Litchfield enquirer., 1877-10-04


 sistence and vigor wefthly of a better cause He did not :ibloW me out of wats CT, noE but Of my place in Congress, but he did his utmost to make good his threat, as Isupposed ke would when he uttered
 Adasein another town was partic c1liarfy efnbaFfassing. There were two prornin- ent applicants for the post-offce, both of whom were my friends, and ,as believed, siucef6 ones. Toward both had the most friendly feelings. but unfortunately each of them stood ct the head of small faction of Repnbl cans. and each vas ip-. tehssiy hostile to the other. I knew that the appointment of either would intro duce dlscord in the party which | natux- ally wished to avoid. I should have been satisfed to recommend either if the Epfher had been out of the way. Hoping that something would turn mp, delayed the appointment. To my great relief, the one towhom my sYmpathies were the more strongly drawn wrote me, saying that he realized the embarrassment of the situa- ti0n, and for the sake of harmony had de- ciedIo Withdaw his application: he hop cd, however, that I would secure the ap- pointment of a friend of his, whom he namedao This person was entirely worth; and other the applicant having mean time withdrawn, immediately recom- mended his appointment. I really want ed t0 obllRe tbS man; to whom | felt fafi- der Considefable obligation. SO far ass c0uld doSso without injury to oa the party: and although knew should awake the enmityS0f the other original applicant. yet, as this could affect only myself, and asI believed the new candidate compet- erta and honest, I did not hesitate mo- ment., But no sooner had my friend ob- tAined the appointment of his man than he indited letter to a newspaper of the district, published by relative of his, in which he opened the vials of his wrath sto an extent exceeding anything I had ever seen befure.- The relative accompanied the letter with an editotisl which, for vil- lifcation and abuse, has seldom had its equal h bhe hewspaper literature of the day. And this atttack was but a prem bl9 of wllht was to fcaow9 For montha and years was the standing subject of that newspapers maledictions.. ..i Whensv- CT the editor lacked another subject to write npoRr he resorted to the representa7 tivain Gbngress.4 1.-The needed three lines to,6u mp e. column, he found room, in them Co utter Accommodation of the mem- her of Congress If he needed column, ofthrse columns, of padding, he could ~ fiji all with anathemas against the mem ber of Congress. The most of it was low, course, ,ribald abuse, and the rest was slahder; but he seemed to enjoy it. and as it didme no harm. paid no attention to his madness. -'- ~---~---- --.-- -
 InaAoEher part of the district there was qaiek little country town. and here. I thought I should escape all trouble. The p0strOffce incumbent was agood Republi- caas, who had not bowed the knee to An- drew Johnson. Mofever. the people ap- ,paEently desired hls. retention. However, some months after had taken my seat, to my surprise was informed that man was circulating through the country. away from the town in iquestion. a petition for : the removal of the postmaster and for his oWumeppoiutment.scsI Ise@ determined that when the application reached ne, I would reply that no change was contemplated at the place, and that I would put the appli- cation on file at the department for future consideration in case vacancy should oc- cur. But, to my still greater surprise, soonsafter this, IFeceived ~az letter from onSOf She two editors of dhe Republican papef ah the place asking fof tho appoinf ment of his partner as postmaster,i re- quest which was accompanied by the re- signation of the incumbent, and letter
 
 ofthesnew~ w~mans Here was . Tyacan oy, with but the one applicant. and in Q 2day 1.-two 6hef6Aftek | made the recDmmehda. tien fef appointnenk T had scatcely done sd before D score of letEers reach6d4 ne from scm61o the best and most trust worthy citizens of the place protesting against the appointment, and some of them informing me that the postmaster's resignation had been procured through misrepresentation, he having been made to believe that I was going to have him removed and thefnan appointed who had circulated the petition. at once caused suspension of proceedings at the depart ment, and then wrote 10 the postmsster, statinGthatd had never had 9 thonght Of hiblfe1ddRal, and that If shes still sdesifed the office, he might withdraw his resigna
 tion. He replied at once in a very grate- full letter, saying that he had resigned on- ly because he thought he was about to be removed; that, being poor man with a large family, he did not know what he should do without the office, and much more of the same sort. As T afterward learned. the editors had seized upon the circumstance of the circulation of the pet ition (even if they did not actually pro- cure it's circulatl0n) to make the postmas-s terbelieye hg was toesheA feEuuyed; Yands thas k6ldN Nim thht if hA d1d. .kstA Mishs to see the man appointed who had thus at- tempted to injure hlm, he could prevent it by resigning, and sending on with his re- signation letter recommending the ap. pointment of the editor. It was @ clear case of 'bulldozing," but a bungling piece of strategy. It was sure to be ex- posed, and the schemers should have known n,theta when. posed, if gcculd not and would not be sanctioned 10r 4sus- tained. It is scarcely worth while to say that these men were angry at the failure of their plans. But to say that they were angry does not sufficiently emphasize the stasa of their minds They wereg gfslrous. They hurled firebrands in every direction. They devoted thelr paper to the work of defaming the representative, and when they found they seouia not Tbreak him down, they abandoned their party and tri- edatoN break that down, Cross abuse, bistek kftltpefnfion and tnfamous @ahder characterized the columns of their paper for years. RgTevE7gfEyE-rfg gFEe
 Thus three newspapers were engaged together in the work of defamation, and they pursued their task with steady, malig- naht industFy. AS each campaign came around, they all insisted that made dis cord in the party, and ought not therefore to be renominated, when the only firebrands that had been thrown were those lighted and scattered by their own hands. Like the three taiIors of Tooley street who styl- cd themselves, we, the people of Eng land, these editors vehemently delcared, .'The people of the district are. dissatis- led with their representative in Con. gress." At each successive conventicn n they gathered around them little knot of msn wlio had wanted office and failed to get it. and sand, .'See the discord which he has created. and, boisterously declar. ing that could no be reelected. they tri- cd. by all disreputable means, to make their assertion good. Then.i having sue. ceaded in diminishing the Republican vote. they declared that had done it, al- though. in spite of their hostility, I ran ahead of the ticket. 4sa x.
 tccuid relate other similar instances, bat these will be sufficient to establish the conclusion that . cogent reason for the re. form cf the civil seevice In the manner of