Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1877-01-26
That Check.

After all the evasion, squIrming and
quibbling over the $4,000 Oregon slush.
fund check, the cover has at last been
removed from the transaction and re-
veals the form of Mr.. William Tilden
Pelton, Mr.. Tilden's nephew, confden.
tial secretary and political manager, as
the dispenser and distributor of that
bar'l o money which the Reformers try
to look on as pleasant fiction of the
enemy. This is not the first time that
the zeal and genius of Col. Pelton has
been recognized in that adroit manage
ment which has obscured our admiration
for the Reformer by compelling our
deeper admiration for the wire-puller.
Mr.. Pelton was drawing a salary from
the State of New York-for services
whish were largely imaginary-at the
time when Mr.. Tilden began his active
preparations for the St. Louis Conven-
tion, and the first triumph of his genius
was seen in the paid puifs which were so
lavishly distributed over the country
through the agency of Bates &c Locke.
Although the execution of this little
maneuver failed to pan out as well as
might be expected, its neatness and orig
inality stamped Mr.. PeltOn as one of the
master minds of political reform, and
when his martial form was duly seen fit
ting about the lobbies of the Senate COM
mittee and tampering with the witnesses
in the most high-toned manner it was
easy to infer that his gigantic intellect
and cunning hand had not been wanting
to that master stroke of reforming STRAIT
egy achieved in Oregon.
"a (N11 1low Del
ton who, on the 9th day of December
last, purchased from the Third National
Bank of New York a check for IS 600,
to be paid at Salem, Ore. 1t was Mr.
Tilden's political manager who was so
anxious to battle any inquiry into this
little transaction that he dogged the foot
steps of the witnesses as they were sum-
moned to Washington, and endeavored
to set up the evidence which he wished
them to give. 1t was lot a nice transac-
tion for any man tG be engaged in, in any
capacity. Had Ben Butler, Simon Cam
erOn or Zach Chandler been caught in
any such transaction the whole country
would have heard of nothing else, and
the necessity of a change OF party would
be clearly argued out from that one cir
cumstance. Looked at from the stand
point of ordinary honesty, it is about as
dirty a transaction as has ever defiled the
record of our scandalous politics; but,
from the Reformer's point of view, it
seems to be accepted as an ordinary in
cident of Reform campaign. 1t was set
up entirely in the interest of the great
est political Reformer of modern times;
it was planned by Reformer; it was
carried out entirely among Reformers,
and, thus far, not a single Reformer, in
public or private life, has been heard to
lift up the voice of honest indignation,
and to say that the hypocrite who could
descend to such a depth of baseness
properly belonged to the Penitentiary,
and not in the White House.
We have not the slightest desire to
exaggerate, or in any way to misrepre-
sent, this tranaction. We do not care
to utilize it for the manufacture of pOlit-
ical capital. We simply point to it as it
stands by the evidence and confession
of the conspirators, and we ask the hon
est people of this country to judge for
themselves of the nature of the transac-
tion, and of the character of those
who are responsible for it. Had 1t been
au uOAOot lAduodSblOui Hdu tHVIC DCCu
nothing in it TO be ashamed of, we may
be very certain that no such strenuous
efforts would have been made to hide il
out of sight; and once we are compelled
to think of it as a dishonest transaction,
as something which its authors have
good reason to be ashamed of, there is
no stopping short of the conclusion that
it was piece of shameless corruption
such as has very rarely been known
In any other country than this it would
amply suffice TO secure conspicuous pun
ishment for every one concerned in it,
yet one-half of this country at least
seems disposed to think of it as a very
justifabe piece of political strategy, tC
be regretted only because it was found
Out.-iSt. Louis Globe. Democrat.