Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-10-21
Macveagh Disgusted.

Attorney General MacVeagb, as is well
known, did not wait long to lei President
Arthur understand that he did not desire
to remain in the Cabinet. The Washing
ton correspondent of the New York
Herald says in this connection:
cit is said that one Of the reasons why
Attorney General MacVeagh wishes to
leave the Cabinet is that he may become
the leader of a reform party and its pos.
sible candidate for the Presidency in
1884. His short experience in Office has
convinced him. so his intimate friends
say. that a thorough reform in all de
partments of the government is abso-
lutely necessary to protect it against
long confirmed schemes for plundering
the Treasury. So the Garfield Cabinet
is to furnish at least two aspirants Tor
Presidential hOnors."
Whether MIR. MacVeagh has really
arrived at such conviction or not is
matter Of little consequence. 1t is diff
ficult to see how he could avoid doing
so. Should he conclude to execute the
design attributed to him, he could render
some service to his country, though his
ambition would hardly be gratifed.
But. aside from this, a man Of the re-
puted honesty of MacVeagh owes it to
the public to tell what he knows, and
endeavor to have light shed
on the corruptiOns that lie
hidden. 1t is doubtful, however,
whether Mr.. MacVeagh, though he may
have seen enough to disgust him, could
astonish the public by revealing what
he has discovered.
1t is the unexpected that surprises,
but corTuptions in the Treasury have
become so notorious that nothing short
of a series of gigantic steals would beget
wonder. The necessity Of reform was
made apparent long before Mr.. Mac
Veagh figured on the national stage,
and, though his zeal is commendable,
the cause he would champion is an old
one. The searching light of inquiry was
thrown upon the corruption of Grants
rule, and the pursuit led UP to
the door Of the White House, but the
Republican party condoned all this.
The Hayes regime wore cloak that hid
rascality, but no sooner had the pretender
left the chair than its rottenness became
apparent. The name of the late head of
the Treasury is smirched, and if the
recent discoveries indicate anything they
point to official dishonesty, compared
with which that of Belknap was trihing.
1t is idle for Mr.. Mac eagh to dream of
reforming his party. 1t is kept together
by plumber and money. The result in
Indiana last fall, which gave it victory,
was obtained by the use of "plentY of
-" as President Arthur himself felici-
tously put it. The dispenser Of this
corruption fund is now awaiting indict-
ment as Brady's lieutenant in the star
route steals, and the President who
praised him at the feast must now in duty
to the public hound him to the felOn's
cell. Dorsey is no worse today than
then. Nor is his eulogist better, though
one be the cringing culprit and the other
the executive of avenging law.
There is but one cure for the corrup-
tons that Mr.. MacVesgh deplores-a
complete change in the administration.
The opposition alone can lay bare the
fraud and dishonesty that lie concealed.
The time has long since come for the
remedy to be applied. The evil is
spreading. Soon it will be too late to
arrest it. Mr.. MacVesgh's honesty, if
he is correctly reported, is exceptional,
but his purpose is eminently Quixotic.