The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-08-06
ANOTHER HOOK OF The RING
SHEPHERDS CROOK

SHEP5ERDS CROOK
The ,ulinirat..lu on Saturday Of the
contest over u political appointment. Al
Il breach III the public pcare. j. one OF
those unweicome episodes i'll local poll
ties which have occurred before and
which, moralizc as we may. will doubt
less occur again. They are the natural
and inevitable result of personal politics.
Personal violence We unequivocally de
nouncc as the surest means any man can
employ to damn the most meritorious
cause. That a mans muscle shall be the
test of the merit of an issue between him.
self and another is one Of those fallaciouS
theories too generally entertained in Bour-
BOMBED communities South, but which
:he higher civilization Of this country has
long since relegated to the ButleriZed pre-
cincts OF South Carolina.
But the p0iitrs underlying this enrouu-
ter, and which are characteristic of the
gentleman who at Washington, maSqner-
AIDES as a Senator in the seats once filled by
statesmen and scholars, are the iegltl-
mate subject of newspaper comment.
When James b. Groome recognized the
fact that a single appointment would fill
the measure of his Senatorial influence.
he selected IL Confederate soldier as the
! sole representative of Cecil county anon"
the officers of the Upper House of Con
/ gress.
The Republicans OF this county had no
right to. and did not. complain. They
were dumb sheep before the Senatorial
Nathan The Democrats had tho orgaui-
/ cation of the Senate and Union soldiers
had to take back seats. They did take
them, and had sense enough to know
that they had nothing TO expect from
q Rebel dominated branch of the Ma
! tional Legislature, with Maryland rep
resented by a man of Groome's calihre
and sympathies. They bad besides, dur
ing Mr.. Hayes's term. grown accus-
toned to being snuhbed by an alleged
Republican administration, by seeing fat
places under the Government given TO
Rebel soldiers and Democrats. under the
tiimsy guse of pretended civil service
reform
When. therefore, the Senatorial Nathan
shouldcrcd his little eve lamb and laid
it snugly down in its Senatorial fold at
Washington. they looked quietly on and
: ,.,l
the Senator has 4 happy faculty for ex-
citing.
But while Rebel appointments were
proper things enough in the |. s. Sen
ate as long as the Democrats were in the
ascendant therein. the Republicans of the
county We're not willing to sit quietly by
and be .R'crrd out of a place in the Int
rior Department, which, by every rule of
: Democratic politics, the Republicans were
! entitled to i'll by one of their own men.
They had helped the Garfield Admin
istration into power. They had voted
for it and spent their money i'll its he
half The heaviest work of the cam
paign that preceded its selection. was
the defense OF it's Head from the gross
ISLANDERS and examinations of Senator
Groome and his wcll-matc hed Senatorial
associate-Gorman.
OF President Garfield. the latter had
said, "This is the first time in the po-
Ethical history of this country that either
party has ever presented as candi-
= date Tor the Presidency Il man uiN "
=" hint'd po!iiru r,royd." and then re-
attirmin. the truth OF the Norcy s..a,-
dial, gtf.r Gen. Garfield'S open ami mne-
luivocai le"ioi nf It's gclluincncs>, had
proceeded to prove ~ him 4 pcrjurer,
liar, salary grahhcr, aud thief
Not to be outd0ne by his Senatorial
associate, Groome had been scarcely less
! abusive. He was sorry TO have to sit the
next four years by the side Of Garfield
and alike with froth of language and of
lip, with all the assurance Of q genuine
demagogue. mad howled down the man.
from whose Administration he now fawn-
! ingly seeks place.
Therefore. when the Republicans of
! Cecil county saw the tradHrer Of Presi-
dent Garfield endeavoring to steal from
them an appointment for one of his own
chosen political circle, under the actual
misrepresentation that. although Demo-
crat, his applicant had taken no actual
part in the last Presidential campaign
Secretary Kirkwood's letter. they were
indignant us well at the audacity as at
the mendacty, upon which it was based
Against Mr.. Purnell, as an iudiy dual,
they made no charge. True. his active
partisanship had provoked some personal
enmities in the Republican ranks. but
the best local sentiment of the party re-
fused to consider this. and preparing a
respectful protest against the appoint
ment-pvrriy upon political. not upon
personal. grounds-thc astutc Senator
was defeated in his plans. Whatever
local i'll blood has resulted from this
tiasco, is purely the ontgrowth of Sena-
tor James Black Groomes desperate
efforts to patch up the waning fortunes
of his local political household.
-9t ~s S.