Year: 1878




10 credit TO Biit King.


Chicago Times, Sept. IL


Time was when the chief executive of this
republic was respected and sef-respecting
officer. In their conspicuous position -
standing in the strong light that beats upon
the throne the least able and meritorious
Of the earlier Presidents were careful to do
nothing that would detract from the simple
yet majestic dignity of the exalted place to
which the suffrages of their fellow citizens
had called them. Washington, the first. was
the best exernplar. Ee marked q high
standard of official and personal conduct.
No man would dare approach him with a
bribe, sugar-coated with the appellation of
present. He accepted no hospitality that
he could not return, and with the scrupulous
nicety of the man of honor he paid his own
way. Such continued to be the rule in the
executive mansion until later times developed
Hitler men. Before Johnson s administration
presidents left the White House for tours of
pleasure SO rarely that their progress became
great event, celebra ed for its novelty. In
the summer they sailed down to Old Point
Comfort OF took brief vacation in the
country, but in their peregrinations they
never compromised the dignity of their sta
ton. They were not the guests of railroad
jobbers or steamboat monopolists They
paid their way like gentlemen, and when
they accepted invitations they became the
guests of the whole community, not of a
snoneyed few.


Lincoln remained closely at his post
Rarely, if ever, was he out of Washington.
His summers were passed at the Soldiers
Home, and though essentially social in his
nature he never ran off on q junket. With
his famous swing around the circle Johnson
made a Presidential precedent which
his successors have but too largely
followed. Grant was generally ready
for an excursion, and the manifold ring sur
rounding his administration were never at a
loss TO provide entertainment of this kind
He refused few offers of the opportunity of q
respectable spree in social company. With
his characteristic contempt for public opinion
he gladly accepted villa lot at the seaside
resort given him for the better advertisement
of the place, and made his summer residence
there, ignoring the capital entirely.


The cheapest occupant of the white house
since John Adams entered it at the begin
ming of the century, is the amiable accident
from the Buckeye State, who, through the
indecision and cowardioe of his opponent,
who received the votes of the people, and
the cupidity of the Confederate brigadiers
who voluntarily shut their eyes upon mani
fest fraud, is now the latest in the long line
of Presidents. Mr.. Hayes appears to be an
imated by no loftier ambition in the admin
istration than stirred the breast of the plan
tatIon darky who used to sing:


II were de President of desc United States
eat molasses candy and swing upon de


gates


lie loves cross-road curiosity, and the bur
ran OF the multitude is music to his ear. He
mas puerile delight in showing himself,
ana tranps exquisite instinct in singing
out bountiful free-lunch route. Rarely
giving entertainments at the White House.
ne Is wiling always to become the guest of
anybody who has plenty of good cheer. He
entered Washington as reformer on a free
.faln supplied by that notorious railroad
joooer, Tom Scott, and has frequently made
'7e OF the same conveyance, though Scott
was an applicant for legislation which, if
perfected, would have been submitted to the
President for his signature. Scarcely was
he warm in his seat when he visited PhiIa-
deiphla New York, and Boston. Always at
the expense of somebody else. Then fol-
lowed the New England tour, which BETRAYED
fully of how small o pattern this feeble Cse-
sar was made. Railroad transportation free, as
usual. Then came q trip to Ohio, Kentucky,
tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia. At
only one place on this lengthy route did he
attempt any payment of the hospitality he
received. Atlanta was the scene of his ac-
knoWledgement, and the northern soldiers
who voted for him would gladly forget in
what coin this payment was rendered This
year he las assisted at John Roach's launch
at Chester, placing himself under obligation
to speculator who then had subsidy bill
pending in Congress, and whose mammoth
entertainment was designed to promote it's
passage. The Wyoming centennial celebra-
tion fed him and listened to his eloquence.
tie always seemed to think the gratuitous ex-
escise of his vocal organs q full quittance of
any effort made in his behalf, and in New
England his favorite prhase was "You have
heard my voice." He has visited Columbus
and Newark always on special train paid
for by railroad companies who are petition
ers for benefits from Congress.


The lengthiest journey of the many that
in tue brief term of his official life, the
President has taken, ho is now about to en-
ter upon. When Gil its circumstances are
understood, the people of this country will
feel humiliation as the degradation of an
officer who is SO pleased with cheap display
that ne does not seem TO realize the position
IN which he is placed. He visits st. Paul as
the guest of the managers of the Minnesota
State fair, whose design of putting him ON
exhibition for the purpose of gaining gate
money is SO obvious that no attempt is made
to conceal it. Promising the President free
transportation to and from st. Paul, these
adroit managers first secured his acceptance
OF their invitation, and then, to make his
expense to themselves as light as pos
sible, they sought out the rail
road managers on the proposed
route, submitting to them that the passage
of the President would be first class ad-
vertisement which they could not afford to
neglect, and suggesting that, since it was the
President of the United States, they were
carrying, respect for his great Office, if not
for him, should induce them to carry him
without cost. They have succeeded COM
pletely. Hayes has voluntarily put himself
In their hands, and the management of q
stud-horse show are using him for their own
gain. He is ranked in their minds with
pumpkins and prize hogs; but though he un-
derstands the situation, he consents to it,
and, consenting, degrades his office and dis
gusts the people who desire to look upon it
with respect. AS the exhibit of showmen,
Hayes will be brought into Chicago, and will
doubtless receive attentions which Cominp