Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-06-26
GarfleId's Song Of Victory.


General Garfield yesterday wound up
the brilliant-offensive campaign which
he has led with such yigOr, tact, skill,
and success. His speech was short, but
it was comprehensive and conclusive.
Its spirit throughout was that of man
who in the hour of substantial and CO.
municative victory could afford to be
magnanimous and to give bitter political
foes and narrow-minded political friends
chance for feeble slurs. He had a
right to exult over the successive defeats
of the conspirators who set out to cOerce
the Executive by threats of starving the
Government, but who had finally been
so demoralized by successive voter as to
accept as satisfactory, "a mere stump
speech, having no legislative effect what
ever"-which is all there is left as a
feeble reminder of the original pro-
gramme.
His review of this remarkable dimin-
uendo passage i'll the history of the Dem
ocratic Congress was as unanswerable as
it was unpalatable to those who had
participated in the awkward and painful
''craw-fishing' that has been going on
No one can deny that General Garfield
told the truth when he said: when the
present session had opened, the majority
had brought in an army bill, which had
in it not the repeal of the offensive law
but proposition so to modify the law
of 1865 as to enlarge its restrictions, and
which carried with it an absolute Grim
inal statute against any civil officer who
should keep the peace at the polls by
calling in an armed force to help him
That bill had been wrecked on the rock
of the Constitution, and had gone down
and no longer lived ON the face of the
waters of the political sea-"
Nor can his condensed history be dis.
puted, when he continued: Then came
the second chapter. A short bill had
been introduced declaring, in effect, that
the army should not be used to enforce
any of the laws of the Union anywhere
in the Union, if there happened to be al
election being held. The Republicans
had pointed out the monstrous paralysis
that would be visited upon the Execu.
tive Department if there should be days
| on which the law could not be enforced
And that bill had also run against the
rock Of the constitutional veto and had
gone down, and not bubble remained
above the place where it had gone
down."
Finally came the present bill, which
merely prohibited what did not prevail
and was not favored by any man, ''the
using of the army of the United States
to run elections in State" He did moi
propose to be trapped into vote that
would imply that the army had been SC
used, or could be, or would be. So that
tine end of the whole controversy, in
which the Democrats have been baffled
and beaten at every step of the struggle
is that the leader of the Republican side
of the House has had a good chance to
speak and vote against the only sort OF
use of the army which the Democrats, in
their last stage of retreat, have attempt.
ed to make an issue on. This ridiculous
termination of would-be revolution
was all that was needed to cover the
whole programme with contempt and
demonstrate the folly and futility of the
Democratic attempt to alter laws, with.
out twO-thirds majority, over the veto
If General Garfield had wanted any.
thing more to make his victory complet
the fact that the army bill he accepts was
voted gainst by feeble minority Of
Democratic incurables and Republican
impracticables, ought to satisfy hin
completely.