Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1882-03-23

pig-headed, obstinate man, who would
get selfish prejudice into his head and act
On il, against the Judgment and reason Of
everybody else Rosecrans woald have
utterly destroyed the Army Of the Cum
berlaDd, or had Il destroyed, If It hadn't
been for the intelligence of the army
itself, especially of such subordinate Off
GERS as Garfield and Thomas" A sufficient
answer to this blackguard is found in
Garfeld's own exaltation Of Rosecrans
in his congressional speech of 1854, which
the 1NTELLIGEScER lately published. But
who is Grant that Rosecrans or any other
soldier or patriot needs defense from his
attack? He sank from a lieutenancy in
the army to a drunken loafer made
famous by accident, rich by toadies and
elevated to the presidency, he shamed his
country by making his administration a
carnival Of political debauchery. His
abuse hurts nobody.
IT is very different thing to subscribe
for the relief Of Sergeant Mason's needy
Betty and Baby" and to indulge in
what Thurlow Weed, with such a senile
lack of right mindedness, calls " the gen.
eral and spontaneous demonstrations of
sentiment and sympathy for Sergeant
Mason" in his punishment for an "of-
fense prompted by right feelings and i'm
pulsively committed" Mason's offense,
which he indicated a desire to commit
even before he was removed to Washing
ton, was prompted by grossly wrong fee!.
ings and was deliberately committed. 1t
was crime against the law and breach
Of military discipline, and should have
been severely punished. It was worse
than the execution of mob law, which is
always deprecated, for Mason betrayed
this trust reposed in him as a guard for
the prisoner. He should have been tried by
the civil law, as Gen. Hancock suggested,
and in that event his punishment would not
have been severer at least than that of two
years. imprisonment imposed upon a
prisoner in our local court, whose assault
and battery with intent to kill, resulted in
the shooting of his victim and Gripping
him for life. For the failure to try
Mason in the civil courts the Washington
authorities are responsible. He will likely
have his sentence mitigated, but this
should not be done in consideration of any
popular clamor that fright feelings "
prompted his decd. All the same, his.wife
and babe, deprived of husband and
fathers support, are entitled to public
charity and are getting it.
WE are glad to be assured by the E8am-
iner that simply in the interest of hon.
est elections, and to afford an example for
all future political contests, the Republi-
cans of the First ward of this city have
determined to contest the election Of Feb
ruary last.'' Without this assurance the
public might have suspected, from the
names of some of the petitioners that the
contest was inaugurated in some other
interest. 1t will be remembered that
when a contest was attempted of J. l..
Steinmetz's election to the Legislature, a
number of well.meaning, but rather
obtuse citizens, were induced to sign a
petition alleging what was not true on
the false representations of the political
pot hunters who got up the contest and
that this contest collapsed when it was
exposed that many of the petitioners had
been. engaged at that very election
in obtaining bogus tax receipts
for persons who voted against Steinmetz.
A subsequent contest, inaugurated by the
Republicans of this city to count out
Democratic officer, resulted in large in
crease of his majority, and declaration to
that effect about tho time his term expired,
and after great expense to the county.
Very naturally, therefore, when this
last contest is ,naugurated and the
affidavit made by two of tho
same ready swearers who made afi-
davit that Steinmetz had received 300 H.
legal votes and who retreated SO disgrace
fully from that memcra bic contest, the
public might suspect that another fiasco
was being inaugurated. This suspicion
would be strengthened by a recollection
of the fact that of these affdavit-makers
in both cases - intent on securing
honest elections-it was shown in
tho Steinmetz- -Leaman contest that
of the bogus tax receipts issued
in that campaign some were procured at
Chas. F. Eberman's instance, and that on
election day the collector sat in John A.
Hiestand's back Office issuing and dating
back these bogus receipts. These two
gentlemen, in their temperance before
the public, are not reinforced by associa-
tion with another Republican politician at
present under Indictment for embezzle-
ment as a prison official. Their present alle-
CATION is not that any person voted who
lacked any of the constitutional qualifica-
tions Of voters, but that their votes are to
be thrown out because of technical ne
glect of the election. officers to comply
with the requirements of the law. It is
we'll known that at no ward in this city
were these requirements complied with,
and at few districts in the county, and in
most cases the commissioners failed to
furnish the roce0sarv blanks. The