The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-01-04
The Remarkable Record Of the Repub.
lican Party.

in American Thistory"-is at last in
fair way for thorough ventilation and
adequate punishment, it will be instruc-
tive as well as interesting to briefly no
tice the remarkable record the Repub-
lican party has made in this line of
business during its twenty-one years of
Federal administration.
While the main tissue upon which that
party fought its first battles and won its
first victories was avery, yet scarcely
less prominent were the charges urged
against the Democracy in regard to al
legged abuses and corruption, and the
pledges OF reform in all departments of
Government made in Republican
platforms and seconded by Republican
organs and orators. According to the
authorities, the country, by turning
Democrats out and putting their op-
ponents in, would inaugurate political
millennium, in which every office-hold-
er from highest to lowest would be as
honest and honorable as human nature
allowed. and the peoples money as jea,-
ously guarded and carefully expended as
if the guardians and spenders were han
ding their own funds. The world in
general and Democrats in particular
were to be shown how party of great
moral ideas could protect the National
Treasury and the National reputation
from the assaults of knaves and
fools; with what eternal vigilance the
Governmental machine could be
watched. and with what promptness
and severity the knaves and fools-if
any such there were-cou'd be punished.
Yet it is no exaggeration to say that
from March 4, 1861. to March 4, 1862,
there was more rascality and robbery of
every sort and size than there had been
in the half century previous, and when
the war closed the aggregate of stealage
and wastage had become simply incalcu-
liable. 1t is not, and never will be,
known how much the war cost, in
money alone, more than it ought; more
than it would, if the Republican man
ayers had given half as much attention
to their agents as to the interests of
their party. But setting this portion of
the account entirely aside and opening
the books in 1865, what do we fndp
Any effort to redeem the past by rigid
economy, sharp investigation and the
speedy detection and chastisement of
offendersP Nothing of the kind. Take
the navy, for instance, where the re-
suits of gross INCOMPETENCE and neglect
and shameless plunder are still so plain
ly and painfully visible. If the doings
in that one Department from the termi-
nation of the war until the retirement
of Robson from the Secretaryship
could be fully revealed, picture would
be presented which no American could
look upon without amazement and dis
| gust. Millions were stolen and millions
thrown away; not to give us good
navy, but to make a poor one poorer,
so that to-day we have practically none
worth mentioning. Yetnobody has been
caught and convicted except two or three
of the little naval rogues, and Robson
himself was twice elected to Congress
by Republican votes. By merest acci-
dent Belknap's performances in the
War Department were discovered, and
the pressure of popular opinion COM
PEELED his resignation; which was re-
ceived by Republican President with
''profound regret and compliments for
valuable services ren cred. How
much Belknap and his friends ''got
away with is, of course unknown; but
no member of the combination suffered
in purse or person, and the eX-Secre-
tary occasionally adorns the highest
circles in Washington with his welcome
presence. Space will not permit us to
notice as they deserve the various In
dian rings and d strict of Columbia
rings which have risen, flour shed and
fallen within the last fifteen years. The
disgraceful history thereof is '.known
| and read of all men," but unpleasant
notoriety was the only penalty inflicted.
In every instance Republican Congress
refused to investigate as long as refusal
was possible, and then contrived to
get as little truth as poss BILE and
let the criminals escape. The whisky
ring threw all its predecessors into the
shade; but, thanks to their Republican
allies, from a President downward, the
thieves kept the product of systematic
theft, and the heaviest punishment ad-
m:nistered to any of them was less than
! is usually awarded for stealing horse
I or an overcoat. The Republican party,
SO far from being shocked into decency
by the whisky ring and its accompani-
ments, was actually anxious to have
four years more of the regime under
which it grew and by which it was en-.
abled to defy the law when exposed
and nothing but a species of proviien.
tial interposition defeated the third
termers at Chicago in 1880. And now,
in the twenty year o. Republican
rule, the Star-route ring comes to make
the whisky ring look small by compar
ison, while the chief ringster, an ex-Re
publican Senator, does not deem it nee
essary to resign his place as Secretary
of the National Republican Committee
and the leaders of the party do not seen
inclined to demand his withdrawal.
Such is the Republican record in thai
branch of admin stration only whicl
involves the public pocket. 1t is un
matched by any civilized government
in modern times. All the scandals
from 1901 to 1861, for which the Demo.
cratic party is directly or Indirectly re
sponsible. are as drop to the ocear
compared with those from 1861 to 1882
for which the Republi, an party is sole
ly and exclusively responsible, anc
makes no attempt to disclaim the re
sponsibility. The party of "grea
moral ideas has been guilty of more
and greater imm ralities, in pecuniary
matters alone, than all other parties il
American political history combined
Yet with this unimpeachable and noto
rious fact staring them in the face, Re
rublicans profess their inability to un
derstand the causes and mean NO of tn,
recenI sweeping Democfatlc victory
Verify, '.none are so blind as those wht
will not see" "-!St. Louis Republican.
Considerable CONSERVATION ha
been created in England by a decision
in the Queens Bench division that
railway-carriage is a public place. anc
hence gambling, which is not prohibit,
ed in private, is a misdemeanor.
appears that among the thousands O
gentlemen residing in the suburbs th'
custom OF playing cards for small
stakes is universal, and the Londo1
Ne,cs devotes a column editorial to tht
I'M justice OF the decision, and the possi
bility of dire consequences.
"A convent for the Sisters of Perpet
ual Alteration is being built in New
York. This is the first institution o