Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1880-06-26
LET GENERAL GARFIELD EXPLAIN
The Philadelphia Times mildly puts Mr..
Garfields case thnslY:

General Garfield will make grave
mistane if he shall effect to ignore the
serious charges which meet him at every
outset OF his campaign for the Presiden-
honymOus sanderers, not the rank
growth of partisan calumny which may
spring up in u night at the feet of the
purest man in public life so soon as he
recelv the omlnation for the PreSiden-
cy Every Presidential candidate from
Washington down has had to trample up
on that sort of thing, and not one OF
them was the worse for it in the end.
But now for the first time i'll the history
of this country does great party pres
ent as its candidate one whose person.
al and official integrity has been i'm
peached by the result OF a Congressional
Investigation. If General Garfeld's
friends suppose that a candidacy so be-
clouded will receive the approval or toll
| Grafton of the American people when the
facts are understood they are sadly mis-
taken aud in the spirit of kiudress he
and they should be undeceived at once.
The Credit Mobillier scandal is still fresh
in the memory Of ALL Eight years ago it
was exposed to public view, and it is un-
necessary to tell the story over again.
Suffice 1t to say that the disclosures
made by Il Congressional committee of
investigation where death to many II fair
repnt alton. Some of the COngressmel
implicated found 1T eXpedient to retire
from public life and have never since ven
tured to ask any trust at the hands of
the people. Others were saved as by
fire; the verdict against them was SIM
ply, Not proveD;' they were allowed to
keep their seats i'll Congress-, but did not
escape condemnation. Among these for
tunate ones was James a. Garfield, of
Ohio. When the charge was made
through the newspapers that his name
was on the list of Senators and Repre-
senatives involved by the revelation of
Oakes Ames he was quick to repel the
charge. In explicit words. through IN
A. sOciated Press dispatch, he author zcd
a comprehensive &C denial. He had never
subscribed for nor received nor seen any
sha {, of that stock; on the contrary he
had twice declined to have anything to
do " ith ii. When the affair came before
Il Congressional committee, however, and
he was put upon oath aud confronted by
Oakcs Ames, he explained that he did
ia Ike Il certain amount OF stock and lett
it in the hands OF Mr.. Alnes until the ac-
cruing dividends thereon should pay the
principal of the purchase money. A
check drawn by Mr.. Ames in Gartield.s
favor was, the latter explained, only
loan from MI. Ames to him. Mr.. Ames,
OH his part, reluctantly denied the loan
ard settled the question by producing
the check of the Credit Mobller Compa-
nv, which had been passed to Mr.. Car
| fields account. The committee came 10
! this conclusion:
"Thc facts ia regard to Mr.. Garfield
are as follows: Mr.. Garfield agreed
with Mr.. Ames to take ten shares of
Credit Mobiler stock, but did not pay
for the same. Mr.. Ames rec teived the 50
per cent. dividend in bonds and sold the
bonds for 81 per cent, and also received
the 60 per cent. cash dividend, which to-
rether paid the price of the stock and in
terest ard left IL balance of S:I29. This
sum was paid over to Mr.. Garfield by a
check on the Sergcant-at arms, and MI.
Garfield then understood this sum was
the balance of dividends after paying for
the StOck."'
The committee, however, charitably
failed to emphesize certain minor discrep-
aucies in Mr. GariiclG'S statement which
gave his friends great pain. One OF these
was that he explained his need OF Il loan
by saying that IL trip to Europe hau
somewhat impoverished him, whereas 1t
Appeared by other testimony that the
| trip in question did not occur until alter
| the Credit Mobclier transa ctions' IL
was several ugly things like this that led
that able Republican journal, the New
York Times, to Il .clare that Mr.. Garfield
presented "a most distressing figure
while the New York Tribune thought he
was fortunate to escape expulsion ny
Reuublican House. Other victims had
been selected. however, and the House,
by IL ruling of the Speate evadeda a vote
on Mr. Woods resolution. which abso-
lutely condemed Garfield and others for
becoming peculiarly interested Ill Il cor
poration dependent upon Congress 1or
its maintenance and support.
We have stated the case mildly and
dispassionateiy solely for the purpose OF
,,Il I'm, l,a finn nF General (IaIuelu
and his friends to the gravity OF the mat.
ter and the manifest necessity or
an immediate explanation If he IS
to remain q candidate for the
Presidency. General Gariield's nom
ination was not nremeditateuj 1or
prcmcditatiun would have "een fatal to
it, 1t was born of Il crisis in the conVeh-
ton There was no time to think, and
probably not one of he 39o delegates
who, j.. the furry of the moment, cast
their votes for him us the only way to cs-
cape from the third term, recollected
that this was the Garfield who was III
yolyed in the Credit Mobiier scard&l. If
they had so recolected they would have
rejected the Garfield movement as sng-
pes,ion of suicide. The scher second
Thought has since stolen over thelr minds
and is possessing the country. General
Garfield cannot como forward too soon
with his explain stIon. 1t there a, G eN-
tenuatiuW circumstances, let us kuo"
| what thev are If he was more fool than
| knnye. as some Of his friends say, and
has since. found wisdom, let him throw
himself upon the charity of the country.
! If the Congressional comnittee got the
whole thing down wrong in their report,
let him say 50. 1t will not do for tin to
saw. with his friend Governor Foster,
that those charges are settled tor the
| only settlement that has been made ielt
| him in II very bad plight. The Repnbh
c,n rarty cannet afford to carry on the
campaign under the cloud thai is now
hanging over its candidate for the Presl-
| deucy.