The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1881-07-02
a REVIEW OF TnE SITUATION.


The Republican party is in desperate
plight. Its condition is daily growing worse
and its complete disintegration is only aques-
tion Of time For years it has been the boast
Of its leaders, that nothing could destroy its
harmony; that its forces were so well officer
ed ard under such admirable subsection
that nothing could swerve the rank and file
from blind obedience TO the orders Of the
men, who, by right of superior intelligence
and ability, had assumed to be aud were
considered its superior officers, whose most
arbitrary mandates were TO he obeyed un-
faltenngy aud to the very letter. 1t had
seemed as il this were no idle boast. Years
Of corruption, of unparalleled rascslty, of
greater knavery in every department of the
government, than this country had ever seen
before, or will, we hope, ever be cursed with
Ogain, did not seem 10 skare the confidence
Of the great mass of Republican voters, in
the perfect patriotism and complete integri-
ty Of the party. Until now they had stood
by their colors defantly, obeying the orders
Of their commanders with singular fidelity.
II we must give these voters credit for ordi-
nary intelligence, how can they excuse their
support Of an administration like Grants
whose domination marked an era of jobbery
unprecedented in the history of political
parties how could they honestly support
Hayes who was placed in the Presidential
chair by the most monstrous fraud ever per-
petrate1 on free people, or conscientiously
help elect to the Presidency James A. Gar
field, o man who, under the cloak of relig
ion, as a Christian statesman, has long been
notorious for Aagrant prostitution of his Of
fetal position TO enrich himself. Even ex-
Senator Conkling, of New York, whose per-
sonsl integrity is above reproach, 80 far
+ frget his dignity and self-respect, as to give
Hayes es'Admnlstration the recognition which
he knew it was not entitled to, and whose
fraudulent chair he once threatened to ex
pose. By neglecting to do this. Conkling
missed the grandest opportunity of his life
u enroll himself high up among the great
est American patriots. With him, as with
Republicans of smaller ealibrc, the love of
party, overcame conscientious seruples aEd
compelled him to strangle in their infancy
honest convictions, which if promptly acted
upon at the time, would have redounded TO
his land and honor, and won him impersh-
able fame
Had it not been for that memorable meet
ing at Mentor, where Garfield pledged to
Conkling, absolute control of the political
patronage of the State of New York if elect
ed President, the present wrangle in the
Republican party could never have occur
red, because Garfield without the Conkling-
Grant aid, which his promise at that time
secured, could never have been elected to
his present position.
Unquestionsbly Garfield knew this at the
time, else he would not have made proms-
es which he must have known must be
broken to repay the men to whom he owed
his nomination at Chicago; and he also
knew, willy, unprincipled, log rolling, wire
pulling, political trickster that he is, that
once safe in the White House, with the i'm
mense power Of official patronage to back
him, he could safely ignore his promises and
snaps bis fingers in defiance of the men he
made his friends in time of need with
honied words and gilded promises.
To offset the stigma of tue fast and loose
policy he has been carrying out, Garfield
short time ago, claimed credit for discoy-
erng certain startling abuses in the Post
Office Department, by which hundreds OF
thousands of public money, have been di-
verted into the pockets of rascally officials.
He ordered the prosecution of the offenders,
and by loud professions induced the guile
less to believe that he had inaugurated an
era Of reform in deed as well as in name.
But this pleasant little delusion was soon dis,
peled by subsequent developments, which
showed conclusively that the prosecutions
could not be pushed to final issue, without
dragging down himself and his nearest and
dearest political friends Therefore these
cases still hang fire in the Attorney Generals
office and will so hang until forgotten with
the lapse of time, when they will be pigeon
holed forever.
Conkling precipitated the trouble in his
party by resigning his position in fit Of
anger, because Garfield declined to keep his
promise. He miscalculated his political
strength. He had foolishly imagined that
he would have no difficulty in securing his
return to the Senate, by an overwhelming
vote of confidence. He might have been
had he been differently equipped; but he
had nothing TO offer his old constituency but
distinguished personality and an ornate
eloquence, while the Administration held
out the more alluring iuducement o bread
and butter in the form Of fat Official positions
with liberal salaries aud handsome perquis.
itesi hence the largest portion of the party
stick to Garfield 1t is not because they
think he has not been faithless toward Conk-
ling, but because they still hope that 10 the
bestowal Of patronage be will not be laithless
tdward themselves.
Tha Republican party is dissolved and
the whole concern maybe said to be in liqui-
dation. For the next four years they will
be engaged in winding up their affairs ,striy-
ing to save from the wreck whatever each
individual member can save for himself,a and
eRthe fourth of March, 1885, they will vscate
in favor of better tenant tho premises
which they will then have occupied for
twenty years.