The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1881-06-21
THE RUT OF HISTORY.

the east is engaged in proving that some OF
the republican party managers do not scruple
to bride a legislator, and the other half that
the remainder of the republican party do not
scruple to conspire and commit perjury, the
Inter Mountain in the west, whose inclinations
upon the one side and its interests upon the
other close its mouth and render it as silent
as a s%phinx.upon the disgraceful situation OF
its party, attaches its little string to a few dem
ocrats and persistently tugs upon it in a fruit
less endeavor to drag them in the disgusting
political slime and filth into which the re-
publican party is now w%allowing. Its puny
efforts in this direction excite only the con-
tempt of the honest, intelligent members of
its own party and the ridicule of democrats.
1t stands alone in the foolish self-imposed
task. The we'll informed respectable Journ-
ais of its party grimly accept the situation
and make the best of it. They are not found
roaming over the democratic fold in quest of
a black sheep to sacrifice upon the altar of
their hate. or to cruelty as an atonement for
the sins of their party. Neither do they in
dulge in misstatements of facts and falsify
hioOoy " oSlSSb plSilloSiNSo i'o"t o"S MI
nation of an outraged people. They are EN-
quiring-to use the words of Sterne-"which
is true. and which the liar" and profess a de-
sire to reward the one and to punish the 9th
er. But our contemporary does not appear to
possess the stern philosophy which invites
that line of action. 1t seeks rather to pursue
the ~craven's course and would shift a respon-
sibility to the shoulder of anol her that should
properly rest upon Its own. To accomplish
this it knowingly ~falsifies history or it adver-
tises itself an jg%noramus. A few excerpts
from its article OH Responsibility of SwiAd-
ling" which appears III its issue of the 18th
inst, establishes the truth of one or the 9TH
err of the above charges.
In referring to the knowledge of the dem-
ocratic press, our contemporary says: "These
journals know that swindling has been going
forward for the past ten years AM that Con-
gress has been under the control of the de-
mocracy during that time" That Congress
has been under the control of the democracy
for the past ten years is certainly news to the
student OF political history. We supposed that
the merest tyro in political matters knew that
Samuel }. Randall is the only democrat who
has been elected Speaker of the House or
Representatives during the past twenty years
and that he was first elected to that Office in
1876 for the last session of the Forty-fourth
Congress, and was afterwards elected
to the Forty-ffLh and Forty-sixth Congress
SEES. the last Of which expired on the
tI I... nT Y.- -. ,:..
since 81 has the Democratic party Lad con-
troll Of Congress. Notwithstanding the asser-
ton of the Inter Mountain to the contrary.
Again.our very unreliable contemporary says:
: The Postmaster General under nearly the
whole of Hayes administration was a lem
ocrat." Here is news again for us. In max
ing the claim that ex-President Hayes APP
pointed a democrat to "a cabinet position with
the expectation that its readers would believe
it, tine Inter NouRtain banks upon their stu
pidity to an extent that really amounts to a
libel upon their intelligence. skey was one of
the most blatant republicans in Hayes cabi-
net, and was appointed as a representative Of
Southern republicans. Key was "a democrat
| before the war. SO was Ben. Butler, and the
devil was once an angel, but they all fell
from their high estate and no one now thinks
Of calling the former democrats or the latter
a cherubim.
Not seeming content to rest upon its we'll
earned laurels as the champion ignoramus of
the northwest our contemporary adds the fol-
lowing chaplet to its brow. 1t says: :" A
democratic congress has seemed to be in
sweet, obliyious ignorance for the past ten
years Of any crookedness in the POsto flee
Department. This is uttered in the face of
the fact that the late democratic congress ap-
pointed a committee to investigate the
crookedness in that department, and when
that committee called upon Mr.. Brady to
render an account of his expenditures and
explain why those expenditures were SO
greatly in excess Of the appropriations made
to cover them, that gentleman coolly told the
committee it was none of its business
and Notwithstanding every en- deavor was
made by the committee to reach the bottom
facts in the case, they were foiled at every
turn, simply because the whole power of the
administration was added to that of the post.
office department to shield Brady and his
%swindling colleagues. This fact is patent tt
all. democratic congress did all it coulc
to unearth the ~rascality that was going on, bu,
a republican administration blocked The way
to success. Had il stood aside aud withheld
its protection of the ~rascals, the committee
would have cleaned the Augean stable in
single day. But as il was it could do nothing
more than call the attention of the country tt
the rottenness of the department. 1t is real
ly through the developments reached by the
investigating committee, when it was check
Cd tLat tho coru.rI: IiamS the praSaut axn aS