The Democratic advocate., 1871-08-03
Corruption and Fraud.


ed from the Comptroller's Office and
published in the New York Times,
should turn out to bc true, and the
money so used prove to have been
lraudulently taken from the City Treas.
ury, the guilty parties should be held
to strict account. 1t is alleged that
the frauds-if they are frauds-occur,
cd in 1865 and previously, under the
old City Government, and that the Au-
diting Committee which passed the ac-
counts was composed of Democrats and
Republicans, in equal numbers. 1t
matters not whether the men incuipated
belonged to one or both political parties
If they are guilty they deserve to be
punished, and no distinction of this
kind ought to save them from thcsever.
est peualty that can be meted. out to
them by the courts under the law. But
whilst we unhesitatingly hold that the
guilt Of the members Of one political
party is no excuse for frauds OF II simi.
lar character when perpetrated by those
OF another, we are quite as strongly Of
opinion Of that when the Radicals de.
nouncc mcmbers of the Democratic party
for acts of which their own par,y off
cials are uotoriously guilty, the charges
they bring against their political oppo.
uents must be far less in the interest
of morality than in that of party asccn.
dancy.
Perhaps the most striking examnle of
the fraud, tho Radicals are capable of
erpetratinr-whep thew have clear
field for their operatiops and are backed
up bv Congress and the Federal soldiery
is presented by the financial condition
of the Southern States under Radical
domination. In six years the public
debt of those States has beeu increased
in the aggregate more than two hundred
and fifty millions of dollars. For the
greater part of this enormous sum the
States have nothing to show. Even
their railways have not been materially
benefited by the APPROXIMATIONS made
ostensibly to build or to improve them
whilst the several State Treasures have
been regularly depleted of every dollar
raised by taxation, or accrusine to them
in any other way. What Radical iour.
mails have protested against this whole
sale plumber of the Southern people by
Radical partisans {? What Radical REM.
ber Of Congress is there who has not
sought to iasteu these gangs Of thieves
upon the South? Did Gen, Grant. in
pardoning Bowen for bigamy and for.
gerry, advance tho cause OF good morals /?
Horace Greeley has, indeed. stirma,izcd
the entire fraternity of carpet baggeri
as thieves and scoundrels but what
Political party was it that gave those
thieves aud scouudrcls the opportunities
by which they pro6ted
Official statistics show that over TWEEN.
ty millions of dollars are owing to the
Government by Radical Collectors of
the Revenue. How much of this sum
will ultimately find its way into the
Treasury, it is impossible to say. But
the absolute less by defaulting Collec
tors would count up millions, and yet
the number of defaulters that have been
brought to justice, may be counted on
the fugers Of one hand Being loyal,
they have escaped punishment
Nor is Congress itself free from this
taint Of corruption. 1t was John Coyode
who rushed through the House of Re-
preseutatives the notorious Chorpcuning
fraud; it was Pomcroy, of Kansas, who
carried it through the Senate. 1t was
Harlan who was deep in Indian lands
aud Indian contracts. There has scarce.
ly been u subsidy, monopoly, rail.
road charter or land grant passed by
Congress that has not cost the lobby
large sums of money. Men who went
to Congress poor, speedily became rich.
and their middle ueu-thc confidential
agents, acting for their principals and
used as a cover to suspicious transac
tions---were reward d with a share of
the spoils.
The cry of Democratic frauds comes
with an iii grace from Radicals who neg.
lect to purge their own party of its
official and unofficial thieves. When n
President Of the United States dearades
his cffiee bv taking gifts. when the
Supreme Court is packed for the ex.
press purpose of reversing n solemn and
righteous decision when men ike Ash
ley, proved to be guilty. of subordination
of periurv ara anno;nted Goyernors oe
Territories when defamation of Snuth
ern people is rewarded by appointments