OCR Text |
Show AGITATED. The Republican press continue to be greatly agitated over the conduct of Postmaster-General Vilas in. regard to the mail subsidy. Mr. Vilas has not acted captiously in the matter, and it is safe to say that he has not acted without great deliberation and consultation with those competent to . advise in such - matters. The charge that he has deliberately ignored an Act of Congress is followed up by the still more terrible charge that he is driving American ships from the sea. The Democrats have only been in office eight months, but in that time they have swept from the seas the unrivalled navy of. the United States, which was built up under Republican rule, and Mr. Vilas has now undertaken the task of driving American merchantmen from the seas ; and it is believed by those who are best informed on such subjects (i.e. the Republicans) Re-publicans) that he is league with the British Government to prevent the building build-ing of ferry boats in the United States. There is any amount of nonsense talked about the course of the Postmaster-General, and if half of what the Republican press say about him is true they have got a clear case, and we trust that for the sake of common honesty, which the Republicans Repub-licans prize so highly when out of office, that some of those who know so much about the wrong doings of Mr. Vilas will bring the matter before Congress and have his conduct fully investigated. If that $490,000 subsidy business is ever investigated, in-vestigated, sure and certain it is that the Postmaster-General will have nothing to fear, but it is doubtful if those who engineered en-gineered the subsidy through will be. without fear and trembling. In the magnanimity mag-nanimity of their souls they will probably proba-bly prefer to let the matter drop. |