Indiana State Sentinel

Political Mysteries of Indianapolis.
CHAPTER XII

Mr. Peaslee, we fear, will suppose we have forgotten him, in consequence of our tardiness in noticing his intrigues in relation to the late congressional nomination, which we hinted at in our last. But we presume he can easily excuse the delay.

There were several aspirants for the democratic nomination in this, the 5th district, previous to the last election. Among those mentioned, either by themselves or their friends, were Messrs. Wick, Palmer, Tannehill, Ritchey, Cook, Peaslee, and A. F. Morrison.

So far as we were concerned, we should have been well enough pleased with the nomination of Palmer, Tannehill, or Ritchey, as well as Wick. Dr. Cook we knew but little of previously; could have had no objection to him, and should have cheerfully supported him had he been the nominee.

Morrison, of course, pushed himself out, as usual. Nobody but himself would have thought of his nomination. The scandalous course he had pursued two years previously—when Brown was nominated—alone would have prevented his nomination at the last May Convention. Morrison probably knew this very well; but he had another object in view: he was an applicant for the post office at Indianapolis, and he wanted two strings to his bow. He desired to produce effect at Washington, and to have an opportunity to bargain with his competitors for either office here.

Passing over his intrigues and attempted bargains with others, for the present, we confine ourselves to Peaslee, with whom Morrison compromised, and in whose favor he finally withdrew.

Peaslee acted more adroitly than Morrison—cunning and smart as the latter thinks himself. He had for some months been paving his way among that class of men who endeavor to regulate all sorts of political affairs among the lawyers as they travel round the circuit. Consequently, in several of the counties, he had persons legging for him—a very common arrangement among fourth-rate politicians, who "help one another" in that way.

One of the reasons Peaslee gave for wishing to change his Judgeship for a seat in Congress, was, that the confinement of the Bench injured his health; and that he should be obliged to resign his Judgeship, whether nominated for Congress or not. This was a humbug on the face of it: just look at it; confinement five or six hours a day, he says, for two or three weeks at a time, injures his health; which he proposes to cure by subjecting himself to a great deal worse confinement, six months on a stretch! Hair of the same dog—or a madder one—with a vengeance! But he has not resigned his present office, according to his verbal and written declaration, and we predict he will not do so until he has a chance for a better one, for which he will make it a stepping stone, if he can.

This false pretence was put forth for the sake of exciting sympathy in his behalf. It was contemptible enough, to be sure; but it was not so outrageous as to be unpardonable. There were others, less pardonable and less honorable. To say nothing of neglecting the duties appertaining to his present office; keeping two or three Jackalls at the Court House door, on the watch for country people who could be talked to advantageously; of leaving the Bench in the midst of important causes, at the signal of the Jackall's wink, and going out and lying upon the grass, and lying to such as would then and there listen to him. All this was neither so reputable nor so excusable.

But this was not all. False reports were circulated to injure other candidates, particularly Dr. Ritchey. The public will remember his allusion to them in his letter to the convention. This was cruel as well as base; and had no little weight in serving to confirm our feelings in relation to the several candidates. We are willing to see competition, but we also want fair play at the same time.

"Petticoat influence" was also in some instances brought to bear, for the purpose of winning over certain supposed influential persons; and this was decidedly the strongest and best support which he had, and the hardest for men of gallantry, or admirers of the sex—as we profess to be—to resist.

The day of the meeting of the people of this township at length came, the purpose of which was the nomination of delegates to a County Convention. The Editors of this paper attended, as they usually do; but not with any desire to take a leading or prominent part. So far from that, they desired to be mere spectators. The senior was appointed one of the delegates to the County Convention; he desired to be excused; but the majority refused to grant the excuse. The junior was also appointed a delegate, but at his urgent request was excused from serving. Neither of us, considering the position we occupied, desired to act as umpire in such a case, especially as we were supposed to be personally inimical to one or two of the aspirants.

