Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-07-18
Put on Brakes!

eve have more need of the brake than
of steam" said Mr.. Conkling, in the
course of an excellent little speech at
Utica the other night, when rendered
serenade by his admiring fellow citizens.
From the context of Mr.. Conklings re-
marks we gather that his declaration,
above quoted, referred more particularly
tothe recklessness of Congress in voting
awav the public money, and the need of
canton in the business world.
The correctness of Mr.. Conklings
views in these connections will hardly
be questioned by any but in
terested jobbers and professional
sneculators. The prodigality of the
Radical majority in Congress is such as
70 invite the prayerful attention Of the
President. who, if he fails to exercise
the power given him to arrest wasteful
and injurious legislation, will sharethe
responsibility for such. The business
world. too, cannot but agree with Mr.
Conkling that prosperity often tries
nations and men more than adversely
But leaving the intended application OF
his remarks, they have wider reach,
and the thoughtful reader will see that
they invite reflection as to the general
conduct of our affairs.
If the metaphor of brakes and steam
applies fifty to anything, it certainly does
to our politics. If a political party was
ever run at high pressure, the Radical
party has been and will continue so
while it relies on the agencies it is wont
to employ. 1t has gone on in its career
without check from within save at rare
intervals, when the fears of its managers
were aroused. 1t has played the role of
the revolutionist and the tyrant in sue
cession, and, growing shameless, now
openly enacts that of the thief. 1t has
run such risks and escaped so
often that it ceases to take thought.
One of the worst products of
Grantism, Robson, the robber, is
its virtual leader. The men whose cor.
ruption drove them into obscurity have
one by one been lifted into public posi-
tons, and the faction of Radicalism
which now controls, and is practically
the party proper, drives recklessly ahead.
The so called Garfield Republicans pro-
test, but to no purpose. They ale
steadily ignored. The only choice left
them is that made by the Pennsylvania
bolters-to obtain just recognition or
hand over the control of affairs to the
Democrats. The end of the Pennsyl-
vania experiment is awaited with lively
interest everywhere, but it remains to be
seen whether it will result as predicted.
The Conservative O. Republicans
throughout the country could, if they
would, force the managers to put on
brakes, but they have not the courage to
make the attempt. One thing is certain,
| if this government is ever to be brought
pack to the simple and legitimate char
acter it once held, all true American citi-
zens must make common cause and lend
no support to any men that will leave
the paths marked out and seek new
ways. If the plain rules laid down by
its founders for the conduct of the Re-
public are followed, it will adj
NIT of indefinite expansion. Its
newness and its resources have
been its greatest safeguards in the
past two eventful decades. Ii has passed
in safety the crisis of a civil war, the
murder of two Presidents, and the de
liberate setting aside of the peoples
choice for the Chief Magistracy. What
greater strains it may be subjected to the
future will show, but the lottery of as
sassination," called into being by the
crack of Guiteau's pistol, has no element
to warrant public confidence, and it pre-
sents the most shameful of the many
disgraceful phases Radicalism has as
sumed. There are no Republicans to
day but stalwarts, or "Our men, as the
late assassin tersely expressed it.
The direct purpose for which Radi-
calism was instituted has long ago been
subserved. The managers have. duped
the majority of the Northern people for
years by cunning appeals to their preiu-
dices, and have all the time made friends
of the schemers, jobbers and ma
nipulators of capital, in return
for whose support they have bartered
away the rights and resources
of the people. There was something to
wonder at in the audacity of Sumner,
Stevens and Morton, but the open
knavery of Robson and Keifer can
awaken only disgust. The self-respect'
ing voters of the North, who cast their
ballots for Garfield, can force the
brakes to be put on. Now is their op-
portunity. Later it may be too late.