Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1878-07-17

exposure and punlshment OF the pat
ent frauds of their opponents in Ore
, gon, and the other school will plead
that nobody was actually defrauded
and that there must be immunity tt
men in high political and social posi-
tion because they only attempted 0
: public crime and were defeated in th.
effort. Yet there stands the record Of
consuming fraud, deliberately plan
ned and forced through various stages
OF execution, almost TO to the light ol
MONDAY, until its contamination be-
came utterly hopeless; and yet who
Of tho leaders Of the party in whose
interest this wrong was conceived, has
ventured to speak of 1t as Benton, O
Calhoun or a Wright would have spok'
en- generation ago2 And those who
should shield the Oregon crime, are
foremost in demanding the pitiless OK.
lposure and punishment Of the Lou
isiana frauds; while those who de.
claim against the political turpitnde
Of The far Northwest, with one accord
furnish excuses for the ineffaceable
stain flung upon the nation by the rul-
ing criminals of the South. There is
the record of Louisiana, solemn re-
turn of the vote Of a sovereign com
monwealth, and there is scarcely o
line, or figure, or a certificate, or a
signature, that has escaped the finger
Of crime. And who of those whose
party has profted, or apparently prof
tied, by this unblushing fraud, has dar-
ed to speak of IL in the councils of the
nation, as Abraham Lincoln, or Charles
Sumner, or Henry Wilson, or Horace
Greeley, would have spoken, in the
name of his political faith, down to the
last moment of their livesY
And do you realize what these
crimes contemplated, and what they
possibly accomplishcd2 II was not a
mere eruption of debauchery in some
district or State, where fretted ambi-
ton summoned venality to win doubt
ful bonors. 1t was no mere barter for
q senatorial commission or for o GU.
bernatorial chair. For such offenses,
which, In the better days OF tho re-
public, would have hurled the criminal
usurper from his place into lasting in.
fanny, we have learned TO be tolerant /;
but the contempt for public morality
that has assented or submitted to
fraud in appropriating lesser places
has finally reached its full fruition in
a desperate contest between opposing
criminals for the tito TO the highest
civil trust OF the world. 1t was the
title to the presidency OF the United
States that has been the stake, for the
possession OF which multiplied and IN
terwoven crimes OF oewlldered versa
tiiity ana desperation nave peen per,
petrated' uhuer tne direct sanction oi
national leaders Oh poth parties, ana
without one vIaVe voice rising IRON
either household 70 declare the whole
truth 70 the natlon. Inc grave oen,
ate, where honor ana pariotism snould
yet nave refuge, passed. upon tnese
crimes the house, the organ Oh tne
people whose highest ana holiest git
was cast In the seetnlng cauldron OF
ueoaucnery,. passed upon them, ana
the Judges oi the court oi last last resort, resort
.ne tribunal 70 wnicn .nc Pcop'c snouiu
pe apie W ciing as 'no ono iooA VI
shlc'y agA'ns. every i9rm VI mrong'
Psssou upon .nen anu, Saw ."o N
enectuai exceptions IN ing iouse, cacn
party Pro'ec'cu i's own clilhe anu
relecteu the crime Oh ils adversary
Judge this strange record py ,ne pro-
cedents gwen US py our iorela.ners'
ana the contrast must NIL every pa'ri-
QUO heart win sorro".
In 1900 the little nation of but few
millions was first startled by the at
tempt of ambition to grasp tho crown.
An able and unscrupulous man saw tho
glittering prize almost within his reach,
and he employed the technical forms
Of authority to aid him in his effort
to pervert the verdict of the country.
He did not summon fraud, for that
would then have doomed him TO i'm
mediate and irretrievable infsmy but
he saw that the law was lame, and he
demanded his own elevation TO anoth-
er's place through tho laws infirmites.
If you would learn how the popular
regard for common morality asserted
itself in that day, read the history OF
the wanderings of stranger TO the
people who had once loved him, as he
waded through the Kissing scorn Of
civilization from the Vice Presidency
to.the long unmarked and ever unla-
mcnted grave whore moulders the dust
OF Aaron Burr. A quarter of a centu-
ry later. tho brilliant and heroic Clay
noured bittcrness into the Gun of Jack