Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1878-03-27
{ he freemau.
MONTPELIER VT.
WEDNESDAY. MARCH 81, 1873.


AAAAbAhl " llO"t VI W lsGOu>lH spun
for about Two hours Monday in the Unite,
states senata, the burden of his spe' ch be
ing complaints against the president. II,
thinks that Mr. Hayes has done wrong il
regard to what is called the southern
policy. that The talk about civil service re
form is talk and no performance, and thai
Secretary Schurz is brilliant failure
Senator Howe is an old-lime republican
and is serving his eighteenth year in the
Senate, and may be said to speak for quite
II body of his party. 1t is well that the
discomfort which appears to be so plenty
in Washington should be formulated and
spoken out loud. The crimes which the
president has committed should be shown
to the pcople-and not moaned and groan-
ed over in secret.
There is in what is called reform politics
good deal of kid-glove nonsense no doubt
"a sort of snuffing at smells us sweet any
day as the snuffer. And among correspon-
dents and newspaper writers and others
who affect reform there is too frequently IA
general and sweeping assignment of evil
motives TO all who venture to differ from
their notions about measures or men.
These folks who consider all politics dirty,
and only deign TO act as amateurs therein,
praise the president whenever he appoints
to office some person or does some thing
that suits them, and are swift to sheer at
him whenever he appoints some person or
does some thing that suits anybody else.
When bad motives are from such
sources charged against those republicans
in the senate or house who happen to diff
fer with the president we have no sym
pathy with the onslaught. The president
must stand or fall by his acts and the
same of those who oppose him. The
majority of republican senators have
the good of the country at heart just as
much MS the president does-but they
differ from him as to various things as
they have u perfect right to do.
This common sense rule of considering
man honest till he is proved otherwise,
however, ought not to prevent the ccnsid.
GRAFTON of facts in the case of each person
who steps forward as the critic of another.
For instance in the case of Blaine and
Conkling, man would be fool who is
unable to see that their bile is plentiful
whenever they think of the presidency and
any other mans being in the occupancy of
it. In the case of William +. Chandler,
one would lose sight of what sharpens the
stick with which he pursues Hayes if he
did not see that failure to obtain the Aus
trian mission. And in Senator Howe's
day Of wrath ii is well to remember that
he sought the place ON the supreme bench
to which Gen. Harlan was appointed; AMI
till that appointment gave no voice to any
complaint.
We do not believe, however, that the
whole body of the senate is fruitful about
patronage it is just us well to give
senators credit for sincerity and patriotism
rs it is % give he president that credit
But when they 20 to tuning about appoint.
merits which is all that Elowc's talk
about civil service and Secretary Srhurz
amounts to-then it is time to examur
their record AMI see how it compares with
that of The man assaulted
rnr presidunt's suu,horn vuuIse, rIyh
or wrong, was the only thing that was
doable by any man. To have sustained
Packard and Chnmberlin any president
would have needed IN army which the
democratic house would not have furnish
ed Senator Howe's feeling that the course
pursued was wrong is we believe iust ns
honest as an opinion can be- We do nol
doubt he has always felt bad abou il; and
he exhibited great patience and long suf
tering in keeping silent so long-in fact
till Harlan was appointed since which
time it is said he has been preparing his
great speech.
Cit is well for the party we think that
Senator Howe has spoken. Republicans
can now see what the president has done,
and what makes some republican con-
gressmen wish to bundle him into the
democratic ranks. While the mass of
the party may not sanction all the presi-
dents acts they are not ready to say that
as whole they disapprove his course and
this speech and the want of responsive
feeling it will excite outside of Washing
ton will show that nothing is to be gained
in party light by denunciaton of Pres-
dent Hayes. Republican power may or
may not he moribund, as Senator Howe
seems to think; if republicans will agree
to disagree on non essentials and still act
together, there is yet long time before
the party of many doorkeepers will come
into full power. But that day may he
much fastened by the continuance of re-
publican leaders in the stale of mind ex.
hibited by Howe of Wisconsin.