The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-09-22
4 cAsE OF suRaERy OR DEATH.

The Independent Republican move
ment in Pennsylvania is one deserving
/ the most serious consideration of those
/ who would understand the political for
/ ces which are to mould the future. II
/ is no longer a mere rebellion, awaiting
/ the pleasure of the bosses to put it dowr
I either by force or concession. It ha:
passed the proportion of a revolution il
has passed beyond the control of any
particular set of men no man can be.
/ tray and destroy it by any act of perso n
! al treason. If it was precipitated last
year, OF if it was augmented or intensi-
fed by the individual grievances of lea,
ders, who being respected and trdsted
, by honest Republicans, were for that
very reason prescribed by the Ring. it
has now assumed the dignity of dis
. tinct party, founded upon distinct 1rin-
ciples. It has developed issues which
cannot be settled by compromise thev
must be fought out, and will be deter
mined only by the final verdict of the
Republican voters between the bosses
and the independents. The questions
outstanding are such as cannot be made
the subject of negotiation. There are
questions of public morality. about
which no decent man can stop to chatter.
Nobody talks any more of conferences or
conventions to represS a struggle which
is plainly irresistible. The two sides
are dealing each other the hardest blows
they know how to deliver-and every
such blowmakes reconciliation manifest
ly more impossible.
The revolt of the Independent Repub-
licans is founded upon causes far back in
the history of the State. They are not
trivial or ephemeral. Since the retire
ment of Gov. Curtin the ring has had alb
solute possession of the Commonwealth.
We know how it has suppressed all the
freedom Of opinion in the Republican
party, aud crushed the beginnings of all
opposition. Some of the largest corpor-
ations of the State have in that time
lent it their assistance, and prostituted
the privileges granted by the State to
aid in fastening this shameful yoke up
on the necks Of the people. What this
corrupt combination has cost the Com
monwealth in round figures there is no
sufficient data to make a calculation
But a committee of the House Of Repre-
sentatives reported in the winter of 1876
20, after an imperfect inquiry, that un-
der such Ring Treasurers as Mackey,
Kemble, and the rest, it had stolen
81, 200, 900 in the one item of interest
on the State funds alone. It was in the
councils and by the members of this
Ring that the Pittsburg Riot bill was
prepared and the testimony shows that
it was urged upon reluctant members in
detail as party measure, the spoils to
be used for party purposes, as were
those of the Recorder bill and similar
measures. In that instance the COM
mOnwealth narrowly escaped the loss of
S4 600, 900 to these robbers at one single
blow. But this is not the worst.
The cost of the Ring in hard cash is
the least part Of its cost to the state. It
has debaUched the Legislature so as TO
make it perfectly unreliable for any
honest or proper public purpose. The
caucus rules the two houses and the
Ring rules the caucus. 1t has been for
years the most absolute government this
side of Dahamev. When Senator Simon
Cameron saw fit, he threw down his
sceptre, and commanded his henchmen
to take it up and carry it to his son.
The new boss is even more imperious
than the old. There is no appeal from
Caesar Until the defeat of the Riot
bill and the revolt on the Senatorial
question his will was unquestioned law.
Was there hope in the ballot boxes ?
The boss packed the conventions, nom
mated his own candidates, cracked the
party whip. If that was not enough the
deficiency was made up by purchase and
by fraud. No protest was heard or heed
ed Men like Wolfe, Stewart, KOontz.
Grow and Bayne were bullied in the
Legislatures and chOked in conventions.
Delegations of respectable men, like the
Committee of One Hundred, who went
to Harrisburg to eXpOsulate against the
Philadelphia swindles were jeeTed at for
their assumption of decency. and pelted
with TO2 mar ads nv fbn ro1ayrful rancfnrS
But, as said before, all this is no new
thing under the sun. Whoever will
take the proceedings of the COnstitu-
tiOnal Convention of 1873 viii find in
deoates of that body all the causes and
justilications of the present Republican
revolt against the corrupt rule of the
Ring set forth with the same distinct
ness as they are set forth to-day by Sen
atOr Mitchell, John Stewart and Chas.
). Wolfe. And they will be fOnnd in
the speeches of the ablestRepublicans in
the Commonwealth, then or since.
We say, therefore, that the Indepen-
dent movement is not the growth of a
year or the caprice of few injured or
indignant men. It must succeed or the
party must perish Honest
conclude, as honest Demo-
Gratis ter years ago concluded with Mr..
TIlden in relation to the Tweed Ring.
that it is case of surgery or death the
rotten part must be cut away or the
whole body must die; and if temper
airy defeat must be incurred in the
course of the operation, it is a small
price to pay for the future life of party
to which they are deeply attached by a
strong conviction and a long association.
Chester County Democrat.