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Show WHO IS DR. Cr. P. TAGGART 1 Stirring the political puddle during election times brings to the- surface many things of an unsavory character, and the stirrers are sometimes guilty of dropping into the mess things utterly ut-terly unwholesome and foul. The struggle for the position of U. S. Senator Sen-ator from Illinois, in "place of Yates, has evoked a more than ordinary amount of bitter partisanship for and against the different candidates. The Chicago Republican is a strong opponent oppo-nent to General John A. Logan"s election elec-tion ; and in its opposition seeks to connect him with the alleged misdeeds of other men. In this style we find an article in the Republican of the 6th inst., concerning a certain Dr. G. P. Taggart, said to be assessor of internal revenue for Utah. If ad it been Dr. J. P. Taggart we might have supposed it was the present incumbent of that office, but his given name is John, and that does not begin with a "G" as spelled in any English book of names with which we are acquainted. The charges, however, against this Dr. G. P. Taggart are so curious that we clip the article. Here it is : A great part of the condemnation vUited upon the head of Andrew John-sou John-sou was in consequence of the bad character of the men whom he chose for advisers and appointed to office. This rule of judgment is perhaps quite as sate as it is universal in politics. Accepting it as correct, and applying it to the gentleman who now seeks the highest office in the gift ol the people of Illinois, how stands the record? We yesterday published the letter of Mr. Orville Grant to his brother, bro-ther, tbo President, accusing one of 3Ir. Logan's chief lieutenants of the grossest corruption and fraud. And this is but one of a hundred cases that might be cited to prove the character of the' men upon whom Logan has piacea his chief reliance for success in the present contest. Another of his main-stays and supporters is Doctor G-P. G-P. Taggart, uf Cairo, 111., at present, through Mr. L 'siaa's influence, Asses-tor Asses-tor of Internal .Revenue tur L'tah; with Mr. Logan's father-in-law. Captain Cunningham a iife-long Democrat and r.bel as his chief assistant. Wh it ot Doctor Taggart? Only this: that during dur-ing the closing mouths of the war ho was surgeon in charge of a military hospital at Cairo; that he wa3 officially charged with robbing sick and dead soldiers, and that he escaped conviction convic-tion and punishment only by leaving the service before he could be tried by a court-martial. Such at least is the fair inference from official documents before us as we write. We quote: Medical Isspector Gexl's Office, Washisgiox, D. C, March?, '6-5. To the Surgeon-General oftho U. S. A.: The following extract is from a report oi inspection cf the Foil Hospital at Cairo, III., for .February, ltio, by Lieut.-Col. G. W. Stepp, Medical Injector In-jector of the U. S. A. llAs reported by Surgeon Edgar, great dishonesty has prevailed in the management of this hospital in the sale of medical supplies, and the appropriation appropria-tion of deceased soldier's money, in amounts as large as $10. Surgeon Tag zart, late Medical Purveyor at this rose, Eays ne nas maae some ii,mj(J ut this place since he came here. Surgeon Edgar has gathered much proof, and has made a report to the Surgeon-General, Surgeon-General, as he informs mc. I have the honor to be, etc., Madisox Mills, Medical Inspector, U. 8. A. The.4S0 alluded to, was taken, it is charged, by Dr. Taggart, from Thos. B. Baser, of Co. E, 22nd Kentucky Volunteers, who died in the hospital. The charges against Dr. Taggart having hav-ing been forwarded to Washington, were returned with the following in- dor.-.emcnt : "War Department, "Blreac of Military J ri ri r. "April li;5. "Doctor G. 1. Taggart, lalo Acting Assistant Surgeon, I.". S. A., being no longer connected with the service, cannot can-not be procedud agaiiut beforo a military mili-tary court, for any of the alleged oll'en-ies oll'en-ies which he is said to have committed. But they are of an aggravated charactor, and, ai they were committed in Cairo, where he is supoosed to reside, it is ro-'oinmonded ro-'oinmonded that they be transmitted to the military conimundant, to bo placed in the hands of the civil authorities for f.