The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1860-03-30
lC0fnmUnleatsti
The Township Treasury.

Mr.. EDIToR:-I have read DR.. Hallock s
defense of himself against the recent fierce
assaults of " the Court House clique" with
great pleasure; for / confess to desire to
be left in the belief that there are some
honest men extant, and if convinced that
have been deceived in Judging the DR.. to be
one of these, my doubts of the truth of that
proposition would suffer an alarming in
crease. regard his vindication of himself
AZ full and complete mt all points. If there
was any further proof of his honesty re-
quircd, his assailant, or rather the cats
paw" of his assailants, furnishes it in his
this mornings rehash of his frivolous and
"senseless' charges. 1t seems, according to
this statement, that DR.. Ii. thought land |
confess so think y that he ought to have
had and desired the board to allow him"
something over $500; yet, when he was
told that the law required him to swear to
every hour and half hour he had been "a ac-
tualy engaged" in the various duties of his
office before he could be allowed anything
for such service, he was too honest man
to obtain more than $500 of which, as |
have understood from a gentleman who was
room and fuel and gas for it-S150 TO
present, $l00was estimated for rent of library
compensate the Dr's. son for constant attend
ance upon the library, leaving only $3.50 10
pay him for performing all the exacting and
difficult duties of the Trusteeship, including
the receiving and paying out of some seven
or eight thousand dollars.
Well may Mr.. Hardin "cal on DR.. Hal
lock to explain this [ should think that
is the very thing Of all others lie would not
be likely to understand. There is no sort
of analogy between it and " double pay for
one service"
Apropos of this ass lult upon the Town
ship treasury (for that is what it means),
there is a passage of classic history which,
with your permission, ! will dig up for the
heneht of our fellow citizens Just at this
juncture, and hope they will calmly reflect
upon the lesson it teaches. Here it is
When Aristides was elected high treasu-
rer of Athens, he administered the trust
with such vigilaut honesty, that he put
complete stop TO the plunder of the treasu-
ry, which, under former tre0surers, had come
| TO be so common as to be regarded (as it
has sometimes been in Pigeon Tow nship)
! perquisite of office. This honest course
produced such a coalition among The public
| pIunderers (mind you this is written of
/ Athens not of Evansville) that at the ex-
! piration of his office they procured him to be
! impeached Of the same crime, and publicly
/ condemned. But the - sober second thought
! of the people " subsequently restored him
/ to the same Office. At his entrance upon
his duties the second time, he affected TO ap-
/ pear sensible of hiss formerEerror, and, by
winking at the frauds of the inferior Off
GERS he suffered them to plunder with inn
punity. These State leeches thus gorged
I III Z la mi oyfr alK
fond of Aristides, that they employed all
their interest to persuade the people to elect
him a third time to that important office.
On the day of the election, when the voices
of the Athenians were unanimous in his
! favor, this real patriot stood up with honest
Indignation, and gave the people this severe
but just reprimand
'When," said he g discharged my duty
in this office, the first time, with that zeal
and fidelity which every honest man owes
to his country, was insulted, viIified and
condemned. Now that have given full
liberty to all these robbers of the public
here present to piier, and prey upon your
finances, at pleasure, | am, it seems, a most
upright minister, and a most worthy citizen
Believe me, O Athenians | am more
ashamed of the honor which you have so
unanimously conferred upon me this day,
than of the unjust sentence which you
passed upon me the year before. But it
gives me the utmost concern upon your ac-
count when | see that it is easier to merit
your favor and applause by tiattering and
conniving at the rogueries Of pack of viii
lains, than by faithful and uncorrupt ad-
mnistration of the public affairs"
Put IN Vt. Arisfides.
Plutarch adds that there was yet enough
public virtue left among the Athenians tO
enable them to appreciate this severe lesson
and to stay for while the tide of corrup-
ton and faction which finally overwhelmed
that Republic. CIvIs.