Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-07-29
SchurZ.

Schurz.
Mr.. Schurz's speech at Indianapolis
has been praised by the Republican
newspapers as mastery effort"
key note," and various other things,
too numerous to mention. 1t was in
reality a very good presentation of the
Republican case, in polished phrases,
carefully hammered out in the closet,
by civil service reformer, who, accord
ing to his own theories, was stealing the
public time in which to do it. But it
contained nothing new, and offered not a
single argument of legitimate force.
He says truly-and this is one of the
great features of the speech-that there
are clements in the Democratic party
which do not entirely agree with each
other. But these differences relate
chiefly to financial questions, and are
not likely to disturb the harmony of a
party whose sound deliverence in
national convention was made without
single dissent. Mr.. Schurz, however,
admits that the Republican party is
in very nearly the same condition in re-
gard to the same questions, and We
can all remember the day, not distant
when John Sherman himself was push
ing the Ohio idea, bowling with Carey
and Allen in the Greenback wilderness,
while Tilden, Bayard, and even Thur
man were bravcly upholding the metallic
standard.
Mr.. Schurz also presents i variety of
excellent reasons why a mere professional
soldier with no aptitude for civil affairs
should not he elevated to the presidency,
and he even had the extraordinary har-
diIlood to mention Gen. Hancock rs fall
ing under this description. Now, we
cheerfully admit that General Hancock
is a soldier-a soldier so unlike SchurZ
that we really do not wonder much at
the failure of the one to comprehend the
true character of tine other. If Han
cocks success in the lield is a reason why
he should not be elected to the presi-
dency Schurz's brilliant failures render
him pre-eminently fit. The hero of Get
tysburg should by all means be thrust
aside for the turn-tail of Chancellors-
vile. 1t must have been on that famous
field that Schurz, padding along in the
mud amid the general rOut of the
Eleventh corps, while Hancock with his
steady columns covered their flight,
made up his generous mind that the
man who stood between him and the en-
cmy was too good a soldier ever to be ell
trusted with the presidency. But after
all Mr.. Schurz should endeavOr to under
stand that General Hancock is not pre-
sented for the suffrages of the people be-
cause he is a great soldier, but because he
has shown himself a great patriot, with
the highest qualities of civil ruler dis
played under circumstances that tested
his application of the relations of civil
and military power.
But Mr.. SchurZ's most serious Objec-
ton to the success of the Democratic
party is that they would actually turn
the Republicans out of office; which
would be, SO to speak, 4 wholesale viola
ton of those beautiful civil service rules
which were gotten up by Mr.. Evarts and
himself at the request of II. b. Hayes.
This cogent argument will answer to
keep the Republicans in power i thous-
and years hence just as we'll us it does
now. IL anybody doubts that he ad-
vanced it with the most imperturbable
gravity let him get the speech and read
it for himself. lie will find that on this
point ut least SchurZ is in dead earnest.
lie considers any proposal to turn Re-
publicans out and put Democrats in as a
perfectly diabclical outrage. In any one
but himself the ambition for office is an
Offense not to be tolerated. He was, it
may he remembered, at the Fifth avenue
conference, for Tiiden and reform in
1876, but it required only the promise of
a seat i'm the cabinet to wheel him around
to Hayes and reform of another kind.
The tongue of a HesSian, like the sword
of Hessian, is at the service of the high
est bidder. If this gallant soldier of for
tune, who fought briefly Oh both sides in
1876, and remained with the party which
furnished the best pay and the snuggest
quarters, is following Ills usual practice
in this campaign, he received at least
$500 for his speech at indianapolis de-
nouncing the candidacy of tic man who
held the enemy from his hack at Chan
cellOrsville.
T.ry namocr.cv Of New York citv