The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-12-16
piSGRACEFUL CONDUCT.

DiSGRACEFUL CONDUCT.
A Newspaper Organ Twists the Presi-
dents Kindly Tribute to the Memory
Of His Predecessor In Office Into an
Unconscious Endorsement of the Re-
publican Party.
The warm expressions of esteem and
admiration for the late President Ar.
thur which have appeared in Demo-
cratic and Republican newspapers
alike, or have fallen from the lips of
preachers and statesmen, without re-
gard to politics. testify to the broad,
generous, kindly spirit that fills the
American heart IN the presence of
death. There is not a public man
around whose bier words might not
be dropped or memories evoked that
would jar on the hearts of the
mourners. There is not even a per-
sonal friend or relative at whose death
not be recalled from the past. But, by
common consent, all such unpleasant
thoughts are banished on the day of
noble qualities of the deceased are re-
and from every Democratic paper
throughout the land came the most
touching and beautiful tributes, when
South seemed to be as deeply affected
as the North, did any of those papers
recall the days of reconstruction and
the saturnalia of peculation in Wash
ington during the Presidential Admin
scty. Of
they spoke only of that part of his
ished luster on the pages of history,
when the Shepherds, Belknaps, Bah
cocks and Robesons will be forgotten.
In. the same manner the many grand
and ennobling traits of President Ar
in bold relief, as they deserved, and no
illusions were made to any political
! episodes which might disturb the har-
mony of grief. 1t remained for the
| New York Tribune, a paper to whose
blind, stupid partisanship nothing is
sacred, to profane the occasion of the
crate the sanctity OF the especial day of
mourning, by fling at President
Cleveland and the Democratic party
over the remains of the lamented Re-
publican leader. 1t would seem as if
The term ''ghoulish glee'' was partic-
ularly adapted to this case. The elo-
quent tribute paid by President Cleve-
land to the memory of the deceased in
his admirable proclamation is eagerly
seized by the ghoulish Tribune for the
purpose of partisan capital. 1t seeks
to distort the expression 'he performed
the duties of his Office with dignity and
ability" so as to make a certificate of
character for the Republican party in
| general and to cloak the rascalities of
Republican officials for years past. 1t
has the hardihood to say the followin G.:
But since this is the truth, what were Pre- ST.
dent Cleveland supporters telling when they
| asserted, in 1884, thar the public service was
| honeycombed with fraud and rotten from
S When II they e declared H that President % @ Arthur
| suffered the Government to be robbed bv
Secretary Chandler in the conduct Of the
| in the conduct of the Interior Department?
Were they telling the truth when they charged
ffe for the e o
orators, and that the people were swindled
out of millions through its management?
Mere ,h tney teng h me truth when 1fey aymed W
| Ington were crowded with worthless pens on
ers of party or tools Of corrupt officials; that
| the rascas filled public places and that the
| rights and interests of the people were not re-
garded! 1t comes to this. that they were living,
or else President Cleveland has uttered COM
piimentary words which he knew to be untrue.
| According to the Tribune's code of
ethics. no expression of esteem for the
dead is permissible without being at
tended with plain, unvarnished state
ment of the shortcomings of every one
officially connected with the person %
whose memory the expression is OIL
fered as a tribute. Pursuing this theory,
it would have been necessary for Pres
ident Cleveland, on the occasion of the
death of General Grant, to have quail
fed his remarks by illusions to the
carpet-bag governments of the South
during the days of reconstruction, to
Babcock, Belknap and Robson, to the
Credit Mobilier and District of Colunl-
bia frauds, and other subjects of like
unpleasant nature. What would the
American people have thought of the
application of the 1ribune's theoryf
Such despicable attempt on
the part of the Tribune to
whitewash the rascals of it's party
at the grave of an illustrious citizen
must cause a feeling of disgust and
contempt in the breast of every Amer
lean. What President Cleveland s
supporters asserted in 1884 has been
found not only true, but only faint
: estimate of to real condition of affairs
The opening of the books has openeG &
the eyes of the American people to the
shameless character of Republican
government. The books showed tha
when the present Administration went
into power there were nearly $40, O00,'
600 deficiencies due the Government
under Republican rule, that million!
were squandered in the Navy Depart.
ment without giving the country {
navy, that the public domain wa.
wasted on corporations and favorites
, that the treasury was being drained by
all sorts of rascals, from deputy mar
shals to colossal rings, and that thu
Pension Office was made an election
! eering bureau. The shameful story ha
| been told before in those columns how
the public service, under Republican
administration, was honeycombed will
fraud and rotten from end to end.
But because President Cleveland
paid Il graceful tribute to the memor,
of his immediate predecessor, the Tri
buRe would have it that he testified t,
the purity of the entire Republican
: party. What must the friends of Pres
, ident Arthur. and, indeed, all fair
t minded people. think of this exhibition
of "ghoulish glee" on the part of Mr.
Blaine's organ? Perhaps the Tribu,a
3 forgets the savage and brutal attack
2 it made on the dead President at tn,
time of the Garfield tragedy, when i
: classed him with Guiteau. The Ameri
can people do not forget them. /
l may endeavor to use the kindly word
t of President Cleveland to remove som
of the tattoo marks from its ''perpet
ual candidate for the Presidency.
. since 1t has distorted them to exonsr
: ate Chandler, Teller and other Repub
+ loan ex-oficials from the charge
, proved aga nst them. We shall see. =
t Albany Argus.