The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-03-03
WHO WERE THE PARTY BIGOTs =,

Those democrats who find fault with the
members of the electoral board dividing pc.
litically make no complaint that the demo.
Gratis on the board all vote together. They
want a united democratic vote and divided
republican vote to help out the democratic
side.--hdnkdkee Gazette.
The above is the stereotypeG way in which
all the republican papers attempt to excuse
the extreme party bigotry shown by the re-
publican members of the electoral commits
sion. TO show its gross uniarness, we copy
the following from the Philadelphia Ledger,
a paper which is we'll known always to have
been strictly neutral in politics and scrupu.
lously fair and unbiased in all its political
illusions, although Mr.. Childs, its publisher,
is known to be a republican, and IA warm
personal friend of President Grant, who has
more than orce been entertained at the
Chllds mansion in Philadelphia. The view
of the Ledger must certainly commend itself
to every honest man:
The tribunal was, from the outset, trusted
with the patriotic hopes and honored with
the fullest confidence of three-fourths OF the
people of the United States, in the belief that
the solemn circumstances attending the ne
ccsslty and the act that brought 1t into being
would cause all its members with possibly
three exceplions) to rise above all party con-
siderations in the discharge OF their momen
tous duty. In the light OF this antecedent
hope and confidence, and IN view of the
votes written on the record of the commission
il is pitiable TO observe that every important
question thus far submitted to the commits
sion has divided the commissioners, eight to
seven, on strict party lines, accordingly as
the decision would help the case of Governor
Hayes or hurt the case of Governor Tilden
1t was not believed by fair. minded, intelligent
men that such division could come about
The outside adherents of each party mutually
charge this as a dIscrcdit on the opposing
members of the commission. The Jealous
democrats repvoach the republicans with
these partisan votes the of eight republican
commissioners, and the jealous republicans
retOrt by pointing to the partisan votes OF the
seven democrats on the commission. This is
about what might be expected from that sor
of discussion. But that which Will live IL
history and ID the minds of the vast majority
of the public is this: That the seven voted
to look into the evidence, voted to take testi
mony and voted to let in light, so as to Gel
at the truth; and that the eight voted all the
time to turn away from eviderce, to shut out
the light, and so to close the door upon all
effort to find the truth. The seven voted IN q
way to promote the great object for which
the commission was created; the eight voted
in a way to make the commission utterly
useless for the principal purpose for which
it had any reason for being in existence at all
The Senator, the Judge, the Presidential as
pirant, the party that supposes the eyes OF
the American people can be closed to this
vital aspect Of the matter is making sigma
and perllous mistake. The American people
know what is honorable, fair, manly and just
and their ultimate decisions always show
that they not only know, but that they ac
upon their knowledge.