The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-08-13
DEFENDING VIlCAIkY.

Republicans Should be- the Last to- Re
viye the History OF the rilden In
iquity.
1t hardly pays,to talk morality to the
thief whom the law has failed to, prose-
cute, and who has possessed his stolen
property long enough to'fritter it away
after the manner of thieves. He has
beaten the law and all propriety,. and
it is the proudest chapter i'm his bad
history. He gives hs;red scarf to the.
breeze and shows his, wolfsh teeth
whenever the law is mentioned. Ho'
snaps his fingers at the penitentiary
and laughs at the common Jail What.
are they to him?' What is it, to- him.
whether justice prevails, whether our
political system is purified. whether
society is,properly protected2 He has
had his triumph over good law and
good men, and when at last he yields
up the ghost on his iron bedstead the
triumph is, his fondest recollection,
whatever the humiliation of his death.
and he knows that it will be preserved,
for the dtlectation, of thieves for many
wears to, come through the literature.
that thieves most read.
The Rochester PoSt-ErpreSs is AIDE
cent newspaper and il, is very strange.
that it should assume 0,defendyillainy
that has long since been adiudged by
popular sentiment to be villainy and
nothing else, and that apparently every
other Republican, newspaper would be-
glad to have forgotten. Mr.. TlldeR
had but one vote to get in three States
that were BY common consent Demo-
cratic. and he washed out; Of these
three States. by the Republican party,
This is the fact without regard to- the
mthods employed; and the subsequsIst
history of the .party-from' the, triumph
OF Mr.. Guiteau to, the escape Of Mr..
Dorsey, and its dtfeat last November-
shows that it, profited from, its vinainy
rs thieves and a.ssassins generally do.
The POst-E1preSs talks yolubiy OF cipher
dispatches and of the whImpering'
Mr.. Tifden. The cipher dispatches
were legitimate. means to, avoid as
sassinasion; and it is not Mr. Pilden
who whimpers, but the American peo-
pie, whose. system of election was
slaughtered 10 keep old scoandrels in
place and give new ones positions that
beyoadl all question belonged to better
men
We. obserge that the Saratogiun, Of
Sayatoga, SAWS the dis3Ussion of the
fra1d Of 1S76-'77 is protitless. 1t will
fiad that such questions as tn. t nevee-
grow old. The treason Oh Arnold and 9f'
Judas is as new to-day as it was whSn,
i first began. Great crimes grow in
popular condemnation the longer tf1ey
are remembered, and the memory of
them must be preserved as meass to
present and future safety. The Post.
Express talks volubly also of ths fail
Ire 10 nominate Mr.. Tilden in 1880 aud
1894; bus it will hardly venture. to say,
in its largest zeal in behalf of political
meanneSs and injustice, that that Is
argument, or to deny that Mr. Tilden
might have teen nominated last year if
he had chosen to be, or thai he would
be nominated in 1888 if he were a
younger and well man. The great
crime which lied Mr.. Hayes into .the
White House is more a crime as the
years go on. 1t can never be atoned
for. The men guilty of it viii be re-
membered for it f.s men are remem-
bered for treasoA and assassination.
Let the Republicans nominate in 1888
any man who aad to do with il. and
they will ind themselves branded by
popular sentiment with a meaner and
more inef1aceable brand than JEFF
Davis or even Rutherford B. Hayes
ever carried. M T. Graphic.