Evening star., 1943-12-19
Capital Sidelights
Bu Will p. Kennedu.

That famous Kentucky statesman,
Henry Clay, was permanently be-
smirched by a deliberate political lie
as have many other good men in public
life.
At the time Clay threw his support in
the presidential election of 1928 TO John
Quincy Adams, thereby defeating An
drew Jackson, Representative George
Kremer of Pennsylvania wrote a letter
anonymously to the Columbian Observer,
charging that Clay had agreed to de-
liver votes in the House TO Adams in
payment for which he was to be ap-
pointed Secretary Of State. Kremer,
after considerable bluster. finally ad-
mitted that he had no evidence in sup
port of the accuse ton.
In that election, John Marshall after
retraining for nearly quarter Of a CEN
tury from exercising his right OF SUI
frage, again went to the polls and voted
against Jackson. The last ballot he pre-
vlously had cast was in 1904 against the
reelection of Jefferson. a most bitter
political rival, whose first election Mar
shall had aided and abetted because he
d!strusted Aaron Burr. The first JefTer-
son election was the first presidential
contest decided in the House and the
John Quincy Adams election was the
second so decided. Marshall was an i'm
portant participant in both.
The poison of the Kremer letter led to
distrust of Clay. Sometime later John
Randolph called the relationship be-
tween President Adams and Secretary
Of State Clay the coalition of the
Puritan and the blackleg' A bloodless
but very real duel followed-just beyond
the Chain Bridge, in Virginia. This end
ed the Randolph-Clay quarrel and they
became devoted friends-but the unjust
charges never died out.
Shrinking from any appearance OF
partisanship in such grave crisis as he
sincerely believed the presidential e1ec-
ton Of 1923 to be- Marshall in an inter-
view quoted by the Baltimore Mary
lander, Democratic newspaper, on
March %, 1928, said: II have not voted
for 20 years; but I shall consider it a
solemn duty I owe my country to go to
the polls and vote at the next presiden-
tial election-for, should Jackson be
elected shall look on the Government
as virtually dissolved"
Representative Dewey Short Of Mis-
souri, an ordained minister, told the
House story of how a delegation visit
ed President Abraham Lincoln, during
the Civil War, and exhorted him: I'VE
trust, sir, that God is on our side" To
which the great Lincoln replied 'It is
more important to know that we are on
Gods side"
Gen. o. E. Babcock, who served on
Gen. Grants staff during the Civil War,
and later was one of his private secre-
taries at the White House, was placed
on trial before the United States Court
for the Eastern District Of Missouri,
charged by Senator John B. Henderson,
special attorney for prosecution of the
whisky ring" at st. Louis. in 1865. Sem
ator Henderson had become provoked
at President Grant. The trial showed
Gen. Babcock had closer relations with
the whisky ring" than political neces-
sity justified, and correspondence re-
vealed almost culpable indiscretion in
one occupying = high place near the
President. The trial lasted II days and
the verdict was mot guilty. complete
exoneration
That whisky ring" was Washington
institution, created by Cornelius Wen
dell and other notorious Capital lobby
lists. At the time of the Impeachment OF
President Andrew johnson 1t became
necessary to raise considerable money.
Revenue ofiicers, having been called
upon to contribute, craftily decided that
the distillers should be forced to pay \
percentage. The whisky ring" grew
into an immense combination to cheat
the Government. Weekly payments to
the ring amounted to millions Of dollars.