Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1885-06-24
We'll DONE, coon AND FAIrHFUL


by their fruits ye shall know them,
is a good maxim in national as well as in
religious affairs, and we have just had an
instance of its application in the case Of
the war steamship Dolphin, constructed
on contract by the well-known, if not
notorious, Mr.. Roach. He was employed
by the late Republican administration,
and the work was carried on under the
inspection of board appointed by that
administration, and under the assurance
of. that board that the work as far as
done was satisfactory large portion Of
the price of it was paid. When the YES
sci was completed Mr.. Cleveland had be-
come President, and before accepting it
a genuine examination was instituted by
qualified and upright men, and trial trips
we're made. The result was that the
Dolphin was found entirely unfit for the
purposes for which it was required, and
it failed to I'll the engagements in the
contract. Roach has published a de-
tense of his work in which the defects
are not denied, but the excuse IS made
that the board that inspected the
work as it proceeded was satisfied
with it. The bureaus have no backs,
the decks leak, the steering apparatus Is
bad, the gun with which it is armed is so
placed that it cannot be used with effect,
and on repeated trial it proved deficient
in the rate of speed contracted for, yet
Roach in his defense declares: " 1 have
done all that could be expected of me. -
Had Blaine been elected would the board
that had declared the work satisfactory
from time to time as it went along have
turned round in the end upon their own
certificates and have declared that,
although each part was satisfactory, the
whole of the parts together was unsatis-
factory? Can anyone doubt, in the light
of other simiier matters, that the work
would have been accepted and paid for,
and our already poor navy increased by
an addition as poor and useless as the
rest? The new administration, on the
contrary, judged the work, net by the
official certificates of soundness, but by
the specifications of the contract, and has
refused to accept the abortion that was
not built to navigate, but was built to sell.
The consequence Of this refusal will be
that those who in future take con
tracts under Mr.. Cleveland's ad-
ministration will know that their work
must be honestly done that the conditions
of the contract must be filed, or their
work will be refused. Here we have
one among other respects in which Mr..
Cleveland's administration is in strong
contrast with that which preceded it
we see justice done to others and justice
demanded from others. This is the fruit
of the change the country has made in
the personnel of its government, and here
are the fruits by which the past and the
present administrations Of the country
become known. 1t is by such Just and
upright proceedings as are displayed in
the ease of the Dolphin that Mr. Cleve-
land is winning the respect and securing
the affection of the American people, SO
that thousands, even among men who OPP
posed his election, are now freely ex-
pressing for him esteem and admiration,
and the country at large is exclaiming,
well done, good and faithful"