Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-07-09

either the 'boys in blue, or the young men,
to say nothing Of the mddle-aged and old
men, to follow your lead.
The Charges Against Cara eId.-.Asa N.
Dickey In BrattlebOrO.
It is not often that THE PHGNIx takes occa-
sion to give either friend or foe the lie direct.
As a rule, we do not believe that sort Of "ar-
gument' to be either wise or effective. But
simple truth compels us to say that the re-
marks Of Asa NJ. Dickey, of st. Johnsbury,
at the Democratic ratification meeting on
Monday evening, embodied the greatest
number of outright lies that we ever heard
put together on any similar occasion. Mr..
Dickey opened his speech on that evening
with few words Of fulsome and nsincere
laudation of Gen. Hancock rs q Union sol
der then followed series of falsehoods
about Gen Garfield and his record then he
told his hearers that no man since Julius CO
sar had possessed o greater mind than Gen.
Hancock; and then he closed his effort with
an exhortation to Vermont Democrats to do
their duty in this campaign, coupled with
some incoherent bombast about the Republi-
can party putting its ear to the ground and
listening to the tramp tramp, tramp of the
Democratic millions as they march to victory"
We shall refer TO Mr.. Dickey's falsehoods
about Gen Garfield in detail, because they
cover the whole ground Of the charges which
are made against the Republican Presidential
candidate by the Democracy.
In the first place Mr.. Dickey asserted, def
nitely and without Qualification that Gen.
Garfield Was a salary 7nbber He said dis
tinctly that Gcl Garfield pocketed his $4,000
of back pay, and that, in spite of this steal,
his district being stron ely Republican, he was
returned TO Congress by his constituents.
This was the worst lie of the lot, and it is
the first and only time, we believe, that this
charge has ever been made against Gen. Gar
field. The fact is, that, unlike Speaker Ran
dali and other great lights of the Democratic
party, Gen. Garfield refused to take penny
of the salary grab" Not only did he never
touch a finger to the money, but he was one
of the first to cover the amount into the treas
ury, and thus place it forever beyond his
reach. We were sincerely sorry to hear Mr..
Dickey make charge # this kind for it Ss
| impossible to believe him so ignorant as not
to have known that he was telling an untruth.
In the second place Mr. Dickey said, with
out explanation or reservation, that Gen. Gar
field was coruptly implicated in Cakes Ames's
Credit Mobilier transactions. The facts about
this are that the Credit Mobilier Congressional
investigating committee, of which Judge Po-
land of this State was chairman, found that
Gen. Garfield never took or had in his pos
session the $1,000 in Cledit Mobilier stock
which Mr.. Ames apportioned to him. At a
subsequent time ne did receive $500 from
Mr.. Ames, which, on the investigation, he
claimed to have been q loan, and which Mr..
| Ames also at first said was loan, but after
ward said he thought must have been Credit
Mobilier dividend. The question was one of
veracity between Gen. Garfield and Mr..
Ames, with all the probabilities and circum-
stances in favor Of Gen. Garfield. The re-
port of the investigating committee fully ex-
onerated Gen. Garfield, and Judge Poland's
letter to our late Republican State convention,
! which We published two weeks ago, explicitly
reaffirmed this eIoneration.
In the third place Mr.. Dickey said that, as
chairman Of the Housl Committee on Appro-
priations, Gen. Garfield was bribed by fee
of $1,000 in the De Golyer Washington Board
of Public Works pavement matter. The fact
out of which this false charge is made is
that, in May or June, 1872 at the request of
a legal friend, II. G. Parsons of Cleveland o.,
| Gen. Garfield prepared brief on the merits
of certain pavements which were offered for
the use of the Washington Board of Public
Works. In doing this he became the client
of De Golyer, a paving contractor, and rem
dered him a valuable legal service, for which
he was literally paid but this service had
nothing whatever to do with corruptly obtain
ing an appropriation from Congress. If Mr..
Dickey had observed the first principles of
honesty and fairness in his remarks, he would
have stated, what is fact, that with these
charges especially in mind; Henry b. Paine
of Ohio, who was prominently mentioned as
Democratic candidate for the Presidency,
and Judge jeremiah S. Black, another staunch
Democrat, both Of which gentlemen have
known Gen. Garfield intimately for years,
have, since his nomination, both expressed
their implicit confidence in his perfect homes
ty and truthfulness.
Mr.. Dickey's fourth charge against Gen.
Garfield was entirely frivolous and demagogi-
cal II was that he was one of the visiting
statesmen" who were sent TO the South in the
winter of 1861 to SEQ that there was a fair
count of the electoral votes also that he was
a member of the electoral commission. This
charge was in itself tribute to Gen. Gar
fields acknowledged statesmAnlike qualities,
and it therefore requires no answer.
Mr.. Dickey's fifth and last charge was even
more frivolous than the fourth. 1t was that
Con. Garfield, as a member of the House of
Representatives, opposed the bill to reinstate
Gen. Fitzjohn Porter in his rank and pay in
the army. All Union men believed in 1862
that Gen. Porter was if not at heart traitor,
at least inimicAl in his Union sympathies and
they believe so to this day. For this reason
they had no desire to sec him whitewashed
and restored to his army rank, and they hon
or Gen. Garfield for the course which he tool
in opposing the bill for his restoration.
So much for Mr.. Dickey's charges against
Gen Garfield. Current report says that, in
st. Johnsbury, in his religion, Mr.. Dickey il
esteemed good Methodist, but that in poll
tics the brethren know that he will lie. We
are sorry to be obliged to add so strong a con
frmation of the justice of the home estimate
of his character.
sublime ImPudeRSs
Voc navar mora imnudantlv shown than IA