The Portland daily press., 1884-01-22
Politicians and Correspondents

Politicians and Correspondents.
Mr.. Keifer's last and most disreputable
act as speaker was the appointment of his
own nephew as official stenographer 1t will
be remembered that Mr. Keifer forced one
OF The s'enographers to resign after all the
work had been done and then put his
nephew in the position that he might draw
the vacation salary which the removed stem
ographer had earned fren me ,,sss;s,,, no..
tested keifer told him that he could 60 to
Few York and get work Oh the newspapers
Dut his nephew was not competent to earn
anything and wanted the money to enjoy
the summer Under this arrangement his
nephew drew over So, 900 for no work at all.
Keller undertook to explain this perform
ance before the House committee on ac-
counts on Saturday. His explanation was
that The official stenographer resigned. That
Is true; pnt it is also true that he did not re-
sign until Mr.. Keifer had told him that UNI
less he did SO he would be removed. His
resignation under such circumstances was
equivalent to removal. Keller also told the
committee that the hostility of the press
TO him was the result of the hatred of GER
tain correspondents whose lobbying schemes
he had broken up. Among these cores
pondents he named Gen. Fl. " Boynton of
the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. It
seems that during the last days of the ses-
sion Gen. Boynton called the attention of
Mr.. Keifer to the McGarrahan claim which
was lying on the table with 400 others, and
this is the act which Keifer refers to as
lobbying" Gen. Boynton in card denies
that he did any act or made any suggestion
in connection with this claim that was not
perfectly proper, and challenges Mr.. Keifer
to rise in his.seat in the House, make his
charges and demand committee of inquiry.
Mr.. Keller seems now to be in a position
where, to use an expressive bit of slang, he
must either ''put up or shut up.''
1t was quite unnecessary for General
Boynton to deny such statement excep,
for the reinsurance of those who do not
know them both. General Boynton has
been In Washington nearly 20 years. and
no man has done more to expose corruption
and plundering and incompetence of eyery
sort. His courage is that of man whose
motive is right and his record clean. There
Is not a ring, nor rascal who does not both
hate and fear him, and would not rejoice to
have him disgraced. He has been traduced
again and again but never smirched. and he
has never quailed.
This is not saying that he has always been
right in bis judgments of measures or men:
but there are few who have been more sell
dom mistaken. He has littla mercy on men
whom he thinks pretsntious and insincere:
but no man is more prompt to repair an err
ror If he is convinced of one. Speaker Keif-
er cannot brighten his fame by attempting
to blacken General Boynton's reputation,
and it is an evidence of his unwisdom, not to
say OF his guilt, in respect of the matter un-
der investigation that he resorts To sucb a
proceeding.
And, generally, as to the newspaper corres-
pondents and the politicians in Washington
the former need not be ashamed of any in
telligent comparison with the latter in
point of fidelity to public interests and per-
sonal honor. There are black sheep in both
classes, but when a correspondent tells the
truth about q business of which those who
have been engaged in it are ashamed, or
which for any reason they do not want ex-
posed, it is common to try to break the force
of the revelation by attacking the correspon-
dents as class 1t has been done so often
in notorious cases that the public are coming
to understand the trick. Most of the inves-
legations that have established wrong doing
were forced by the newspapers. 1t is no evil
dence that thing ought not to be told, that
pohticians 40 not want 1t made public, and
Pooh-pooh at it. Sometimes 1t 10 quite as
desirable for their own sakes that thu ,rutb