The County Convention soon followed, to appoint delegates to the District Convention, when, though he was not a member and though he was utterly ignorant that any such thing was in contemplation, the junior editor of this paper was appointed one of the delegates to the District Convention from Centre township, Marion county.

Having been thus appointed, and, on second thought concluding to serve as a Delegate in the District Convention, the junior felt himself bound in honor to carry out the wishes of the majority of his party, represented in part by him, without the slightest regard to consequences personal to himself or any other individual. Such also appeared to be the feeling of a majority of the delegates from the same township.

But such did not appear to be the opinion or desire of Mr. Peaslee. He waited upon two or more of the five delegates of the township,—(one being his best friend,)—and urged his claims upon them and the party, personally. His appeals to the junior editor of this paper, beginning by wheedling and ending by covert threats, the latter answered by plainly telling him that the only rule of action he could recognize as proper was to carry out in good faith, as far as possible, the wishes of a majority of the constituency represented. He, or his friends who approached others for the same purpose, received from them a similar reply.

As soon as Peaslee's confidential friends found they could not probably secure a majority of the delegates from this county in favor of his nomination, they set themselves to work as hard as they could, to compass the defeat of Wick at any rate; and we can prove by the delegation from this township, that they were continually beset and urged by Peaslee's friends, for that purpose. "Any body but Wick," was then their cry.

They professed a willingness to go for any body but Wick, if his friends, or rather the friends of honest policy, would do violence to their principles by acting contrary to what they believed to be the wish of the people, which it was their duty to honestly endeavor to fulfil. This implacable hostility of Peaslee and his friends to Wick, was the more remarkable, as but a short year or so before, they had professed towards him the greatest possible degree of friendship. They then stood in need of his character and popularity to help themselves into public confidence and office; he now was a candidate for the very office wanted by Judge Peaslee. They therefore turned upon him, and we could compare their conduct towards him, to nothing better than that of a gang of footpads, who, pressing their victim down with their knees, were trying as hard as they could to cut his throat with a rusty knife.

This was the progress of affairs up to the meeting of the District Convention. That body met, and after organization, the Delegation of Marion county collectively, as well as others, withdrew to decide among themselves the question of preference among candidates. The Marion county delegation decided in favor of Wick as first choice, by a vote of seven out of nine townships—two only being given for Peaslee with all the aid the "Morrison family" could bring to him. The Peaslee men or "Morrison family" then moved for a second choice, against which the Wick men argued that if we adhered to him in Convention, for a reasonable time, we should have probably the advantage of a change in some other county, in favor of our first choice, and thus be certain of his nomination. This was fair generalship; but the Peaslee men grew so warm upon it, that the Wick men yielded the point, and many of them voting for Peaslee through misapprehension, he was declared the second choice over Wick—by five to four townships.

Now comes one of the special beauties of Peasleeism. As soon as Peaslee was declared the second choice, one of Peaslee's friends, a brother-in-law of Morrison, moved to appoint a certain friend of Peaslee to cast the vote of Marion county in Convention, and to leave it to HIS SOLE DISCRETION to vote for Wick as long as he thought proper, and after he thought it proper to change, then to vote for Peaslee: in other words, to confer on a single person the combined power of the whole Democratic Party of Marion County, to be exercised as he alone thought expedient and proper! !!

We never believed that the author of that motion was fully sensible of its gross enormity. He was blinded to its extravagance in every respect, by his over-wrought zeal for Peaslee and his personal hostility to Wick. The proposition was of course rejected, though not without a manifestation of passion for and against; and the person appointed to vote was instructed to give it for the first choice of the delegation until otherwise directed.

Now for this conduct of Peaslee's friends in that Delegation, we hold him to be responsible. We have many reasons for so doing besides those to which we have briefly alluded in this very meagre and hasty sketch.

It is for assisting to thwart him in such unfair schemes and intrigues that he is offended at us, and for nothing else.

Let the People judge between him and us, as to these things.