The sun., 1881-01-23
Hayes's Temperance sham.

Hayes's Temperance Sham.
The temperance people throughout the
country are proposing to hang up in the
White House q portrait Of Mrs. HAYES in
recognition of her zeal In behalf OF their
cause. HAYES himself gets loud praise
from the teetotalers for his alleged devotion
TO their principles. They honor him as the
pne cold water occupant OF the White House.
No doubt HAYES has made great show
OF temperance in his White House banquets.
The guests at his table have been compelled
h ,,sFv their thirst with cold water, cold
milk. milk an water, tea, or coffee, OF
chocolate. or wines they could get none,
unless perhaps on n single occasion currant
wine or gooseberry wine.
It is True t.rle soma rnn"s rn..".. was once fraudu-
lently concealed in ices packed inside of
oranges. but very likely Mrs. HAYES knew
nothing Of the trick, and perhaps HAYES
himself only winked at the violation OF his
nvowed rule. At any rate, he has taken
great pains to show himself as temperance
host AS soon as he had secured possession
Of his stolen seat he began to air his horror
Of intemperance in the public service.
11A1fso was ScNolc Ou
enness in the army. He announced his pur-
pose to deal with It with the greatest
severity. He was going to Danish whiskey
drinking from the military service and
make OF the army a sort OF temperance
society on large scale. How sad to think
that our young men in shoulder straps were
under the influence OF the example OF older
officers who freely used the Intoxicating
cupl That was the lament we heard from
the White House.
But how has HAYES carried out his
Rvowed purpose and vindicated his temper
ance principles SO far as the army is con-
cerned2 He has done more than any pre-
vious Executive to encourage drunkenness
In the military service. Instead OF treating
drunken officers with q just severity and
with an equal justice, he has pretty uni
formly committed their sentences, as i'm
posed by courts martial, and restored them
10 duty.
Even the gravest offences against military
order and military discipline, and common
decency as well, whether committed under
the influence OF drink or otherwise, have been
leniently regarded by this pretended tenn
perance advocate. Crimes which outrage
the sense OF honor of all decent men. and
which unfit man for the society Of re-
spectacle people, have found ready pardon
from him.
An officer who had long disgraced the mil
itary service would at last be brought to
trial, and the evidence presented 10 show
beyond question his guilt of outrageous Of
fences. He would be sentenced to dismis-
sol. IhereuDOn he or his Ohio friends would
journey to Washington, and lobby about
the White House until it's temperance occu-
pant restored the offender to duty. That
has been the rule, and every dismissed Off
Ger, no matter how fragrant his offences,
has had good reason to expect that 1t would
be applied to his case. His military asso-
ciates might prove his guilt incontestaby,
and get rid Of him for time as q nuisance
and man unfit for decent society; but
HAYES would see that they soon had him
back again. Since HAYES worked his sub
terrancan way into the White House, he has
confirmed the convictions OF only nineteen
officers out of sixty found guilty of gross Of
fences, most OF them involving drunken
ness on duty. Forty-one of the convicted
officers have been retained in the army by
HAYEs's personal order
He began the work soon after getting into
the White House, and has kept it up steadily
ever since. In November, 1877, he issued a
general order to the army, in which he de-
livciSd a sermon on drinking "No person
addicted to IT," said HAYES, "can expect to
be trusted with any responsible duty: - ,
person VIII" c,nno. uo trusted b ID hotter
Nv pc continued in Office" after this sol
emn warming" he said, In closing the order
,F hn i,,,
posed in due course by courts martial may
beexpected"
And yet, on the very day OF its issue, he
set that order asidel He commuted sen
tence Of dismissal for drunkenness on duty
to suspension for three months only. Tht
next day he again set a sentence aside, anC
in O case where the offence was OF kline
he had previously declared was unforgiya
BILE. The officer, in order to escape cour
martial, had given his word as gentleman
TO abstain from intoxicating drinks, but ha(
niterward broken it.
In the spring of 1877, commenting upol
two cases OF this sort, HAYES had said tina
such officers were retained, the higl
reputation which the army has always hel,
for honor and dignity, as well as integrity
would soon be thing Of the past" But II
November 1871, when the case OF an Office
dismissed for that very offence came beior
him, he cOmmuted the sentence to "suspen
sion from rank and command, on half pdl
Tor eighteen months"
And at short intervals HAYES has bee
putting drunkards and reprobates back /
the army from that time to this. No matte
how gross or nasty the proved charge
and specifications, he has taken the cupr
TO his embrace and treated him as II h
had committed some trivial offence onl,
What is mean, contemplate, Odious, an
disgusting behavior in the eyes OF decel
mon generally, seems to strike HAYES 9
very pardonabo conduct.
In ono Of these cases where HAYES r
stored the dismissed officer to the army ii
details Of his offences, as recitcd In specifics
tons, Of which W was proved guilty, are tc