The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-06-13


PUBIC MORALITY AND INDIVIDUAL RloHs
niss GAvori,s theory o. geOlogisss that the work
"a Creation Is marked BY various ases Of pFodue-
tion--animal, vegetable, aud mineral We have an
age q reptiles ae 81 shells Of mammoth beasts
Of vegetable abundance. and on. through a hong
catalogue Of msstss me records whereof exhib-
tied in the formation Of the earth Precisely " 10
la matters Of mind. aud 10 some extent throughout
al the avoestiops Of hie In the political world,
latssrly We have Aad special di.psnsssion Of In
vestigating committee fixhtfaiiy prevalent icr
the momeu, TO lead rnsuspscsiug people 10 believe
that our governmsst 10 she most ecuaps on the
globe and our poltcisns and Statesmen little better
than official confidence men. All the words Usually
applied to the comnission Of larceny, theft. Srson
and highway robbery have been suddenly called In
to use by the virinoas guardians VI public money
and morals around the halls 81 Congress- So prolific
have been the accusations, bold and confident the
assertions Of guilt and SO muon and elaborate the
organization Of detective police in the very halls q
Congress that the people become very much Inclined
to conclude that every official is presumed 20 bc guilty
till his innocence can BIO aifirmatvely shown. Cor
ruption and peculatioa became the normal condition
Of public life, practice and character We were evi-
IDENTIFY upon an age of crime, fraud, and Official
delinquency No man could be trusted who would
accept Legislative, cabinet, any subordinate
Office. 10 be member Of Congress- was TO incur
suspicion and the risk of anirresponsbe inqusition
partial, one-sided, malcyolent merciiess, and law
less, over his public and private life.
We have had a long age of mental alterations ON
the subject of slavery. The public mind, in one
portion of the Union, where demagogues often out
number democrats, got its eyes fixed upon slavery
as the only remaining ain which alicts society The
system of atonement was ordained especially 10
eradicate that institution and any religious order
which dared to regard its offices aspropery directed
to anything else, denounced as hateful ally OF
" the slave-power.
Lower down in the scale have had an age of
railroads of extravaganza wild speculative schemes
redhot temperance oscapades, and so on down TO
social and womens rights reforms embracing Kan
sas and its free school Of military glory, pulpit gen.
rails, arsenals, and magazines. minister's on the
stump, and priests and professors, impeaching the
President and directing him how he shall discharge
the trust imposed upon him to execute the laws"
vigilance anu Huchty All iuc hisShHbN va PuphS
duties are eminent virtues which cannot be too
estly insisted upon and enforced. Corruption and
fraud, too, are to be condemned and punished
wherever and by whomsoever practised in the ser
vice of the government aud out of it. But sug-
gest that justice should be done at all times and
in this respect, think it not ass 10 say that in
reference to the questions which come before Con-
gress and the executive departments involving the
affairs of individuals, their rights and property in
connexicn with the federal Union, the obligation TO
do what is legal and fair is equally binding upon
both parties. We know Of no more prolific source
of immortality and decentralization, opening infinite
channels for public plunder than the idea that the
same responsibility to do what isrght does not rest
upon the government upon individuals having
business relations herewith Ours is government
of laws and the impression should never be per-
mitted to prevail that the law is not made to be
honestly executed and to be enforced for the benefit
OF whom it shall concern,