Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-12-23
o the $3.50 d month allowed BY the

to the $3.50 d month allowed by the
finance committee. So much for that.
1t is because Mr.. Welsh is precisely
what you say he is, because he is
so good man, because his life hereto
fore has been model, because of the
purity of that life (virtues you claim
for him, and | concede), that fatal
force was given to his secret applica-
tion for the money Of the millionaires
to buy man into the presidency, con
victed hy the Republican party of the
United States Of brazen corruption in
the American Congress.
b The purity Of John Welsh's life
made the impurity Of that example
more terrible. Until he signed the
monstrous circular of the 18th Of
September, 1880, General Hancock
was the foreordained president of the
United States. Hancock's friends had
just carried Maine, and Mr.. Garfield
himself, and the trained bands Of his
pWty-the ofiiceholders and the reck-
less managers who have been getting
rich for twenty years from the plumber
of the general government--saw and
trembled before that Handwriting on
the wall" At this point John Welsh
took the field against General Han
cock. Up to the Maine election in
September, John Welsh stood aIooE.
The thrilling record Of General Han
cock, his splendid contradiction Of all
charges or suspicious against himself
the attractive incidents of his stainless
life, and the graceful dignity with
which he avoided all offensive adver-
tisement Of his person and his claims
had reached thousands of hearts, and
there is no doubt that if these evangel-
izing influences had been permitted to
control, Hancock would have been the
choice of the American people.
At this moment John Welsh, Of all
men, the very man whose purity Of
life should have led him to yield to
these great facts, made his appearance
as the author of the extraordinary
circular which | republish. Up to
that time he had stood aloof And
when that paper appeared there was
not Il gentleman in Philadel phia, out
side of the aspirants for office, who
did not read this demand for Il corrup.
ton fund with amazement. This shame
less circular was Il blow in the dark,
struck from an unexpected quarter,
struck under the mask Of confidence
in the hope that those it was intended
to debauch and destroy would never
hear of it.
Fortunately, such monstrous trans
actions always see the light of day.
You cannot perform wicked wrong in
this age and hide it from human eyes
and hearts, any more than you can
hide it from God; and so, when John
Welsh promised to keep the money
sent to him to buy the suffrage a secret,
he admitted all Of which he now
stands convicted. BY this pledge of
secrecy he confessed he was wrong.
"The purity of his life" was living
reproach upon his deliberate act, and
the success of his wrong crowned his
own dishonor. 1t was he who sounded
the challenge. His was the bugle-
call to bribery. He re.aroused the
elements of hatred against the south.
He organized capital against labor in
the north. He stimulated the worst
passions among the worst men, His
bid was the boldest bid against con
science since the days of the Bank Of
of the United States, and it was a
more audacious assault upon individ-
ual integrity than that great corpora.
ton. 1t was a more Formidable temp
tation to parties and to the press, in
proportion rs the money John Welsh
marshalled against General Hancock
was a thousand times more than that
organized against General Jackson,
fifty years ago, by the Bank of the
United States.
And so, long before the day of elec-
ton, John Welsh became the text of
sectional hatred on the one side and
sectional humiliation on the other.
The money he raised was the open
treasury from which desperate men
could draw ad Hbitum, and last No.
vember the states bought by that
money were handed over, like mana
cled prisoners, to the tender mercies
of the rescued ofiice-holders and their
chief at Mentor.
Was | to stand silent before such
an occasion as this? Was ] to re-
main muzzled before the exposure of
the dark secret? Had ! consented to
such a shame | would have been a
partner in the conspiracy itself.
Now, lest you may not have seen
this most shameful circular, | reprint
it as follows
% SoUTH THIRD STREET, PHILApEL.
pHIA, September l4th, lsS0.-At a meet.
! ing of number of the business men OF