Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-09-29

which Will WIN them power. This sur
render OF hIS moral amt mental integ-
rity is the condition upon which he
holds his high place Ia the affections OF
the party he belongs to. Trgachery To
his country is fidelity to his faction. Ii
at any time in the last fifteen years he
had given way TO his own sense OF right,
supported the Constitution and laws in
4 spirit OF pure justice, refused to defle
himself with election frauds, withheld
his cCuntenance from executive corrupt
tiOa or denounced the iorclDr" install
ment of thieves IN State offices, he
would have
Converted Himself Into Democrat
and been expelled from the communion
OF tha auticvnstitutiOnal party.
This moral prostitution 10 bad politi-
cal purposes d, iar lrum being uncOm
mOu. Men naturally good have yielded
to it in aDl times and in all countries
where there Is " raity unprincipled
enough 10 OdrMGut j., and strong enough
to reward il, but &, n. Glriield's public
career furnishes more striking examples
OF il than the history OF any individual
1 have shown. Let lnc give you case:
After the war-at a time OF perfect
peace-in the State Of Indiana, where
no war had ever been, certainly mill
tary officers, being instructed from
Washington that they We're above the
civil authorities, had
Kidnapped and were About to Kill
three citizens lOr no olirnse defined by
any law and without the pretense Of =
trial by court or jury. Ii this could be
done there was maniestly no security
left iOr lie or property. Plainly il
could not be done without a flat viola
ton of the Constitution, which in eX.
press terms forbade it. But the men
who then ruled us with 4 rod Of iron in
sisted upon it and We could not be GER
tain that the Judges. state uud national,
might not bc Subiued 10y their lntu-
ence. The hearing OF the cause before
the Supreme Court was great crisis IN
the constitutional. history OF our coun-
try. There was place in the argument
which nobody could fill SO well as Gen.
Garfield, and hcsought him 10 help us
IN this desperate extremity
To Rescue American Liberty
from the destruction with which it was
threatened. lie responded with noble
alacrity, ana made = great Argument, IN
which he proved not only the continued
existence, but the iucs,Imable value OF
the Constitution. He demonstrated
that the right oi trial 10y jury at all times
and all places was inde>tructihle, and
that any officer, civil or military, would
violate his oath ii he attempted 10 put
the military above the civil authority.
tie affirmed the whole Democratic doe
Il. -. I ft
incontesiih,v ri.nt Ills sincerity was
uudOuh,ed, for, like the rest OF Us, he
enggged i'm the cause as labor oI love,
without lee or any reward except the
thanks Oi true men.
Such Were His True Convictions.
But when he came TO deal with the
same subject in his political capacity he
surrendered everything 20 his party.
He voted Tor military despotlsm and
q regular system oil Kidnapping aad
murder in all the States 0! the South.
In the same act were other provisions
which ne certainly understood 90 b. IN
direct conflict with every article and
every section OF the Constitution. In
all this he did not transgrcss, Ike others,
in ignorance or in passion; he sInucd
agains light and knowledge and OH
cold calculation OF partisan policy. 1t
il an infinite pity that such man
should be not only false 10 his country
but false t. himself.
What Makes A II TINS Very Much Worse
ia his dcnunciatiou Of General Hancock
for saving that the military was constl.
| tutiOualiy subordinate 10 the civil pow
er, aud that liberty was still the inherit
ance of the American people; Tor these
| were propositions which he himself had
| asserted and knew TO be true.
1t might be expected that the course
of a man so influenced would frequently
defect from the straight path, and one
great ALTERATION we cannot but remem-
Der.
Mr.. Tllden was Elected in 1875
4 false return was the only resource
against him. | do not believe that
General Garfield, if let alone, would
commit an election fraud any more than
he would steal a horse or a sheep. But
when the managers OF his party demand
ed his aid in great swind!e he could
not refuse. Under that coercion he
went down t. Louisiana and there
found il absolutely certain that the
Tillen electors had been "duly appoint
ed" at a legal and full poll, SO peacefully
conducted that there was no, even
sarabble about it in the whole State.
And the appointment - mad" was
| attested by and recorded upon tue Ger
| tiicatvS and the OIthS OF election officers
! adverse TO tine appOintecs IN ali their
| feelings and wishes.
| There was no EARTHLY Excuse for Deny-
| lng This;
no contradiction OF it could be honest.
| To count the State Tor Hayes WAS
| thing tina, could be done only by lmpu-
dent and unmitigated fraud. For a
| time | hoped that General Gartieids
| share in that great crime had consisted
| i'm passive aCquieSence, and | am sur
| priSed by the proofs recently brought
| forward OF his active assistance IN It's
perpetration. His Judgment aS mem
| ber of the Electoral Commission WAS a
thing TO be expected, for he must long
| before that have convinced himself that
| a fraud was as good 4 way rs any other
| of clecting President. In a political
game he did not think that anybody
| hal moral sense enough To abstain
| from throwing Il die which he himself
| had loaded to win the stake.
| This liability u ID" luSh'i lhlo '''
courses by his party associates has
brought upon him much odium which
br does not deserve IN the transactions
of the Credit Mobilicr. The stock dis.
tributed by Oakes Ames was intended
10 influence the legislation of Congress
carruptlv. He and the company VINO
mt it into his hands meant business,
| and that business was bribery. Tn
doubtedly those members WHO took H.
Knowing the nature OF the thing, were
great criminals, and wholly unworthy TO
retain their seats. Bu: General Gar
field, though he certainly agreed to take
| the stock, and
! Did Actually take Dividends Upon II.
had no suspicion OF It's connection with
the Union Pacific railroad or ot the con-
| dfct which its possession might create
between his private interests and ms
| public duty. He was as gu!.t.vss as the
child unborn OF any dishonest m'aa'nI
about the whole business. ! believe
| -. ,,o, ,,arply- harauSp ha told ne 50,