The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-12-19
Miooltburp 3r0isttr
TUESDAY. DECEMBER 10, 1871.
Honesty in Responsible Positions. the
(.rcnt Want of the Times.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1871.
Honesty in Responsible Positions. the
Great Want ofthe Times.
OF the three qualities most needed in
business relations, ability, energy and
honesty, the latter, though most impor-
tant, is often strangely ignored. 1t is
sometimes supposed that lack Of integrity
may be supplemented by circumstances,
A man of questionable business integrity
is elected treasurer of some unimportant
moneyed enterprise, on the blind sup
position that he will be kept from pecula-
ton by the fear Of exposure. lie is placed
in an office of responsibility, though his
integrity is nsufiicicntly vouched for, on
the belief that he will do the work well,
and be induced to be honest in his admin
stration for the sake of retaining his po-
sition. Another is known to be tricky
and unreliable in politics, false to friends,
rotten as to any moral or religious princi-
pie in every relation in life he is known
to stand ready to take advantage Of legal
bubbles for personal ends, to "turn an
honest penny in anyway not ABSOLUTELY il
legal and to be biased in his judgment by
personal considerations. And yet these
are the men most likely to be selected for
office. 1t is argued that they won't dare
to prove false to official trusts. Public
opinion, which they especially seek to
conciliatc, will hold them to honesty in
public administration And so we are
placed at the mercy of men who are only
honest from policy.
This is the kind of honesty which rules
in Wall Street. New York City. The
honesty which on the oath day Of Scptem-
Der 1866, "Back Friday" put eleven
millions of dollars into the pockets Of a
clique of INSCRIPTIONS capitalists who COM
bined to run the price of gold up to a
fabulous price, and succeeded. If policy
ceases to urge to honesty, or if it is con-
sidered possible to use public opportuni-
ties for private ends, without exposure,
this circumstance upon which his consti-
tuency relied to hold him to an honest adj
ministration of affairs, has become rope
of sand, as powerless to prevent misad-
ministration as the withs of Delilah upon
the strength Of Samson. And essentially
the same methods arc employed to avoid
the consequences of guilt, when in danger
Of exposure and punishment, as were re-
sorted to when the perpetrators Of the vile
frauds of BLACK Friday" were called to
answer to the Congressional Committee Of
investigation They didn't remember"
Jay Gould couldn't rcccollect what brok-
ers he had employed, how much gold he
bought, what orders he had given to his
brokers. Other members Of the firm were
equally forgetfu. 1t was the most OBJ
livous, forgetful, unremembcring firm of
which we have any record.
The recent frauds and robbcrles Of the
New Y ork City officials is only another il
lustration of the folly and danger Of trust
ing to circumstances and surroundings to
enforce honesty in official administration
and public trusts
In the light Of these extensive robbcr-
les and their exposure, the public scnti-
ment of the country is having spasm of
virtuous admiration ofhoncsty, and dis
appreciation of dishonesty. And it is,un-
doubtedly healthful condition of things
and one to be thankful for, and the great
est danger of failure to profit from its
lessons perhaps lies in the seeming remote
ness of the corruption, The country pco-
pie imagine that the cities are full Of cor
ruption, but their own immediate neigh
borhoods are comparatively free from it..
We recognize great evils in the practical
workings of our political system, but To-
cate their operation in some large city,and
remote from US. We sometimes fail to
see the necessity Of strict integrity in can
didates for office, if those candidates are
intimate personal, or close political friends.
Similarity Of views upon political subjects
render us blind to the faults or weak
nesses Of candidates for office, while their
defects are magniicd in our eyes by their
adherence to the opposite political party,
And so, for one reason or another, we
wink at lack Of strict integrity in charac-
ter and principle, upon election day, and
make our own opportunities for complaint
of corruption in the administration. We
SOW to the wind and We reap the whirl-
wind
1t is gratifying that the people arc awak-
ening to the importance Of this matter. 1t
is favorable symptom. As an exchange
says, "therc is no issue before the country
so commanding as the issue between the
honest men and the rogucs. No politi-
cal success is so important as the success
of honesty in administration. No brill
iantcy Of talents will compensate for lack
of integrity, in men We elevate to office
and responsibility, Party claims are
weak, if they are allowed to stand upon
their merits, when compared with homes
ty. The Springfield Republican is right
when it urges that higher, more search
ing test, must be applied to public acts,
and public men. Harper's Weekly hap
PLY hits the truth in calling for "charac-
ter not pledges" in our public men. Our
theories in politics are excellent but our
practices are often and VIGOROUSLY vii
famous. What in the New York expos
ures are worse in principle than some Of
the practices well known to have been
frequently resorted to in Addison County.
1t is true the Tammany leaders have been
able to give larger brides, but is not the pur-
chase Of vote with glass of bad whis-
key just as clear an illustration Of corrup.
ton as the payment Of SIS in New
York ? Is not the springing Of trap
previously set, in primary caucus in
Vermont,very like in principle to the,man,
ipulations of the ballot box in the large
city?
How contemplate is the sham and
hypocrisy which assigns wrong reason
for right thing Is not this habit al
educator to wrong practices? 1t is a
least discreditablc to the discernment o
one who makes use off it, and shows acl
Of strict integrity \ gentlemen who's
reputation was among the highest for en-