The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1880-10-30

character. and every arrest and proseet ton
has been Of mcmbe' of the party in opposition
10 the Admins tration. II has not been JUS
tice, but party success, which has been
Fellow citizens. one of the inevitable re-
suIts of a long continuance of power in the
hands of one man or a set OF men, Is that they
come to believe and to act on tne penei tn ,as
powers delegated to them for pubic use ana
safety are virtually given them for their own
perpetuation in power. ~
the CANDIDATES.
And now of the representative men who
have been chosen to lead the party organiza-
tions. of Gen. Garfield, the Republican cam
didate, I wish to speak Justly; but will not,
in n spirit of false courtesy, .ascribe TO him
virtues do not believe him to possess.
He was Chairman of the Committee on APP
preparations when corruption ana eNtrava-
gance ran riot in Washington CITY; when BOSS
shepherd and his crew were drawing tens OF
millions to lay rotten pavements IN those
streets, with false measurements ana double
prices. And i'm all the carnival OF roguery from
1863 until 1875, when a Democratic majority
put an end TO the lobby and Congressional
plumber, where was the voice and the vote OF
Mr.. Garfield? If he sought reform he dld IL SO
quietly. as never to be heard. leave the re-
ports of committees, controlled by men OF ms
own party association, to describe MS per-
sonai connection with discreditable trahsac-
tions. - AFaAI
OF his associate upon the ticket, Gen. w
thur it is not needful for me to speak in New
York. for the merchants in this city have rea-
member of a committee of the Senate 60 IN
vestigate the affairs of the New York Custom
House, which was alleged to be mere po Hui
cal machine, Mr.. Arthur then being the Col
lector. Despite every effort TO conceal theni,
the grossest abus es and corruptions were la1d
bare. When recall the cases OF insulting, W
rannical treatment of wealthy and honorable
citizens here by the brood of special Treasury
agents and official harpies and ruffians, Won
der that public revolt did not occur
Under the infamous moiety system no mer-
chant was secure against the seizure OF his
books and most private papers. such men as
Jayne and Frank T.. Howe terrorized the mer-
cantiie community and plundered the mer-
chants at will. Custom House bribery was
the regular practice, and Custom House APP
pointments were mere counters In exchange
All this was proven; was published in the
Tribune, fer Horace Greeley then controlled
it; and in the SUN, and partly in the Herald.
the majority to send In a whitewaslling report
and the minority to tell facts. rs they found
them. Gen. Grant, then President, who viii
never and can never see any thing wrong IN
one of his party subordinates, took no other
action than through Williams. his Attorney
General, to order the merchants to be prose-
cuted for paying brides to his officials. But
no changes were made. Public sentiments
however, was aroused; and, finally, when a
firm so eminent and so respected as Phelps,
Dodge Co. were robbed under the forms OF
law of s267 900 in one amount, and when it WIS
shown, and can to day be proven, that in hon.
esty and equity they had over paid more du-
ties than they ever p aha t s Ia n0 tPat
permitted such outrages was accomplished,
but it was done against the strongest efforts
of the Administration and their leading men,
In 1879, the President of the United States
and Mr.. Sherman, the Secretary of the Treas
ury, communicated to the Senate, and 1t was
made public, that the New York Custom
House, for a long period of time, had been
used to manage and control political affairs.
That the duties of the officials were regarded
as subordinate to their partisan work, and
they had made the Custom House center OF
political management. That, under the con-
troll of Messrs. Arthur and Cornell, tue Custom
agencies of New York. and !" in order to have
the important office OF Collector efficiently
and honestly administered" the President
Merritt in his place. Mr.. Sherman formally
claimed that he had established by proof the
existence of gross abuses in Mr.. Arthurs adj
mnistration, and declared, in his letter of
Jan. Is, 1879, that the " restoration of Messrs
Arthur and Cornell to Office would be serious
injury to the public service, involving a loss
That is to say. President HAYES and Secre-
| tary Sherman, in 1879, fully Endorsed in the
strongest language the report of Messrs. Bay
ard and Cassery made to the Senate n l h
weak repetition of Grant and Colfax. To hope
for reform from men of such antecedcn,s Is
unreasonable. ! have said nothing OF either
own party associates, and they should stand
or fall on such showing.
And now of the Democratic standard bear
err. Events of an important political nature
caused public attention to be drawn to VIM
field Scott Hancock in 1867. when he was in
command of a military district in the South
west. Up to that time his splendid bearing as
soldier had won admiration for his gallant
~ and skill; but q brighter glory settled on
his crest when Ito use the words of Senator
nax, nox aol,a
counselor of Abraham Lincoln), "the soldier,
clothed with extraordinary power, voluntari-
ly uncovered before civil authority, sheathed
his sword, testified his fidelity to the Oonsti-
tuition, and set an example of obedience to
law which will pass into history as his sound
est claim to distinction"
The bright light of public scrutiny, the hos
tile lens of party animosity, has been turned
upon the spotless arnor of his private and
public character and no flaw or stain has been
disclosed. Indeed, the hostile suspicious and
charges of his foes caused his private CORE
spOndence in 1876 to be developed, and in
what glorious attitude does his letter to
Gen. Sherman, in the critical period of the
fraudulent perversion of the results of the
Presidential election, exhibit himl Well may
Judge Davis say: at marks him as one of the
wisest OF his time, with statesmaYs grasp
Nor is his associate upon the ticket less
worthy of public confidence. His record as
LEGISLATOR In Congress, as leading financier
own State, his unblemished character as a
man and statesman are all in accord with the
promises of reform which our success VIII
accomplish.
Before the American people to-day 1 ar
raign the Republican party as it Is now led
and organized, as obstructive to the welfare,
prosperity and wise government of the coun
try.
In the present contest they base their hopes
on the passions of a war long since ended,
and the fruits of whose success being unity,
peace and concord, the American people are
entitled to enjoy, and in the coming triumph
of the conservative and National Democracy
will do so.
1t can't well be claimed that there
is lack of consistency in Gen. Garfield's
record. The man who pocketed Credit
Mobilier dividends and then swore that
he had done no such thing; the man
who took the De Golyer corruption fee
in face of the law making the act pen
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