Year: 1872

From Harper's Weekly.


It is constantly asserted-but con.
stant assertion does not establish fact
that the Republicans who favor the
denomination OF the President are bit.
terry intolerant of those who do not
Yet 1t would seem, upon q careful read


ng OF newspapers and speeches., that
the Republicans who oppose the re-
nomination have at least and equal
chance of expressing themselves. and
that the chances are improved. Tt is.
however, natural that those who love
the cause more than any man, and
who believe that the welfare of the
country depends very much upon Re
publican success, should hear with dis
satisfaction unmeasured denunciation
OF the Administration and of all who
support 1t. Why should every sneer at
the President be assumed to be sincere
and unprejudiced, and every suspicion
cast upon the Administration most
Justitiable? If an insinuation against
the Chief Magistrate is Indignantly
challenged or repelled, "What!" is
the lofty reply, Is this . Roman
Caesar, who can do no wrong > No,
he is not Roman Caesar, but he is an
American gentleman, entitled to fair
play.


The people of the country who do
not personally know the President must
judge him by his words and acts. It is
a skillful sophistry which charges HIM
with every evil that may appear in the
and refuses him the
credit of all the good. He is a Grimm
al or a cipher, as the exigencies of his
opponents may demand. "But why is
it that certain gentlemen are known as
his friends, and certain others as his
enemies?" is question often asked;
and why when his policy is opposed,
are some opponents treated as enemies
while others still remain friends?' The
reply is not far to seek. Some of his
warmest friends opposed the San Do.
mingo Treaty, but they opposed it as
friends. They represented it us a mis-
take OF policy, upon which there could
be natural aud harmonious differences
Of opinion. The result showed that is
was not mere opposition to his policy
which occasioned alienation. But
when his motives and character are i'm
pugned In opposition, why should
there not be feeling ON his part? A
President must be silent when he is
aspersed. 1t is not all the more duty
OF honor in party opponents not to as
perse him?


So certain Senators are warmly, even
contemptuously, opposed to civil SER
vice reform, which the President ia
vors. But their relations probably
continue friendly, although it is clear
that ii they denounced him as the root
of all official corruption those relations
could not fail to be disturbed. A Presi-
dent, it is said, ought not to quarrel.
But has Senator, the constitutional
adviser of the President on many occa-
sions, no similar duty There are
Senators who oppose as well as who IA
vor his policy of civil service reform,
who are upon friendly terms with the
President. That point is not deter
mined by sympathy with his views. =
There are other Senators who honestly
think and frankly say that the Presi-
dent disgraces his Office. Is itsurpris-
ing that they are not upon friendly
terms with him, even if they are friends
of civil service reform


The country can also easily under
stand that thousand tales are told of
the President which are simply fllse
They are repeated, and emphasized and
enlarged until they are accepted as
true, and one such fact, as it is called,
is supposed to indicate myriad more
of the same kind. There is, for instance,
the dull slander about the Seneca stone
quarry. 1t represents the President as
deeply interested in q quarry for which
contracts for Government works are
obtained by his influence, which are
enormously profitable to him. This is
the story industriously repeated. The
fact is that six or seven years ago Gen.
Grant invested some money-which we
believe nobody ever alleged to be dis
honestly earned-in stone quarry,
from which he has never received any
dividend whatever. Wehave heard the
same kind Of story told of Gen. Logan
in regard 10 some Chicago lots. "He
grew rich in the army, did he?" asks
Mrs. Candour, with a shrug of her
moral shoulders. No, Madam; he in
vested in land some of his small say
ings from his Generals pay. The sum
was very small and the terms of pay
ment very easy, and the land rapidly
rose in value; and, as every man who
honors one of the bravest and most
skillful soldiers of the war will be glad
to know, the General has the legitimate
benefit of his bargain.


We do not believe that the people of
the United States hear with patience
these incessant filings at a President
whom the most elaborate ingenuity has
failed to stain even with suspicion.
He Is exhorted to conciliate and to
"have peace" and we are told that
other Presidents did not permit quar-
rels. How is it with President Pierce
and Mr.. Douglas, and with
Mr. Douglas and President Buchanan?
Mr.. Calhoun withdrew from Presi-
dent Jackson Senator Wade and Mr..
Winter Davis declared against Presi-
dent Lincoln, and how many Senators
heartily favored his denomination
The di pIomacy of affecting to like those
who have, as he thinks, DETAINED him,
or that of trusting those in whom he
has lost confidence, the President does
not poss ess. It may be his misfortune,
but we doubt if the country will charge
it upon him as fatal fault.


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