Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-01-13
AQuarsettc Of Errors.

thing at the right moment, and that
all their party had to do was patiently
to await some blunder Of their rivals
which would be sure to win their
victory in any campaign. In view Of
certain acts of our party in that mem
orable period, it would seem as il
there was more than suspicion OF
truth in these allegations. The ad-
vent of Mr.. Tilden and few of his
sagacious lieutenants in the arena OF
politics changed all that, and the
party following out the policy out
lined by the great New York
statesman, formulated such plans that
the Republican leaders too late
awoke to realization of the fact that
they had relied on this programme
once too often.
The comedy OF errors enacted in
such scenes as the nomination OF Mr..
Greeley having had the curtain rung
down on it's performance in the
Democratic party, our Republican
opponents being without any
sort OF play to put on
the boards, have stolen our
discarded attraction and with it they
propose to make the grand tour OF this
American Union. 1t is a four-act
comedy as at present outlined. Mr..
Boutelle OF Maine, is the principal
figure in the first act. The "Confed-
crate Battle Flag episode is the theme.
He will make all the point he can out Of
the suggestion made by the President
that the war being over for some score
of years, and the country happily one
again, it would be magnanimous
thing for the Nation to bury its dead
trophies out OF its sight.
| Bill Chandler, of piratical navy in
fanny, is the sad tragedian who struts
and attitudinizes in the second
act, wherein the intimidation
Of the negro voter in the South is the
cue to passion wherein this modern
male Niobe turns all to tears-and so
he plays his part.
Then in the third act OF the variety
show we have another distinguished
citizen of Maine tearing a passion to
tatters, to very rags, over tha
most dramatic of incidents,
Civil Service reform. He presents
his pitiful story, not sadly set to song,
but reduced to an exact science in
figures. He shows--alas the pity OF
it, Iago, the pity of it!-that out of a
total Of some $4,000 offices the
President has in about three
years officially decapitated some
$4,000 Republican office-holders,
who have fed on public pap SO long
that the memory of man runneth not
to the contrary, and who now, de-
prived OF this patronage, find them
selves as destitute as Cardinal Wolsey
when deprived OF the princes favor on
which he had SO long depended. Sena-
tor Hale does not take the trouble 10
make a careful com imperative exhibit OF
how long it took Republican Presidents
in times past to incontinently bounce
the appointees of their Republican
predecessors and put men after their
own heart to feed from the political
crib. But let that pass.
Then comes the last scene of all in
this strange, eventful drama, to which
Mr.. Lamar furnishes forth the
terrible example. He was in the
Confederate army. He said in those
days of hot blood, hot words and
hot deeds naughty things OF Mr.. Lin
coin. He is suspected Of still main
tanning that the States have rights
which the Central Government is
bound to respect. He must not be
placed on the Supreme bench of the
United States.
That is about as pretty quartette
of blunders as a clique of political
leaders could make. The man who
rakes up the flag episode thereby con-
fesses that he has found no Credit
Mobilier schemes, no navy frauds, no
crooked whisky stills, no alienation
of the public domain, no stolen seats in
the White House, and no similar
ghastly skeletons in the Democratic
closet to pull grinning forth in all
their ghoulish deformity to scare the
people with. 1t is an indirect confess
sion that the Democratic administra-
ton is clean. Then this affair so
dragged out into public gaze to recre-
ate sectional animosity, coupled with
| Chandler's proposition to investigate
Southern elections, and then the
party lines on which the opposition to
Mr.. Lamar is drawn, will all together
result in cementing any little
chinks that may have been pro-
duced in the solid South so closely
that the political walls therealong will
be impregnable. As to the Civil Ser
| vice allegations. thew will have but
one result, that will be to
make solid Democratic North.
If there was one weak spot in the
cleveland armor it was his standing
with his own party on this Civil
Service affair. If Nh. Hale can show
that the President has turned the last
Republican out OF Office he will dc
more for his reelection than any
other one man.