National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-01-06

The most ridiculous person in American
newspaperdom is Murat Halstead, the
editor of the Cincinnati Commercial. He
is the bawling member of the fraternity.
He has long employed his barber to make
him a "curled darling" of the Nation,
but the Nation has steadily refused to
supplement the efforts of the curling
iron, and the great, tleshly asthete re-
mains curled without the darling. For
personal beauty, and especially for tom
sorial adornment, Murat Halstead has no
superiors, while for sense and truthful
ness he has few interiors. The subject of
this notice has a wild, weird way of at
tacking and vilifying Republican party
leaders, and afterward of becoming their
long-lost brother. In 1878 he was one
of General Garfield's most merciless as
sailants In 1850, before the National
Eon~ontion r'et. the Commercial ridiculed
the idea of General Garfield being
considered i'll connection with the Presi-
dency. On the very day of the nomina-
ton, as we are informed and believe,
letter from Murat Halstead was received
at Chicago charging General Garfield
with being disreputably connected with
a certain Government job. He managed
to have it. suppressed, and never did
bridegroom long for the hour when he
might embrace his mate as did this
watery sensation-monger pant for an op-
portunity to pay court to the man he had
thus traduced There is nothing like it
in story or in song. The nearest approach
to his alternate stabbing and eulogizing
of General Garfield is Guiteau's pretense
that he was not unfriendly to his victim
when he shot him.
In 1876 the National Convention of the
Republican party assembled at Cincin-
natl. Mr.. Blaine was leading candi-
date. NIurat Halstead's paper was the
most insulting and brutal of all in its as
saults upon that gentleman. Its columns
teemed every day with open accusations
OF corruption against him. 1t paraded
his letters to Warren Fisher, known as
the Mulligan letters, and sought to over
whelm him with the fierceness and char
acter of its attacks. On the day of
the nomination syndicate of able
editors, including Nurat Halstead, Joe
Medill, George w. Curtis, and some
others, waited upon some of Mr.. Blaine's
friends and notified them that if he
should be nominated they would oppose
his election If ever q public man was
bounded and disgracefully prosecuted,
then Murat Halstead bounded and perse-
cuted James G. Blaine. But he forgave
Mr.. Blaine, Just as he did General Garfield,
and now mourns that those who "abused"
the latter are now abusing the former.
"They are determined" he says in the
Commercial, to associate the Secretary of
State in every way with the murdered
President" Ilalstead was one of those
journalistic lagos who labored industr.
ously TO utilize the assassination of Gen
eral Garfield by using it us weapon with
which TO assassinate the character of the
then Nice-President. 1t was his paper
which printed pretended dispatch from
New York, giving lying account of q
meeting at General Arthuf's residence
which was never held. The slander.
Gus tale was TO the effect that Grant
Conkling, Jones, Cameron, Logan
and others met there, and amid
much hilarty administered on the
dying Presidents political estate
The history Of journalism cannot produce
another rs malicious and deyilsh an at
tempt to stain noble character as was
this wholesale lie made Of whole cloth
for the readers Of Murat Halstead's Conn
mercid newspaper. But when the END
came-when the king was dead-thi,
feather-headed counter made his lowes
obeisance, and shouted his loudest "lon(
live the king to the saddened man, fol
whom the Presidency could only be
crown Of thons, coming to him as it die
through a mOnstrous crime.
Halstead calls now for the speedy pub
lication of two documents. Blaine
letter setting forth TO China and japan
that General Grant was not the Empero
Of the United States, and President GaI
fields letter to Grant vindicating III
Robertson appointment All Of whicl
Judging from his past, show that he
getting ready to make pilgrimage I
New York for the purpose Of begging III
privilege Of kissing General Grants toe.