Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-07-06


The japanese are copying our railroads and
electric telegrsphs May not pro6tably take
from them some Of their simple aud primitive in
veutions in the art OF honest government. just
by -ay Of "swop. as President Lincoln would
say
IL only one traveller IN Japan had brought back
reports 81 the marvellous integrity and economy
of the japanese system Of home government, Te
should have doubted the siory-putting il on
par with he anthropsphagi and men whose heads
do grow beneath their shoulders. The hing OF
Siam, when a piece of ice, imported from some
northern region, was shown TO him. could not be
made 20 believe that such freak of nature vas
possible and sfoutiy maintained that il must be
juggle and hoax. because he bad never seen
any IN MS own country This skepiicism was
natural under the Circumstances so We. who
have 40 little honesty aud economy in the admin
istraiIon OF our government. that the words. ike
the thngs. have become quite obsolete, might
seriously doubt these wonderful stories from
Jspan. u they were not confirmed by number
Of respectable travellers IL may prove instruc-
tive TO run parallel between the japanese ad
minisfraiion of affairs and ours
| In japan when public officer steals from the
treasury he is tired by civil court aud. II found
/ guilty. Is beheaded. or, if his rank deserves that
distinguished mark Of imperial clemency, he j.
/ graciously permitted to commit h0Tvi karTI on
+ himself Overwhelmed with gratitude for this
act OF mercy, he bids farewell to his family, neat
/ IL cuts himself open with two quick strokes. and
! i gathered 10 his fathers. A defauter i one of
/ the rarest curiOsities 10 be found in Japan How
/ is IL in this country Here. if the statements of
investigating committees and disaffected radicals
are to be believed. the Government bureaus
swarm with the piunderers who either flch
1 directly from the money till or divide with dis
i honest contractors. or levy black mail on the
business public. How many of these are
brought 10 justice Not one out of a hundred
probably Government frauds are 50 common
| aud venal under this Administration. that the
arrest OF anv particular individual is looked upon
by his friends as an instance OF personal or polt
ical animosfy or malice
Any newspaper that happens 70 be Of his way
OF thinking. will be to give this interpreta-
ton of his arrest. Instead OF being straightway
tried by n court he s released on bail. and NAV
| sail for Europe If he likes. If he stands trial
his chance of acquiItal is good, and if be is con.
victed. the worst punishment that he can suffer
l. a fine or a few years in the State prison This
j. better than decapitatiOn. or even than the ex
allied privilege of harri-karYi The American
defaulter. instead of ripping up his stomach,
lives TO put turtle soup into II for many wears.
We would not have the japanese plan literally
adopted all at once. The steam guillotine.
which the Yankee inventor offered to Louis Ma
poleon after the comp d'etat would be necessary
TO do the beheadng; and IL would be rather un-
pleasant for our occidental nerves 10 see the
.'happv dispatch" adopted a family institution
STILL is there not something new that might
well copy from Japan?
In Japan office holding is so Improbable and
so undesirable that even the vassal princes, who
might be supposed to oe independent in their no
tons resign ia favor OF their at the first OPP
IL l. of the laws of the pmDrf
that when an office holder accumulates more
money than Is thought good Tor him. it Is con-
hscated for the imperial treasury. on the theory
that he must have obtained 1t by some dishonest
courses which cannot be proved on him In this
country office holding is profitable and des
rable that everybody maneuvres and intrgues
for IT, This Administration and all its attaches
and dependents are now moving heaven and earth
To re elect themselves As for the ''perqui>ites
which are all con6scated in Japan, a Federal Of
fice-hoder must be clumsy fellow who cannot
lay up brown stone front, and eligible cor
ner lot a carriage aud pair OF horses. and fai
bank account in four years.
In Japan the laws are issued by the order OF
the Tycoon, and are simple and Ineligible Al
travellers agree in this In the United States
the laws issued by some order-iust now it Is
difficult to say precisely what-and though We
have what is called Congress it is little more
4
neither simple nor Ineligible They are such
riddles might have been propounded by the
SPHINX. The tax law has been before the pub
lie two three wears aud how many fully un-
derstand itl Ii not till the Collectors and
Assessors had received a large amount OF official
Instructions aud Judicial interpretations. that they
could make head or tail OF it. The enrolment
bill has been an enigma from the day Of its birth
and Solicitor Whiting has not yet delivered his
last opinion ON it, Look at the gold bill, and the
multitude OF diverse constructions that placed
upon that And with dozens of other laws
Nobody can be said TO understand them fully il
all their bearings. aud the last place of all 10 &C
for information about them Is 10 Congress
Should We not gain hy "swOp with the Jap
anese?
The parallel might be carried on some distanc,
further. but this will do for TO day New York
Journal of Commerce