New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-06-01

regard TO family. But such merit Is hv dane
little nut bring scandal upon the public service Al least
is tainted with fraud and anotner viii Willy ~ inds-
cretions inconsistent with his trust. Appointed ,h
nally in open defiance Of Republican prinoiPehs ame
have been retained In Office after their unntness
painfully conspicuous BY the testimony before G0n,
gressona Committee, Of these brother-aw W. az
Implicated in bribery and corruption ~ y sI No. con-
last after considerable delay the President mas o'n
sented 10 his removal. ..,or
Here leave for the present this enormous preension
OF nepotism, waiting TO hear n 1t can again nna n
apooglst Is there single Senator who will not DISMISS
1t to judgmenti
GrT.TAKNc OFFICIALLY COMPENSATED.
From one typical abuse pass to another From
dropelcal nepotsm swollen to elephantiasis, which
nobody can defend, pass 10 gttaking when WIN our
President has assumed an unprecedented FORM some
times public in our country have taken gits,
but It is not known that any President before has
the patron with Office. For public man TO take gits Is
reprehensibe for President 70 select Cabinet c1une
or and other officers %Ons t1De Annals OBSERVE
Sir that speak OF it gently unwilling 70 exhDit tne IN
dgnation which such Presidential pretenson - Seu q,
lated TO arouse. The country viii judge H. anu po' ~
out q example.
There have throughout history corrupt
I'm official station but whether in ancient or mouer
times the testimony is constant against the taxing ol
gifts and nowhere with more force than In our scrip
lures where IL is said Thou shalt not wrest
thou shalt respect persons. neither take gi ior
gift doth blind the eyes OF the wise" (Deueronomy'
xvi l9) Here is the inhibition and also the REASON,
which slight observation shows TO be true Does not
gift blind the eyes OF the wise The influence OF gus
be though. those WAYS Of SaDgs men .S S ns him
which other m a Ts sS as most suitable King the
tons Of those him BY personal ana
ba We gain the By and and me
BY our oney-PIasarehs Ltresj C@ugHS ha""j vol ''
what ia done under the influence of gift s mercenary
but whether from ruler to sGset Os ancient patriot
feared the Greeks bearing gifts ana lnese oafs
elsewhere than at Troy public man can franc Win
such only at his peril At their appearance .ne p"'e
should be said d" Lead not into temptation.
The best examples testify Thus, IN the AUTOBIOGRAPHY
of Lord Broughan, poshnmousy published u
that at great meeting in Glasgow $500 were
gift to him for his public service 10 DO pu' 10 %
form as he might think best. He hesitated , re-
We're liable to abuse Not content with his own jqdg
ment ne assembled his friends to discuss IT, Lore hoi
land Lord Erskine Romilly and Barring" ana ne Mro.e
Earl Grey, afterward Prime Minister, who replied !;
Both Granville and accepted piece OF plate from
nee ere turned Out II you still feel scrupes, only
add that is impossible to err on the sde Oh decaSy
with respect to matters OF this nature IL enueu IL LIS
accepting small gold inkstand ,,
In our country Washington keeps his lofty nights set
ting himself against as against 70 ba
1885, while in private e two years after ne ceased 70 pe
cOmmandeTnchef OF our armies ana -FOUR years peioI
he became President he could not be induced TO accept
certain amount OF canal stock offered him by the state
Of Virginia, as appears in an official communication
dissenting voice conf Gmened you the Potomac Com
Pany and 40 in the James River @ "'7'
Fully TO appreciate the reply OF Washington IL must oe
borne in mind that according TO WASHINGTON M
for hs financial AFFAIRS mad suffered during the war; and
the products of his estate had fallen OIL" But he was
NOT tempted Thus he wrote:
this matter be viewed by the eye Of The word and VIA
accepted 2OO Under preten and however eu9man
these ts made in other countries afcspe @ IOu U
tertained the idea Of accepting it-Ith, 3d. Letter 0Va"
How admirably he touches the point when he asks
III accepted this, should not henceforward DC con
sidered as dependenP According TO our scripture
the Git blinds the eyes; according to Washington ~
makes the receiver dependent. In harmony with TINS
sentiment was his subsequent refusal when President
was eTceedngly careful committing himself couh rere
20 TSs any ,. 4 him i c S On the ground, 3
the Pennsauia Uniyery, Whh he REFUSED TO Gc-CoL f'''
Nv such instances brought to light recently and shin
ing in contrast with times, we learn to adnre anew
II would be easy to show how in all ages the refusal
of gifts has been recognized as the sign OF virtue II not
is beautiful and suggestive. Leaving on crusade he
charged the Queen Regent who remained behind not
to accent for herself her Children Sueh was
one OF the niunctOns by which this monarch when iar
away pious expedition, impressed hlseH upon DIS
NV own strong convictions this Presidential pre-
tension aroused in conversation when II was my
his ck-chamber his sons house in Boston, shor
time before he fell at his post OF duty IN the House o.
