Year: 1876

! From the N. Y. Tribune.


The President and His Friends.


In the face Of many discourage
ments the people have clung with
desperate energy to their belief in
the personal integrity of the Presi-
dent. 1t has been sometimes at the
expense of his intelligence, but they
have preferred to believe that either
from constitutional inability to dis
cover anything wrong in his personal
friends and intimate associates, or his
obstinate loyalty to them which re-
fused to admit question Of their in.
tegrity, he has allowed himself to be
placed in awkward and embarrassing
positions with reference to them; Not
withstanding his complaints of mis-
representation and abuse, some of
which he has gravely put before the
country in official public documents,
the fact.is that no person in official
station has ever received so much con-
sideration, and had from the people
such charitable treatment, as Presi-
dent Grant. No man has ever been
attended with such loyal devotion,
none ever so cordially supported or
SO earnestly defended. And this has
been at some cost, as the Republican
party well knows, to the party lead
ers and the party itself. 1t remains
to be seen whether it has not at last
cost the party its ascendancy in the
country, and turned over the Govern
ment to the Opposition. The few
things President Grant has done du-
ring his two terms which have been
creditable to him have been most
heartily applauded by friend and op-
position, and his grave mistakes have
been judged with much more charity
than those of any other public man
in the history of the country. In the
recent developments, however, affairs
have reached such crisis that the
party which elected HIM, and which
has given him such answering ale
glance and personal devotion, can do
so no longer without putting in jeop-
ardy its own existence. 1t cannot be
longer denied that President Grant
whether knowingly or ignorantly does
not matter-has elected as his init
mate and confidential friends corrupt
and dishonest men, who used his
friendship as cover for frauds upon
the Government of the most surpris-
ing character; nor can it be disputed
that the President has used his Office
to protect them in their operations,
and his power to punish and disgrace
the Government officials who ul ier-
took to bring them to justice.


The testimony of Mr.. Bluford Will
son, late Solicitor of the Treasury,
discloses state of things which hon
est citizens will read of, with shame !;
an intimacy of relation between.the
President and the whisky conspira-
tors which only falls short Of actual
completely. We do not care to dwell
uron it. The removal Of honest and
efficient officers who have been active
in ferreting out frauds upon the Treas
ury and bringing rogues to justice,
and the regular Executive certifca-
ton to the good character of men
who have been driven out of Office
under grave suspicion, or by the pop
ular sense of decency, have come to
be something more than condolences.
They illustrate the character. the ten
dency, the spirit and purpose of the
Administration. There is no need of
longer attempting to hoodwink the
public or gloss over the conduct of
the President. Nor, we submit, Will
it do for Mr.. Frye of Maine to talk
nonsense to Congress and The coun-
try, as he did on Saturday, about
bringing down the great name of
this great republic in the eyes of the
whole world" by investigations which
bring out facts. The facts and not
the Investigations bring disgrace upon
the country. The people have seen
the President sending certificates of
character to rogues whom the people
drove out of office, and himself driv-
ing out every officer who had shown
zeal and energy in pursuing rogues
and bringing them to justice. That
is what is disgraceful about it, and
the sooner Mr.. Frye finds it out and
stops talking nonsense about it the
better it will be for his party. The
popular judgment of President Grants
administration is already made up,
and cannot be changed. There is
but one question concerning it which
has any current interest, and that is
whether the Republican party pro-
poses to carry the responsibility of it
and to defend it through the Presi-
Dental canvass. The Opposition is
anxious that 1t should, and will leave
no means unused to so handicap it.
The only escape is for the party to
say distinctly in its State Conventions
in the first place by its nominations
whether it proposes the continuance
Of Grantism, and in the second place
by its resolutions whether it approves
the course of the Reformers who have
been kicked out by the President or
the conduct of the President in kick.
ing them out. That is a question
that has pertinence, and it will be
wise in the light of recent occurrences
to consider it seriously.





The Rich Miss Bennett RetireS to


a Convent.