The Portland daily press., 1880-01-23
N. Y. Tribune.l
The Archives of Fraud.

| Now that the Maine furry is practically
over and the government of the State is in the
hands of the legally elected State officers and
| Legislature, the absurdity of the whole per-
formance and the folly of the performers begin
to appear. The men who were engaged in
| this bold scheme seem to have been reckless
| enough for almost anything, even to the point
of violence and bloodshed, in carrying it out
And there We're times when the peace OF the
State, and perhaps of the Nation, seemed
trembling in the balance before their strange
audacity and persistence. Any open breach OF
the peace would have had the effect to dignity
the transaction; riot or public tumult, such as
they clearly were desrous to provoke, would
have helped them in confusing the popular
mind as TO the real responsibility for the dis
turbance. What they wanted more than any
thing else during the whole proceeding was
some violent resistance to their pretended au
thority. They made the most of whatever had
any appearance of hostile demonstration. The
unorganized and impulsive protest Of the citi
zens of Bangor against the transfer of ammu-
milton and arms was used by them to show to
the people outside that the Republicans were
disorderly and riotous; even the meeting of
leading Republicans at Augusta to request the
Governor and Council to permit the usual ac-
cess to the returns, was talked Of as an effort
to intimidato and bulldoze these immaculate
officials, and the presence and protest of Re-
publicans at the organization of the fraudulent
Legislature were magnifed into riotous dem
onstration.
They fairly ached for fight From the be-
ginning of the business they went about like
ISiiIse,,-.s, Irishmp--,lArna- nn1bsII, tread
on their coat-tails. When the magnitude OF
the contemplated outrage and the gross and
exasperating insults with which it was accom-
companied are considered, one cannot help
wondering at the remarkable self-control and
patience exhibited by the Maine Republicans.
Nothing could have been finer than their be-
havior throughout the whole affair.". Under
provocations such as very few communities
could have resisted they bore themselves with
perfect Sef-reStraint, and left il to the regular
processes of the law to free them from a most
offensive and shameful usurpation. They were
never, in any of the steps hasty or rash; every
thing was done discreetly and prudently, with
the utmost GOODNESS and deliberation. While
the Garcelon gang fumed and fretted and is
sued proclamations, the Republicans went
calmly and Systematically about their work,
and bided their time in full confidence that in
the end right and justice must prevail.
Now that it is over, it would be we'll to COM
pile the situation of the controversy for the
entertainment of the present and as warning
to future generations The proclamation OF
the bogus Acting Governor Lamson and his
empty general orders to General Chamberlain
dischargng him from the duty of protecting
the Capitol; the message of the bogus Governor
Smith which he hurried to deliver before the
decision of the Supreme Court should establish
him as nobody in particular and his formal
and high-sounding orders to Gen. Chamberlain;
the speeches in the bogus Senate and House;
the proceedings before the bogus committee in
the pretended bribery cases, and particularly
the testimony of the sweet-scented patriarch
who, having never been elected, mistook the
anxiety of son who tried to persuade him not
to disgrace the family, for an attempt at bribe-
ry and hurst into tears over it; and last, though
not least, the proclamation of the bogus Secre-
tary of State, Sawyer, who, after announcing
that this was "another leaf in the history OF
the warfare of wealth against labor" which
would presently compel the people to purify
and regenerate their institutions by free bap-
tism of BLOOD" stole the seal of the State and
made off with it; all these shonld be collected
and preserved. Thew ran on in the vein OF
high tragedy until the business was ended with
the installation of the rightful authorities, and
the election of the bogus pretenders. The riot
and bloodshed that were necessary to make 1t q
real tragedy were avoided, and it all ended in
a roaring farce. The bogus proclamations and
wasted general orders, and empty messages be-
gin already to have a funny sound in the light
of the evenl. The utter absurdity of them
will grow more apparent with the lapse OF
time.
1t would not be strange if the bogus Lamson,
the pretender Smith and the blood-baptizer
Sawyer should see the time when they will be
laughed out of decent society on the strength
of quotations from the resonant public docu-
ments they have lately given to the world.