Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1880 — GARFIELD AND THE WHISKY RING, [ARTICLE]

GARFIELD AND THE WHISKY RING,

[From the New York World.] The revelations made and threatened by Gen. John McDonald, of St. Louis, exhibit in the most vivid light the nature of that Government by Bepublican rings to which the country is now urged to submit itself anew. The whisky ring was a creation of the Republican party. Gen. McDonald alleges, and all the probabilities are in favor of the truth of his allegation, that the spoils of the whisky ring were assessed to defray the campaign expenses of the Republican party. He alleges less plausibly that to provide campaign funds was the original motive to the organization of the whisky ring. This is less plausible, because original sin and covetousness are amply sufficient to account for the formation of the whisky ring. It is, however, necessary to suppose a corrupt understanding vith public officers in order to account for its long-continued success and for the immunity which the chief actors in it have enjoyed to this day. A few relatively unimportant persons, like Gen. McDonald, were given up to public opinion for a time as scapegoats to be driven out into the wilderness, or, more literally, to be put in jail. If they had Ven satisfied with their position as scapegoats we should not now be in the way, as we now are in the way, of learning the whole truth about the whisky ring. It will be interesting to see whether the Republican organs will have the impudence to assert that the Republican party, which organized and cherished the whisky ring, also put down the whisky ring and punished some of its members. One man alone in the Republican party. Secretary Bristow, prosecuted the thieves to the best of his ability, and would have prosecuted all of them if he could have had his own way. But simply because he prosecuted these violators of the revenue laws which he was appointed to protect—simply because he showed himself to be a man of honesty and of courage—Secretary Bristow lost all standing m the Republican party. The leaders of that

party assailed him four years ago with even more bitterness and hatred than they have since assailed Mr. Hayes, whose chief offense in their eyes seems to be that he is not a member or supporter of any ring whatever, except the civil service, which will divide the profits of violating the law with the party which connives at its violations of the law. It is already evident that no effective opposition to the Republican rings is to l>e expected from Garfield, and that if he were to be elected his administration would be conducted exclusively in tlie interests of “the old set.” The humiliating pledge which he gave in liis letter of acceptance, that he would not interfere with the control of local patronage by local “ bosses,” ought to have satisfied “ the old set,” as it will satisfy the voters of the country, on that point. Even this humiliating pledge, however, does not seem to have satisfied the old set. Senator Conkling, though he is understood to be in New York, lias thus far taken pains not to be seen or heard of in public in connection with the extemporaneous candidate of the Republican party for the Presidency. Of course, if Senator Conkling should hereafter come out as an advocate of Gen. Garfield’s election, it will be self-evi-dent that he must have demanded of Gen. Garfield and obtained from him some more abject assurance of subserviency to the friends of Grant than even the letter of acceptance furnishes. It is the intention of Gen. McDonald, as expressed in the index of his forthcoming book, to supply, “missing links in tlie chain of evidence of James A. Garfield’s implication with the District of Columbia and the De Golyer bribery. ” One of these links is already supplied by the nature of Gen. Garfield’s present errand in New York, if Gen. McDonald is correct in his declaration that tho whisky frauds began with a desire to raise money for the party. Gen. Garfield has come to New York, hat in hand, to raise money for his own candidacy. Before he gets thfough with his mission he will probably be inclined to bewail the lack of a whisky ring, or some other ring, which would raise money for him without compelling him to such devices, or pledging him to anything, except to tho shutting of his own eyes and of the eyes of his subordinates, if he should ever take Executive office, to the means by which the amount of money, requisite to help him into office had been secured.