Around 1883, as the pressure from the government increased, the party looked into the alleged problems of the Liberal party concerning Taisuke ITAGAKI's going abroad, but instead encountered a backlash from the Liberal party to fling mud at each other, with a scandal that insisted Yubin Hochi Shinbun newspaper, the party's official publication, having a strong relationship with Maejima, Ozaki and Inukai, was financed by the government, through a campaign of to denounce "monstrous" Yataro IWASAKI.
だが、1883年頃から政府の圧力が強まり、加えて自由党の板垣退助の洋行問題を巡る疑惑追及を行うと、逆に自由党側からも前島や尾崎・犬養と関係が強く同党の機関紙となっていた郵便報知新聞などが政府の資金を受けているとの疑惑が出されて岩崎弥太郎を海坊主になぞらえた「海坊主退治」キャンペーンが繰り広げられたことから、泥仕合となった。