The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-03-06

lana. They knew, of course, that Tilden
and Hendricks had carried the state by not
far from 5000 Elsjouty. They knew that
there was no Drete xt whatever on which that
majority could be destroyed, except that of
intimidation, and that the board totally
dfsregarded those provisions OF the state
law, compliance with which alone could
give it any jurisdiction whatever over the
question, or any authority except to count
the votes cast. They knew that their refusal
to look into the merits of the controversy
was based upon technical grounds alone, and
that without going behind the returns at all,
but only to the returns, it was perfectly COM
petent for them 10 execute the known will
OF the nation. But they were republicans,
and had long breathed the unwhoesome
atmosphere of their party They were
thoroughly imbued with its spirit and tradi-
tions. They were working for their employ
ers, and could not be expected 10 rid them
selves of the feeling of party obligation,
when the party itself was on trial for its life.
Like other republicans, they regarded the
triumph OF the democrats as a national
calamity, and esteemed the continuance of
republican rule as an impelling desideratu0,
and they sought their justification in the
same reasoning which the party leaders had
SO long employed to cover up their mlsdeeds
and justify the continued existence of their
organization.
Such are the lengths to which the republi
can party has been driven by its long in
oulged greed of power and the spOils and
the devilish infatuation that its good be-
havior during the war could justify its ca
Teer OF lawlesSne,s and crime. But its final
card has been played The cup of its trans
greSSions is full, and its boarded iniquities
have at last brought it to judgment. The
president Of the United States is the incum-
bent of an office to which he was never
elected, and was finally counted in upon the
pledge OF his most intimate and trusted
friends that he would turn his back upon
the very issue on which he had been sup
ported in the canvass. While vainly striving
TO wipe out "the damned spot in the record
of his title, the villains of the Louisiana
returning board, by whose crimes he mount
ed into power, are in the clutches of the law;
and the republican statesmen who abetted
the foul plot by their presence and moral
support are evidently troubled by fearful
looking for of judgment TO come" He bas
MORALLY offended the great leaders who
directed and inspired his canvass, whom he
is now striving 10 hold at bay, and has
shamefully Knocked the demand of the
better element OF his party for the reform
of administrative abuses. In view of
the well drilled cohorts of corrup-
ton which confronted him, the thorough
reform of our civil service would be an ex-
ceedingly difficult problem il he were a man
OF iron will, perfect courage and absolute
devotion to his task Even then 1t might
not be possible without popular uprising
akin to that which drove the Tammany
thieves from their stronghOlds. 1t certainly
can not be hoped for through a weak irreso-
lutte executive, holding his Office by fraud,
anxious to colciliate the men who deserve no
quarter, and afraid TO look the situation
braYely in the face. This has been demon
strated already by facts which deserve a
passing notice. Mr.. Filley, politician and
lntrlguer of very bad repute, is reappointed
Z at n11G NJ nvhf
has been made minister to Russia
as a reward undoubtedly for his SER
vices in carrying Louisiana for the pres
ideDt in defense of clerical errors"
The two chief criminals of the Louisiana
returning board have at all times had free
access TO he white house as trusted friends,
and are yet holding their important posi-
tons in the New Orleans custom house.
while imprisoned as criminals. Just as il
Grant were still president. BabcOck cOnIin-
ues to bask in the sunshine of executive APP
proval. The removal of Mr.. Arthur from
the custom house in New York, after great
and inexcuSable delay, was accompanied by
the offer to him of the Paris consulate, be-
ing an evident man@uvre OF the president
TO keep on both sides of the civil service
question. Mr. Simmons still holds his posi-
ton in Boston; while Mr.. Cornell is allowed
10 retain his surveyorship in New York,
after his open defiance of the presidents
I 4
railroad have been reappointed government
directors OF that com pany. Tue president
treats the office of consul general at Frank
rton-the-Main as personal perquisite, by
bestowing it upon his private secretary. The
offer of the English mission 10 the
Pennsylvania delegation in congress was
a palpable disregard of civil service
reform, as the president himself has
defined it, and was the offer OF the Ger
man mission TO the delegation from Illinois,
and the nomination of Mr.. Sanford as minis
ter to Belgium. He allows his first assistant
postmaster general to send out blanKs
through the mails to members of congress,
to be filled by them with the names of such
persons as they may see fit to recommend
for office. Many OF his appointments, like
those OF his predecessor are bestowed as re-
wards for political services, while the public
is left to believe that he is still dispensing
his patronage for the purpose of breaking up
/ the democratic party. Some of the newspa-
/ pers which haye been foremost in his defense
now declsre that in the matter of reform he
has been as unstable as water, and that. like
/ the tabled frog in the well. he Jumps three
/ feet forward and falls back four. A man of
/ his mingled Obstinacy and irresOlution, and
\ so literally lowered with feeblenesS, may
/ aggravate existing political throubles,
/ bat can not remove them. Should
| be surrender himself entirely TO the
old managers. he will be more ire
/ trievsbly dsgraced than he isalready. Should
/ he continue his game of last and loose, he
/ will fare no better. Should he now abandon
/ his temporizing policy and inaugurate the
/ fight against roguery which has been so
( crIminaily delayed, he will fail through the
/ lack of that earnest, well drilled and united
/ opinion in his own party which any presi-
/ dent must have in a trying situation, and
which results chiefly from the belief in his
/ treschery on the southern question. In any
event the party itself is doomed. 1t lies
wallowing in the mire of its apostacy, the
/ helpless victim of its leaders and the specta-
Gle of the nation. Its race is run, and our
task fifty ends with its death struggle. The
men who have leditinto dishonOr and shame
will take their place along with the recreant
leaders of the past whose political graves are
eloquent with warnings against their ex-
ample; while the honest but misguided men
in its ranks, probing by their mistakes, will
find other tasks awaiting them in the politi-
cal reconstruction which draws nigh.