Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-07-07
TILE MEnALs an THE MARTYRs.

The most thrilling pages Oh history are
those that record the lives a1d suferiDgs Of
martyrs; but in times past those who sacri-
feed themselves for cause did not receive
their reward in this world. II they went to
the dungeon, the stake or the block, it was
that they might indicate their constancy and
faith and the truth OF their cause under the
severest tests of torture and execution. The
fame, the honor, the canOnization, the crown,
these might or might not come, but in no
event were they 10 be anticipated. Martyrs
whose earthly rewards have been posthumus
have been many since the flood; but it has
been reserved to the present generation to
produce an altogether different crop OF mar
tyrs. The Stalwarts-the 306 Spartans-who
sacrificed Themselves for Grant in the
sraugUrgruUU5e mat nominated james a.
Garfield for the presidency, survive to profit
by their euferings. For two years they have
sat up at night with their grievances,
wrapped them in rags, and have finally
turned them TO good account Indeed the
3O6 who fought for Grant in the last ditch
are having a high old time of it. 1t was
their teachings that caused the assassination
of Garfield, and now the old guard who
refused to desert Grant in the Chicago con-
ventien are dividing among themselves the
brass medals prepared for the faithful. Don
Cameron has commenced the sad work of
distribution, and in hanging them around
the necks of the martyrs he will no doubt
weep over the Lost Cause" The heart Of
Victoria was sad and she wept bitter tears
as she wresthed the brows of those heroes
who we're manned in war, and Don Cameron
will no doubt be convul-ed with emotion as
ne distributes those brass medals among the
1906" who were firm to the last. The farce
OF distributing these medals has been m sde
the subject Of ridicule in all sections of the
country. 1t has had tendency 10 widen
the breach in the Republican party. The
Republican papers are denOuncing the folly
which suggested these medals. The New
York Tribune says:
A wise precaution has been exercised by the or
iginators of the medals, Messrs. Cameron and Fill
copyrighted 1881" This Is undoubtedly, step
in the interests of civil service reform the Stall
brass medal is entitled to an office, and in due
course of time he VIII get it. If the medal were
every hungry Oflice-seeker in the country could
obtain one, sling it about his neck and present
create corner in offices, well crowd Wash
ington uncomfort Bile and give an erroneous idea
of the size of the StGlwart party. What is worse,
some deserving Three HundTed-and Skier might
be cheated OF his office by brazen pretender. 1t
gers which prompted Messrs. Cameron and
filley to have the glorious emblem of
moment the low insinuation that the copyright
was an idea of Mr.. Filley's alone, designed to aid
open-sesame te office. For our part, we are glad
the medals are finished. II will give US great
fbafr will thau WITH
that freedom and heartiDess with which we have
always advertised them. They commemorate a
new departure IN the use OF medals. They are
TIE first ever struck by lost cause to glorify its
own disaster. They fill Office which has here
tofoIe developed upon tombstones. Perhaps that
is why they were made so large.
In the future the school children will hesi-
tate to receive medals, since the medal BUSH
ness has been brought into disrepute by dis
tributing among the friends of the great
gift-taker whose administration became a
national stencil. The Chicago Tribune, the
ablest Republican newspaper of the West,
medals are going to take any pride in them
is not easy to understand. They represent
an idea which was condemned by the Ameri-
can people, namely, the proposed invasion of
the solemn precedent against third term
in the presidential Office. Further than this,
they represent an element in American poll
tics which has been visited with equal popu-
lar condemnation-the element of bossism. |
The success of the third-term movement de- |
pended upon the manipulation and control |
Of the conventions of three great States
New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois. The |
respective bosses did their work thoroughly, |
and marshaled their delegates in the Chi
cago convention under irOnclad instruc-
tions. There they encountered a force !
stronger than the political machinery under
their control. 1t was the force of the popu-
lar will, exacted partly through the repre-
sentatives of the people and partly through |
the various channels which public sentiment
uses to reach any particular object. The
convention of the people said to the New
York and Pennsylvania delegates that they
had the right to vote as they pleased, sc-
cording 10. the preferences Of their constitu-
ents and the dictates of their own con-
sciences, and it opened the doors to the Illinois
delegates whom the boss system would have
excluded Thus third-termism vas beaten,
and all that is left of it now is the brass
medal which denotes its failure"