New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-01-29
TOO SICK.

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TOO SICK.
Mr. 4 p. Gould. of ThomastOn, was the
legal adviser of Governor GarceIOh III ''ie
contingent conspiracy, and the author, ."
we are not mistaken, ct the series oil qu' siions
by which that eminent ruler attempted 10 III
ycjgIe the Supreme Court into Lending NJ
least partial countenance to the usurpation'
When tbe Court pronounced so emphatlcaly
ooroi,et tbe Governor. even on his own state
mont of his case. Mr. Gould took to ms bed
ona wrote y letter. Dear Governor" said
he al am too sick to go to you. Inc oplhioh
"is not worthy of respect ! advise you 10
"nav no attention to IT." 10 olheI
members of the FusiOnist faction MI
GouId wrote in the same strain. Governor
Garcelon followed his counsel, and retired 10
nrivate life without having paid any atten-
"tion" to the official opinion he hao olhc'"''S
invited. The other conlederates were evi-
IDENTIFY disposed to adopt the same COURSE
When the Court pronounced second ueclsioI'
still stronger than the first, they sun IL"
fused to pay any attention TO 1t. ana Went u"
with their fiction of n Legislature aud Sta'e
Administration. The Democratic and Green-
back newspapers all over Maine encouraged
them to defy the Court. Democratic ne""pa-
pers in outside cities either applauded them
or kent silent For nearly month the uSuIp-
ers maintained an attitude of armed opposition
to the law and there seemed 20 be no way OF
estor,ne the regular g OvernmeDt except by
military force.
Mr.. Gould and his associates, however hau
miscalculated the temper of the people OF
Maine. There was no such desperate spirit rs
they supposed among their own followers. IN
many of the Southern States an Instruction
such as they had set afoot would have Deen
carried out to the end with little or no hesita-
ton. But in the North, wildly as partisan eX-
element may rage for time, there Is Il
general respect for law and order which the
sbrewdcr Democratic leaders wen know
they cannot afford to disregard. Ihe
Democratic party has always been spe-
cially addicted TO frauds upon tho BAL
lot. but in Difference to popular pIgu-
dices it tries TO preserve an outward respect
for the forms of law. When the Maine irau'l
reached that stage where 1t could be carried
no further without an open and revolutionary
repudiation of the authority OF tho highest
Court In the State, the pressure of public opin-
ion compelled the leaders to halt They couid
no longer depend upon their party They
could not even hold their Legislature together.
For more than week the final dissolution
of the Fusionist Government has only been a
question of time and opportunity.
It is not to be supposed that In submitting
the case for third time to the Supreme Court
the Fusionists hoped for decision differing
in any respect from the two opinions already
pronounced They were not so absurd as to
imagine that the Judges-alOne of all the CIT
liens of Mane--were ignorant OF important
historical facts" and had no other knowl-
edge of notorious transactions except SUCH as
might be injected into the questions submit
led TO them. The views OF the Bench were
well understood by every politician IN the
State; and when the Fusionist Legislature
finally asked for a decision they hgni-
fed by so doing their readiness To aban-
don Mr.. Gould's policy and surrender.
We must not forget that in their assemblage,
ON the outside of the State House, were many
respectable aud wel,-meaning men. who had
been drawn into an enterprise they did not fully
comprehend, and were anxious TO get out OF
it rs soon as its illegality became clear to
them. They forced their more INSCRIPTIONS
associates to submit to the Court and now
that their duty has been pointed out to them
in a manner so plain that misunderstanding
becomes impossible, there can be no doubt as
20 their course. Those who were elected to
the Legislature will take their seats there and
do what they can to make us forget their mis-
takes.
But with regard to the leaders. like Gould,
and Pilsbury, and Garcelon, who arranged
the disgraceful affair and exhorted the others
TO "pay no attention" to the decisions of the
Court with regard to the Democratic leaders
outside of the State of Maine, who devised
the plot, and furnished money for it, and kept
up the courage of the usurpers-for their
crimes the people of the Union will havo a
long memory.