Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-11-13
Scoring The EX-B0ss.

A MIssoURIAN's SCATHING DENUNcIA-
TIoN OF MAHoNE-HE DESCRIBES HIM AS
A HUMBUG IN ETHICS -HYPoCRITE IN
MORALS IN DOMESTIC Econ
oMY-INFIDEL IN RELIeIoN-AND THIEF
IN OFFICE.
The following appeared two years ago
in the St. Joseph, Mo, Gazette:
Politically dead, damned, and disgraced,
little Billy Malone has gone to join Bene
dict Arnold. And yet he was not an attract
i've renegade. He burrowed. He opera
ted from the centre of all sorts of little Sc
cret rings and all kinds of specious little
conspiiacies. For tragedy there must
always be real actor, and this man was
simply a mountebank.
To deny the comradeship of war; to kiss
the hand which had smitten his cheek un-
til the red blood rushes there in protesta-
ton; to debase his own color for The sake
of gain; 30 suppress the voice of human ma
ture: to abolish the immemOrial usages OF
decency and social intercourse; to overthrow
all pride of birth and caste; to sui y the very
name of feslty and devotion: to hire the
vicious: to war upon neighbors and old time
| friends; to stab the mother State and des-
ecrate the graves of the dead who died
that she might at least be august in her
terrible bereavement-to do all these things
we say, and do them we'll, there should at
least be Colossus of political scoundI elism;
and yet this man, Billy Malone, was only
| a railroad wrecker, and quite common
place one at that. He meant to fill this bill
to perfection, and he did do the best he
could in each particular line that he knew
how; but the pattern of the man was too
shrimp add bloodless. Benedict Arnold
was giant. He had voice like a war
god. He loved magnificent woman and
magnificent horses. Battle TRANSPORTED
him He charged like knight Grant and
foughtlike man at arms. He would have
sold his country. but he would have had an
empire. He would have gone to the devil
but not at a snail's pace, counting his prof
it's cent b. cent, and higgling here over a
nostoffice and there over the division of in
ferior spoils.
Crafty, hungry. plnched, weaselly, this
creature NJ hone had no horizon or heaven
except offias. He was cunning like the
wolf He knew how to get food. Under
certain conditions be would have been q
mendicant, In Virginia he had it in his
power to become species of low and vul'
oar tyrapt, At first he utilized with some
skill the hate of that servile crowd who
find private benefit in public disorders, and
who prefer always the favor of master, sc
only he is unscrupulous, to the MEMORABLE
equality Of the law. All that was corrupt,
venal and ignorantin Virginia politics came
to him because they scented plumber and
grease to grease their frying-pans. Shoddy
from head to foot as was Malone, another
unutserabiy shoddy thing called Republi-
canism took him up, thing which is one
vast sham, one incarnate Phariseeism. a
sneculator IN CD MONS, an adventurer in de-
vices, a humbug in ethics. hypocrite in
morals, a oharlatan in domestic economy,
an ipfideI in religion, thief in office-this
lcompound, we say, of Grautism, Beecher
ism and Iugersollism, took up Malone auo
helped him to do the worst and the mean
est of his de7ilment. 1t was the alliance 81
two pro6uc5jons-thato of assassination ano
that of rep:idiation-and then the offspring
was called Mahoneism. AS it grew ano
grew, what else could the thing do, mace
monstrous by congenital scoundrelism, ex
cept to rob, plumber. debauch, deny decen
CIV. drag down manhood, crush the State
beget race oouflicts,. poison civil service
and finally die dogs death and rot in ths
potter's fied.
When an open and honest antagonist il
stricken in me fore. trout of the fight, ant
falls by the standard, all courageous mer
among his opponents respect his valor ant
sorrow for his overthrow. But when the
raiding and shooting mercenary gets thu
fatal bullet in his back as he runs, his beg
CARLY crew bout him, the rejoicing is suct
as generally goes up over band OF thieves
broken up, or lot of highway robbers ex
termipateL. As Malone fell so let him lie
That ccrnsa is fit for neither grave, shrou(
nor coffin