National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-04-27
Who Killed Cock Robin?

4 coalition between the present adj
ministration and Samuel J. Tilden, to
cast reproach upon the administration of
Rutherford B. Hayes, would be gentle
surprise to many people. Yet, as strange
things have happened. It is known that
Kinds, the fountain-head of the libels
upon General Brady, late Second Assist
ant Postmaster General, long since en-
ployed as his advising counsel friend
of Samuel J. Tilden. The bond of
sympathy between Mr.. Kinds and Mr..
Tilden lies in the fact that Gen
eral Brady has stood in the
way of both, having refused to
allow the former to bid for contracts be-
cause of dishonest and criminal prae
tices, and having secured for public
inspection the cipher kilograms of 1876,
by which the latter was brought to
shame. In our news columns will be
found an extract from the report of the
Potter Fraud Investigating Committee,
in which General Brady is credited, upon
satisfactory proof. with having brought
TO public view the cipher kilograms. 1t IS
an open secret that Hinds's rubbish was
carried to President Garfield for use
against Brady There may have seemed
to the bearera happy conjunction of in
terests between Tilden and the President
Brady had opened the Democratic closet
and exhibited the cipher telegram skele-
ton to an astonished world. He was stock
holder in a newspaper which had loudly
protested against what it believed to be
an unnecessary and indefensible assault
by the administration upon the party or
ganization of the State of New York.
Kinds hated Brady, Tilden hated Brady
and the late President. Why could
not their hatred be gratified by a
skillful Intervening of their griev-
ances with those they supposed to
exist at the Executive Mansion be-
cause of the course pursued by this
paper? We do not know how the high
joint commissioner of Messrs. Kinds
and Tilden was met. The story goes that
he told the President that unless the ad-
ministration took up its cudgel against
General Brady it would be done by
somebody else. The resignation of Cen
eral Brady was requested. The Postmas-
ter-General said he was required by the
President to ask for it. When the news
went out it was doctored up all around to
appear as a severe paroXysm of virtue on
the part of the Postmaster General, for
which that official was to have the plaudits
ofarescued land. The Postmaster-General,
so far from relishing this, declared to in
quirers that it was none of his work.
He had but executed the Presidents
order. But the fierce enthusiasm of the
presidential organs for the Roman virtue
of Postmaster-GeneralJ James in roofing
out the wickedness which Kinds and his
counsel direct from Tilden had found in
the Post-Office Department rather grew
than abated Then came Kinds with
bucket after bucket of filth, which neither
he nor Mr.. Tilden's friend as his counsel
could have dumped unaided into the
great newspapers and some powerful
voice ordered that it be admitted. A
President or Postmaster-Generalm might
bear such sway, but no lesser person. A
special agent could gather ammunition,
but he could not command a gun nor
gunner The Postmaster General says it
was not done under his auspices. Pray
how was it done?