Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-06-16

The Grace Charges against Mr. Garfield.
Abiding to the charge of the New York
Sun, made upon the day following the Chi
cago nomination, impeaohing MIR. Garfeld's
pecuniary integrity in positions of official
trust, the New York Herald says:
It viii not do to evade these grave charges
by vague defamation against a campaign of
calumny. No former candidate of any party
has ever been accused of breaches of pecuniary
trust in official relations. This is not an ac-
cusation to be ignored, but to be refuted. It
is idle to deprecate a campaign of calumny
until it is shown by proper evidence that the
charges are destitute of reasonable founda-
tion. If they are true they are fatal. We 60
not profess to know whether they are true
or false. But if they are fictitious and
malicious their fal5ity can be demonstrated,
and when they shall have been refuted twill
be time to cry out against a campaign of
calnmny. When these grave charges shall
have been proved on good evidence to be
false their subseqent repetition will bewanton
calumny. But it will not do to shirk inves-
tigation and shun inquiry on the pretense
that all candidates for the Presidency have
ever been assailed on similar grounds. If
H1rs NssIuSi0 - luuOSGub3 A6y dUOto oil OluoE
men, is most interested in having the exact
truth known. Our recent observation of the
recent course of the Sun does not justify any
suspicion that our energetic contemporary
would make charges which it does not believe
there is good evidence to support. In the
particular case of Mr. Garfield the charges
are not trumped up for the occasion. The
Sun has been repeating them, year in and
year out, for long period when Mr.. Gar
field was of no consequence to the
country al large, and was responsible only to
his immediate constituents in his Congress
sional district, whose vote for him is said to
have fallen off about nine thousand after the
Congressional investigation of the Credit
Mobilier job.
Can Mr.. Garfield afford to treat such grave
inculpations with affected Indifference? If
he should deem this the expedient course
he will not act very differently from Ham
ilton in similar circumstances, who "felt
stain like wound" and vindicated his
pecuniary honor by method which attested
his estimate of its supreme importance.
Hamilton thought his country
men would more easily forgive
him for gross sin against conjugal duties
than for the pecuniary breach of official
trust. Mr.. Garfield being the only Presi-
Dental candidate who has ever been accused
of this sort of offense it is quite out of the
question that he can shield himself behind
vague complaints that he is assailed with
customary personal vituperation. The
charges made against him are fatal if true,
and 1t is incumbent on him to demonstrate
their falsehood. When he has proved that
they are false he will be entitled to complain
of campaign of ealumny if they should af
terward be repeated. We neither accuse
uor acquit him, but await full develop
ment of the evidence. But he cannot
shirk the question under the thin pretense
that all Presidential candidates are
assailed. In point of fact, none have ever
before been assailed on similar grounds.
Mr.. Garfield is the first candidate
of either party whose nomination for the
Presidency has been followed by charges of
pecuniary dishonor in positions of official
trust.
There are methods by which MIR. Garfield
could viudicate his character. One is the
heroic method adopted by Hamilton. He
might write a letter stating the exact facts of
his connection with the Credit Mobilier and
with the De Golyer job, admitting, with
Hamilton's courageous candor, the facts for
which ne has reason to blush; but If his
pecuniary honor comes off as clear as Ham
ilton's did the country will condone minor
offenses.
But if he has nothing to confess or ex-
plain, if the whole Credit Mobilier story and
the whole De Golyer story are malicious
fabrications, let him begin proceedings
against the Sun for libel. We have too
much respect for the manliness of the Sun
to suppose it would avail itself of technical
defence.