New-York tribune., 1866-05-04
LcCIsLATIvE PURITY.

The y. y. Tunes aSsNlS SenatoT i'oN ioI Hio sup
port of the bill creating a Board Of Fire Commission
ers, and for insisting that the Health Commission
should be named by the Governor We cannot re-
alizc that such assaults need reply They are
prompted by personal spite and can harm no one but
their author.
On the general subject of legislative corruption
The Times says:
"Senaors Lent ana Murphy AMI Aiembyman Stewart OF
this cry pf0yeTbinlJ homes, men Tier legislative
record h clean They have served the City faithfully at ne
.riGco ~ time and money Their reward for this eratu
iiou, abuse from joirnsl prosg In favor OF honest meD
But does stop with the abuse oil nptlgt
reDreentifives IL mantle country members
r4're oonap.o1 la' net yH gased teoiaoa ,,. T.. cara
THE TD has been l0u nouthed aud bitter Tor years
upoa The corruption o members whom now SAYS nave
not yet reached rHE TRIBUNE knows tbs be untrue
II kos thar however obnoxious its ordinations former
House. II Assembly have been this Is vastly more So ~
kn0rs that Railroad Commtee-iId especially s ,Aat
man (Nhom aud,). has home with Its hands ana
r,el ~ nm Of nnclean drippncs When weeks ago
lie EDITORS attention called looseness and prongacy
Assembly he replied that 50 long as they dd not Sea
frotn The State be should bother himself with them
The enorny Of ali this lies 10 the fact that 1HE JnprNf
for legislative reform assas nonest
diskes while 1t ulholds and iIdorse, eorup
iions There H. therefore 50 far a. rIg n, BuNE . con
ccrned. nothing % encourage intcgri ana ho.g 70 ,e
strain cornpon TnE TRIBUNE is for and against good and
bad men, according to It's preferences or Prendess u sees
corruption 10 p1y IN isse ones chprlcousy
Its passion for reform Is spismodic.'
If il be true that we have dealt in "gratutous
for otherl abuse" of Messrs. Murphy and Stewart,
our readers know it. We do not. We know them rs
in The Times interests but we do not believe Senator
Murphy ever gave eoHd give corrupt vote. lie
might do wrong to serve his friends; be could not rob
the public to enrich himself. We think he has had bad
advisers. and has been sometimes mslcd but we be-
leve no harsh word has ever been applied to him in
these columns.
Toward Mr.. Lent, we feel differently. lie was
.,,1 bt., ,Ia Citzons \esocafiou.
Mr.. Murphy was not We urged every one to vote
foi him, as we did not for Mr.. Murphy. The fact
thai he failed to resist the New Broadway and
kindred swndles, and voted generally in opposition
TO the views OF the Citizens Association, whose prn
cipes he proesscd to adopt when he wanted their
votes. has done somewhat to weaken our faith in
human nature especially of the oiice-seekng variety
The Times sovs we know" that the late Assembly
was vastly more" corrupt than its predecessor, and
that the Railroad Committee and especially its chair
man. has gone home with its hands and pockets full of
unccan drppings. We certainly do not know aught
of this; but if The Times knows it, that will suffice.
We call, therefore, on The Times and especially on
Mr. Thurlow Weed, who is manfesty the writer of
its article, to give the proper information to the Dis
trict Attorney, whose sworn duty it is to cause
this chairman and bis guilty colleagues to be indicted
and brought TO Justice. We have laws which deal
vigorously with such crimes as are here plainly
charged We believe the chairman of the commit
tee in question is Mr. Parker of Cayuga; but, be
he whomsocvcr he may if he has gone home with his
"hands and pockets full, as charged by The Times
he ought to be in prison directly. Aud Of his fell
low committeeman. We 10 not remember their
names, and do not care who they are. III they are
such villains The Times plainly asserts. they should
be inclosed by four stone walls with an iron door
and q barred window, before another week passes
Will The Times do its duty
II is not true, as The Times asserts that We ever
expressed Indifference to any legislative corruption
but such as imposed burdens on the State. We may
have said that our chief concern was to keep down
taxation, but nothing further. These tale-bearng 60
bctwcens are never wholly truthful.
As to our partialties in the premises, we have had
most TO say of the shortcomings of Senator Lent,
whom we tried hardest to elect, and OF Assembly
man Brandreth for whom we have thrice voted. OF
those whose election we deprecated, we have said
very little. Mr. Littejohn is not our friend; yet we
have seen no occasion to speak of him this Winter but
in terms of cOmmendaon. No person has been
spoken well or i'll ofby us save with direct reference
to his own acts and votes.
The Times is well aware that ave beliere in the Cit
zens' Association as body of upright, intelligent,
publicsprted taxpayers singy intent on saving our
citizens from legislative and municipal thieves. We
supported their nominees last November and Decem-
Der because they nere theirs, when we might, III some
instances, have preferred different candidates. We
have seconded, and shall continue to sustain their
general efforts because We believe them well intended
and generally judicious. We have faith in those
members of the Legislature who support and little or
none in those who oppose the measures Of this Asso
ciation And this il our answer to the charge that