American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1881-07-23

was the head; yet it conveyed
an almost world wide shock, and
all newspaper readers remember
the unsparing terms in which
assassination was denounced, however
oppressive the Government or however
grievous and irremediable the wrongs
upon the people might be. Ii the tragic
removal of the chief man in Govern
ment SO CALLING as that of Russia SO
touched the sensiklities of just and en-
lightened people everywhere, how
much more shocking is the assassina-
ton of the President of the United
States, under whom the people are en-
joying peace and plenty and the largest
humanity! The Gar was a hereditary
ruler, belonging to line whose history
was blackened by the worst oppres-
sions-an autocrat, between whom and
the people sold ers filed and bayonets
bristled. President Garfield is a man
of the people, accessible to the hum
blest citizen of the Republics man
who came from the lowly walks of life
without forgetting his primordial loves
and associations, and who has brilliant
ly illustrated i'll his work the possibili-
ties of such Government as ours for
those who move forward by intellectual
powers and industry. He came fresh
from the people, and for many years,
while serving in Congress, he returned
to his constituency annually for their
Endorsement and lived with a simplicity
becoming Il candidate for the suffrages
of q yeomanlike community. He was
a man fit to justify the pride of the
American that our Chief Magistrate
might safely walk forth unattended,
while companies of soldiers could not
save the crowned heads.
The assassination of such President
in country like this, in a time of pro-
found peace. is a crime which cries out
for some word of multiplied force tc
convey its gravity. 1t is the desperate
deed of a wretch whose mere existence
presents one of the greatest dangers to
society. Guiteau is deliberate
butcher, upon whom philosophy is
wasted, and who should be separated
by a mighty barrier from the maudlin
sympathy which so frequently tempers
the fate of remorSeless murderers. 1t
will be with Indignation that the people
of this country will receive the slight
suggestion of insanity which has al
ready been communicated. When the
President of the United States lies
weltering in his blood, it is no time to
draw fine lines or split hairs in discuss
ing the mental condition of his MUIR
derer. 1t is time to relegate experts
and sharp practitioners to a respectful
distance.
In a matter so full of moment as d
murderous attack on the President pro-
priety does not require postponement
of discussion of political movements
leading to or growing out of it. The
event of yesterday must lead to bitter
reflections and heart-burnings among
men prominent in affairs. What was
the motive which led to the assassina-
war, such as was Just closing when the
revered Lincoln came to his tragic end.
In the sixteen years succeeding the
assassination of Lincoln three Presi-
dents have served to the end of their
terms unmolested. There was no
social or Communist;c upheaval:
There was no exciting contest between
the two great parties. There was
not the incentive of de-
pressed condition of monetary af-
fairs; on the contrary, the country, in
the natural turning of events, is rapidly
recovering from a period of distress.
The only suggestion of an incentive to
the attack is in the words of the assas-
sin himself, who declared that he was
Stalwart and wanted to make Arthur
President. By this statement, Guiteau
may have kindled an indignation that
he thought not of. However unpleas-
ant. it may be to those who are promi-
nently engaged in the fractional fight in
the Republican party at this time, and
however unjust the reflection upon
them, the people will take notice o. the
slightest circumstance, and now this is
the only circumstance to. mote 1t leads
naturally, without the Intervention of d
bridge, to reflection upon politics in the
immediate future. In the event of the
death of Garfield, Chester A. Arthur,
Stalwart, and the managing politician
of the chief of the Stalwarts, becomes
President of the United States. What
effect will this have? The answer to
sive. Will the Stalwarts take full pos
session of the Government Will Cen
eral Arthur wipe off the work of Garfield
and present clean slate for Conkling
and his followers? Will the Senatorial
contest in New York be brought to an
end, in favor of Conkling, by the return
to the Stalwart grasp OF official patron
age and jobbery in place? Will Robert
son be ousted from the Custom-houseP
Will the Cabinet be demolished and
Garfield's friends everywhere over
thrown? Will Ohio be punished?
The natural drift would seem to be
toward all this; but public Indignation
may outrun it all. The other wing of
the Republican party may rise up and
barricade the path of these politicians
with cry of "Shamer' which will be
so loud that it shall appear to have sub
stance and form. The overreaching
aggressiveness of the Stalwart element
may result in building up Blaine dr
some other man or men intimately con.
nected with the late President. Peace
at least will not follow, and the plainest
indications poi41 to the early death of a
party which way born in 1856.
The Immediate result may be the &C
cession to theI Presidency of party
politician, whdis incapable of taking
the primary steps in statesmanship-a
type of all that is vicious in the plumber
system of politics. The assassination
OF the President is calamitous in itself.
The calamity will be magnified by the
advance of New York managing poll
tician to the Executive Chair.
The country will lay aside the i'm
portant political considerations growing
out of the distressing tragedy long
tn oxfaDJ deem Symnathv fO the