Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-11-09
was a blanket affair. and IL covered the
whole layout from Iowa to Virginia" Not
very elegant but certainly deal Of truth.
A Philosopher on the Defeat OF Malone.
tprovidencs journal, Gth.l


The results Of the elections yesterday
are nowhere more significant than in the
check which they have put 20 the Sntrigues
of William Malone. of Virginia. The itull
extent of the disaster which has overtaken
him Ia not al this writing made known, but
of its decisiyeness there - happily no
doubt. and there is reason in that fact for
hearty gladnese among all honorable men,
whether viewed with reference to the per-
sonality Of the man, the principles winch
he represents. the methods which ne en-
ploys, the agencies which have been en-
listed in his behalf, or from the broader
standpoint Of the national welfare.
The recent political history of the conn
try has developed no incident more shame
ful in itself, scarcely any more seriously
threatening the interests of good govern
ment, than the rise OF MahOneism III the
Old Dominion. The man himself, his
methods and principles. are equally con-
temptible. He is a political adventurer,
without honesty or truth-a seli-seeker;
skilled in all the arts Of chicanery. and
equally incapable of -disinterested service
as of honorable method. His lack of prin-
ciple, his untruth, his falsity TO his friends,
the corruptness of his practices-not stop
ping short even of sacrilege-are not only
notorious throughout the country, but are.
II not unblnshingly gloried IN by himself, at
least scarcely concealed. The man Is one
Of the worst and most vicious products OF
our political work and in his fall the in
terests Of good government would receive
q mighty impulse.
AS has before been pointed out in these
columns. however, the unusual public in
terest which has centred in the Virginia
canvass now ended has not alone been ex-
cited by the knowledge of the bitterness of
the struggle made against the supremacy
Of Malone. In no small measure the pres
tige of the national Administration has
been at stake here. II has in every posi-
bic wav lent its powerful influence TO the
designs of this man. 1t has turned over TO
him the distribution Of the spolls Of office
10 aid him in his endeavor to patch up a
truce with his enemies in his own party; 1t
has sent its most trusted agents to his help !:
it has assisted him with money and with
the ablest speakers ut the disposal of
the party which it represents; it has even
made il possible for him TO boast that
offices in other States are his to give or TO
withhold. All that the Administration
could do to advance the interests of tins
demagOgic trickster il has done. II has
committed itself openly and unreservedly
20 his cause, and in his defeat it receives a
rebuff which is as severe as IL ~ well
merited. II is a rather pitiable plight IN
which Mr.. Harrison has permitted himself
to be placed through the sanguine zeal Of
Messrs. Dudley and Quay, but it IS not one
which calls for sympathy from self-re-
speeding men of his party, nor any other
emotion than shame that the highest Office
of the land should be thus brought into
the gutter.
The chief importance Of tine Virginia
election, however, lies outside of and be
yond any considerations of the personality
of William Malone or the discontinue of
Benjamin Harrison. The purpose Of the
President is. of course. evident. Malone
dlsreputability and the viciousness of Ma
hOneism were as well understood by HIM
as they are patent 20 the rest of the cOun-
try. The President is a respectable citi-
zen. who could have neither sympathy tOI
the Virginia repudiator nor personal IN
terest in him: and he has been led "a
his support and 20 wiGklug az methods
which no upright man could cOntem.
template without Indignation only be-
cause of the hope that through this agency
a break might at length be made IN the too
solid wall of the South. From the stand
point % party politics the object Is one
well worth striving for; TO place virginia
among the Republican States would not
| only be to rudely clip tine wings OF New
Iork's political Importance, but TO serious
w shake the foundation Of Democracy
throughout the southern States. But
the methods employed were as hopeless
as the object was Ineligible. The
"sOlid South" is not 90 lie broken 1T
this way by such instruments, and it Is not
easy 90 see how intelligent men could have
reasonably anticipated such a result. The
unhappy experience of General Grants
Administration should, it would SEEM
have sufficiently convinced the kepublicau
party that no substantial political triumph
can be looked for through the cudeayor 20
array the negroes against the whites. The
race antagorism in the South reaches far
deeper than political affiliations. The
effect of the cndeavOr in Virginia u
reawaken its bitterness and to single
the blacks out from the whites has
merely been TO drive the whites to-
| gether, Republicans and Democrats alike
and this must inevitably and always and
everywhere be the result. The attempt is
as foolish as it is wicked, and it Ia espe-
| cially deplorabie that it has been renewed
in Virginia, where. if anywhere in the
South, the causes of complaint from the
negroes have been rapidly disappearing.
The complaints themselves have been no.
ticeably few, and the whites have shown q
conspicuous desire TO treat the blacks with
fairness and helpful kindness.