The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-06-16
Corruption in sne Government OHices-The


Corruption in she Government Ofices--Ihe
Postmaster General and the Dellnquents.
The extent to which corruption has pervaded
the entire fabric of the government calls for
some herculean effort to purge the Augean sta
bles into which the Offices of every branch of
the public service have been converted.
For seventy years the system adopted III 1889,
with the first presidency Of Washington, has
gone on developing with the growth of the coun
try, till It has now come to the time for passing
from the hands Of the third to those of the
fourth generation from its founders. During
this period the times have changed and men
have grown old in Office. 1t is true, that with
each successive election of President partial re-
movals have taken place, but these do not ave-
rage more than ten per cent Of the officeholders
The others remain, and grow old in the service
The times have changed around them, luxury
has become highly developed, and they have
found it necessary to increase their expenditures
| or to decline in social position. At the same
time they have been forced to become politicians,
if they were not so on coming into Office, and to
do great deal of party dirty work. These
influences have produced their natural result.
Every department Of the government is full of
corruption. In this respect our own government
does not differ at all from the older ones in Eu.
rope. It is only that the fact is more apparent
with us than with them, because through our
system of responsibility to public opinion we
are obliged to wash our dirty linen in public.
These truths are amply borne out by the re-
port Of Postmaster GeneIa l Holt on the case Of
Postmaster Westcott, of Philadelphia. and GER
tain remarks of Washington journal on our re-
cent Developments of frauds in the matter of
postage stamps, which we publish elsewhere.
We are sorry to be compelled to add that in both
of these documents there seems to be a DISPOSE
ton to shield the evil doers rather than to ferret
them out and to punish them. The report of the
Postmaster General proves that there were
thieves in the Philadelphia Post Office. Mr..
Westcott the Postmaster, found it out In the cash
receipts alone the till twas short in one quarter
sl,525 O5, being at the rate FOYER six thousand
dollars a year. More than hundred persons
had access to the money, so that there was no
possibility Of finding out who were the
thieves. In this dilemma the Postmaster
proceeded in the public business as any one
would have done in his own. He assessed the
loss on all the parties, thus making them sort
Of mutual guarantee of, and watch over, each
other.
In thus proceeding Mr.. Westcott no doubt
committed an indiscretion. He was complained
of, and, on the report of Postmaster General Holt
he was discharged The first aspect in which
this transaction arrests attention is that of pro-
tecting the thieves. The report itself is seriea
of special pleadings in their behalf and Mr.
Holt in citing and administering the law, holds
to its letter and takes no cognizance of it's spirit
Its letter condemns Mr.. Westcott, and he is con.
demned and discharged. Its spirit is to proven.
stealing of the public moneys, and yet the
thieves are shielded from punishment because
their position enables them to coniound them
selves with honest men, and even the incentive
to find them out is removed from the latter. All
this may be, and perhaps is, in accordance With
the laws that rule the Post Office Department
but we fear that Mr.. Holt will find, before he re.
tires from Office, that his views of the proper
manner Of conducting the public service, as de
veloped in his report on this case, will have Q
very bad moral effect on our Post Offices all over
the country.
| AS for the matter of the recently discovered
frauds in the postage stamps, it matters LITTLE
what shifting Washington journal may say
Even if it made direct and logical denial Of onl
statement, it would carry no weight with the
community. But the dwelling sheet makes
guarded denial, which, without impairing th,
fact we brought out, has the same tendency will
the report above commented on-that is, to shielt
the corruption and the plunderers 10 public place
Its denial is directed against the amount Of th,
frauds stated by us, and not against the fac
itself: it admits the use Of the rewashed stamp
to some extent, and then argues that no econ
siderable nnmler o. these stamps could be coun
forfeited without exciting suspicion erceot Il 'cer
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