The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-05-04
Penitent McLin.

P6nlC6nC McLln.
The statement made by Samuel b.
MeLin touching his official action as
Hesldent of the Florida Returning
sISpard has occasioned some stir at
Z Ak kashingtOn. He disclOses no new
laefs Whatever, nor does he charge
lInself with having committed
aAnd, but he seems to be disturbed
oy the thought that his Judgement
MY have been warped by his desire
l1T the election Of President HAYES
#aa the tcontinued ascendancy of the
Rpublican party. There are but
HN politicians in these days who are
| 9publed with the kind of remorse
3qiat seems to atfiict Mr.. McLin, and
1 Ne are therefore not inclined to make
z : sovess his woe. should he be
kindly dealt with possibly other CON
science-smitten political wire work
ers may follow his example and un-
burden their souls.
The accusation which Mr.. McLin
bringsagainSt himself is that at the
time he assisted in ascertaining and
declaring the result of the Florida
election he believed that the Return
ing Board possessed quasi judicial
powers, and had authority to pass
upon the regularity of the returns
and to reject such as seemed to be
tainted with fraud. We have no
doubt but that nine out of every ten
lawyers in the United States would
concur with Mr.. McLin in the views
entertained by him two years ago as
to the proper functions of a Return
ing Board, for it would be an utterly
useless place Of machinery unless it
possessed discretionary and judicial
power sufficient to enable it to elimi-
nate fraud and to declare what it be-
lleVeS to be the true result of an cleo
ton. However, some time after the
Florida. Board had passed upon the
vote for President in 1876 the Su-
preme Court Of that State decided
that under the peculiar wording of
the statue creating the Returning
Board it had no Office to perform ex-
cept that of declaring the result of an
election as it appears on the face of
the returns. This decision upset the
work of the Returning Board as far
as it affected the candidates for State
officers, and a recanvaSs of the vote
in conformity herewith showed that
the Democrats had carried the State
by small majority. The resalt of
the first canvass had already been
certified to the President of the Sen
ate, and the Electoral Commission
decided that no other certificate could
be considered.
1t does not appear that the awful
conviction of having acted with too
much partisan bias burst suddenly
upon McLin. The reflection that his
official action had not been in con-
formity with an er post .ftctO decision
of the Florida Supreme Court gave
him no trouble for more than year
The President nominated him as
United States District Judge for New
Mexico and the Senate rejected him.
But this did not still raise a doubt in
his mind as to the validity of the
Presidents title, and for months he
importuned him for another place.
The President had nothing to give
him, and gradually the conviction
stole upon the impecunious office
seeker that he was going to be left
out in the cold. Not .ong ago he
fell in with the astute wirepullers
who are trying to keep Mr.. Tliden
on the track for the Presidential race
in 1880, and a new light draWned up
on him. Hence this confession. 1t
would have had more effect upon the
country if it had not been deferred
until McLin's last hope of getting an
Office had faded away.
But whatever McLin'S motives
may have been, his so-called icon
lession" will neither disturb the
Presidents tenure of office nor un-
settle the public judgement as to the
fnality of the work of the Electoral
Commission. 1t contains no argu-
ment or fact that was not presented
to that tribunal by the ablest lawyers
in the land, and when they were de-
liberately and solemly overruled,
there is no use of this feeble adyeD-
turer who claims to be a penitent
Republican, trying to palm them off
as newly-discovered evident of fraud.
! -BditintO5e e american.
| The storm of the oath caused great
! damage to prOperty in the States Ol