-o.ecution. A. A. IIosmek, "Major and J udgo Advocate." Now, perhaps the above is ail a "Copperhead lie." Perhaps it is a "Copperhead lie" that John A. Logan par excellence the friend of the soldiers sol-diers is tho indorser and backer of the plunderer of sick and dying soldiers. sol-diers. B'lt wc have copied from offi- ial papers, and the lault is not ours if the statement bo not correct. Is a man who will appoint to office one who -.lands charged with bUch offenses lit to hi United States Senator? Gentlemen Gen-tlemen of the Legislature, answer this question for yourclvcs. Wc cxprc.-s ourulve unqualifiedly unqualified-ly thai (he R'.fin.bUr.'in docs Gcu-rul Gcu-rul IOgau gross inja-.tics in this mat-'';r, mat-'';r, hi a whole record pioving hiiu in-'.i in-'.i iahic uf in iri tlie"indorhcr and back- , of the pluridercrul'siclvaiij dying sol. ii . r .' And ha-iiiot the U'laibliiriii, in us auiiciy to upcraix agaimt L ig in, got 'Lin-, wor.-c than mixed in this raking jp of uffi-:ial uii.Jeed ? Apart from jiJoj i no', b;iii; that of 'lw ,V-hes-,i of J ni' Tual l!evi:uuc lor this 'IVrn- r,y, :' -ocu-. impossible, fir other rca-on-, ilrii the li Ti;;ai t now in this w!'l bo the pel .-on referred to. Ha.s I,.- not li 1:11 n a't,ivc aiiint in raking up the alleged aiUdeeds of certain citizens citi-zens of Utah? Aud he is surely too astute as-tute to attempt such a thing bad there been so crushing a record to unearth regarding himself. Has he not been the associate of the leading officials of the Territory, who would not countenance the society of a man guilty of such things? Was he not the "left bower" of Dr. Newman when that reverend gentleman gen-tleman was delivering himself of oratorical ora-torical efforts against the presumed evil-practices evil-practices of a community and was conducting con-ducting a religious controversy? And Dr. .Newman could never have so selected se-lected him had he been the person referred re-ferred to in the Republican. And, again, would President Grant, the soldier sol-dier and the soldier's friend, have appointed ap-pointed to office a man who had desecrated dese-crated the sacred bodies of dead heroes? he-roes? The Republican must be mistaken. mis-taken. Still the case as presented is worth commenting on briefly. Since when did it become so much more odious to take the money of dead men than of living ones ? Is it not the custom during dur-ing times of war to pillage the bodies of soldiers on the battle field ? And where is the greater crime in taking it from a man who had died in the hospital hos-pital than in taking it from one who had died on the field of battle, aud had never enjoyed the kind office of tho hospital surgeon? And what do dead men want with money ? It wouldn't be of any use to them where they go after leaving tho hospital to be buried; and if there were widows and orphans in the case, they would never miss money which they did not know belonged to them. Besides, probably this hospital surgeon had a family of his own, and a trifle of $40,000 wouldn't go far these extravagant extrava-gant times in making them comfortable. comfort-able. Some people with certain antiquated notions of honor, honesty and all that, might designate the act as most despicable, des-picable, " dishonorable and deserving the severest punishment; and that this kind of bleeding for one's" country by "bleeding" the purses of dead braves is not the sort of thing that patriots and honest men could admire. But so long as punishment could be escaped, who would care about such old-ibty opinions? The Republican seems to have worked itself into a nice fit of virtuous indignation over a trifle. If this Doctor had taken watches and uniforms uni-forms and pawned them, there might have been groundwork tor the hari-h language used by the Republican; but the very worst thing the documents quoted would go to show is, that this Dr. Taggart, whoever he was, had only appropriated a little loose money which j a dead man couldn't use and which he, a living man, could u.e. Living men are made to suffer enough aow-a-days from pickings andtoalings, without so much fuss being made about taking a little from dead men! and as for the widows and orphans, they must have become pretty well u.ied to getting get-ting along on nothing, with iheir husbands hus-bands and fhthers away fighting their country's battles, and so wouldn't mind it much; while to people accustomed accus-tomed to comforts such stray trifles would be little short of a necessity. But who ever it may have been, does any person think it could be the Dr. John P. Taggart well known to Utah and to fame? |