St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-06-01
THAT TUCKER SCANDAL.

commission continues to assume more
sensational tinge as further develop
mentS are made. Immediately upon the
announcement of the appointment the
GLOBE undertook to show that such an
appointment would be a singular blum
der under any circumstances, and that
his nomination to diplomatic mission
was a most amazing blunder; for his
reputation as lobbyist and his utter
lack of qualification for any place of
trust should have been bar to his ap-
pointment, to say nothing OF his malo-
dOrOus record during the war. Since
the matter has been brought to public
notice the fact has been unearthed that
Mr.. TUCKER was indicted as one of the
principal conspirators in the plot to
aSSaSsinate Mr.. LIN COLIN, and that Gen.
LEW WALLACE, who was to have been
his associate on the commission, was a
member of the military tribunal that
found the indictment. We remem-
Der that when Mr.. CLEVELAND made
a mistake far less conspicuous than this,
the BLAINEs and the HARRISONs and
all of the extremists who followed their
cue united in an accusation against Mr..
CLEVELAND of being willing to see the
''lost cause" regain in politics what it
had lost in the field. And yet, during
the whole four years of his administla-
ton, Mr.. CLEVELAND never went half
so far in the direction of constructive
treason as Gen. HARRISON has gone in
the first three months of his administra-
ton.
1t has now become a matter of great
public interest to know the causes which
prompted Bev fuckers appointment.
In an effort to shoulder the responsible
ity for the mistake on MIR. BLAINE's
shoulders, Gen. HARRISON has permit
ted his private secretary to give it out
that the president signed the official
paper making out the appointments in a
purely perfunctory manner, without
having taken the trouble to inquire into
the matter, and his excuse for failing
to investigate the fitness of the appoint
ees was due to his confidence in Mr..
BLAINE'S honor. 1t must be admitted
that if this were true statement it
would only reveal the extraordinarily
loose business methods which prevail in
the White house. But that it is not
true Is demonstrated by the crumbs of
information that Mr.. BLAINE has per-
mitted to drop from the state depart
ment. AS is well known, Gen. LEW
WALLACE is President HARRIsoN's
confidential friend, and this Haytien
affair has been discussed between him
and the president and Mr.. BLAINE for
the last month or two, so that when
Gen. HARRISON signed the appoint
mentS he did not do it In that perfume
tory manner that Private Secretary
HALF ORD would have us believe. More
over, it is equally we'll known that
President HARRISON and Secretary
BLAINE are partners with STEVE Ell
kINs and HENRY G. DAVIS in railroad
enterprise in West Virginia. and they
four constitute the directory of the con-
Germ. 1t is furthermore known that
this man TUCKER has been in the en-
ploy of the HARRIsON-BLAINE-E
DAVIS railroad for some time as lobby
list, and that it has been his peculiar
business to look after the various and
numerous jobs that the combination
have on hand. So it is scarcely probable
that the president was so ignorant of
Mr.. fuckers personality as he would
now have the country believe.
Then again, the story comes from the
state department that when the ap-
pointment of Haytien commission had
been agreed upon IN administration cir
cles, Mr.. ELKINs and ex-senator DAVIS
were called to Washington for consulta-
ton with the president and secretary
of state, and the upshot of the confer
ence was the appointment of Mr..
TUCKER OH the commission.
With these glaring facts in view there
is scarcely room to doubt that there was
big job underlying this Haytien at
fair, and that this man TUCKER was
put on the commission for purpose.
The fact that veil of secrecy was cast
over the whole business-in truth, the
matter was kept so profoundly secret
that even the Haytien minister at Wash
ington had no knowledge Of 1t, and the
appointments were not announced until
the evening preceding the day on which
the vessel was to sail that would
carry the commissioners to Hayti-
gives confirmation to the now generally
accepted theory that Mr. BLAINE had
incubated job of bigger proportions
than even his famous guano specula-
ton, and that President HARRISON was
not only privy to it, but that he was to
be all actual beneficiary. Fortunately
for the country, instead of being the
obscure individual the president pro-
fessed to think him, Mr.. TUCKER
was so we'll known at Washington that
the announcement of the appointment
in the evening papers aroused such a
storm OF indignation at the national cap
ital that before bedtime the president
had declared the deal off, and the COM
mission was broken up. But it is a
scandal that has come to stay with this
administration, and no amount of shift
Ing or prevaricating will relieve the
president of the Odium of permitting
the government being prostituted to the
purposes of private gain.
THOSE CHEAP RATES.
A good deal of excitement has re-
Gently been produced in Northwestern
railroad circles by the heavy reduction
i'm through rates between this CITY and