required larg
h sums of money from the Secret Sci
a vice flnd, but forbade receipts there
Is I ; in the customary official form
; which is the only legal one. A simpl
II due bill OF Davenport, this time not a
d Supervisor, was made to perform tn
/. function of a receipt All depend
v now on the value of the vouchers {
e. Davenport, the Supervisor and Con
,r missioner. As mere Davenport b
,r can give none which Congress can a.
.e cept. Unless he proves his ability
or satisfy so plain and necessary a re
" quirement, the Presidents ord'
,e stands forth an order to take Govern
a. ment money for illegal, not to say co
u, rupt, purposes, and it will then belon
ID to him to explain his act to the sati
Is faction of Congress and the countr,
of Il Boston Post.
RONNEr IOyE.-The Scotsma