| Representatives. In a voice trembling with age an6
with emotion, he said that no public man could taxi
gifts without peril and he confessed that ms own Jug
| ment had been quckened by the example OF Count no
manzof the eminent Chancellor of the Russian Empire
who after receiving costly gifts from foreign s9yereig
conscience in keeping them, and at last handed oyel
their value to hospital as he related to MI Adams
| tben Minister at St Petersburg. The latter was i'm
pressed by this Russian example and through his long
career Minister abroad Secretary Of state, Presden
or some small article IN its nature token and not re-
v 1Ss-.I ar htibe. ,,,,.x
officers OF the United States when t provides thI no
holding office Of Of R SS q Of
present or em0lumen from any king prince, or foreign
State Tie Acceptance of present or emolument ir9
our own citizens left without cOnsututlOnal hnip
ton To be constrained by the puoc conscience anu 'ne
inst aversion TO any sembance OF bargain ana sale u
bribery in the pubic serIlee', .,., Dyo.or,o,slr
he has taken gifts while in the public servce-some az
least after he had been elected Presdent-unut tnS
n The words Of my colleague Orr. Wilson,, one OF his
puorters Is now rich in houses lands and stock apovt
his salary being probably the rlehest fresluent st
Geor@e Washington VIGOROUSLY he has appointed te
his Cabinet several among these Greeks bearing gus,
without seeming TO the indecorum, II not tne IN
TeceHev of the Transaction. At least two, not three
OF these Greeks having no known position III tHe ePuo
Ucep Marty or influence in the country, have been Sc
Lated os his counseors in national affairs, and heads OF
great departments Of Government. Again 40 repeal
the words of our Scriptures "A gift doth bnd the eye
accepted this should not henceforward be considered
NOT does the case of the first Secretary Of State differ
in character from the other three. The Preslucnt
ing under personal obligation TO Mr. WashDuIne LOT I'M
with the understanding that after continuation ht
should fortaWth es ea aSrSe get tne g ~
the senate Chamber Immediately after the eonirma
ton: Who," said he, lever heard before OF mar
nominated secretary OF State merely as compliment
But this only another Of the public service subor
dinated to personal considerations
Not only in the Cabinet but in other offices there Ii
to believe that the President has been under the
influence OF patrons. Why he so blind TO Thomas
Murphyi The CustomhOuse of New-York, with ali its
capacity political engine, was handed over to this
agent, whose want of recognition in the Republican
rafty was unbalanced by Presidential favor and whose
gifts have become notorious And when the demand fOT
his removal was irresistible the President accepted his
resignation with eusOn OF sentiment natural toward
patron but without Justification in the Character oi
the retiring officer.
Shakespeare who ntutiyely the springs OF human
conduct touches than on the operation OF the
gift al IL do thee service for good gif SAID Gosel
TO Warwick Then, again. how truly spoke the lord, VINO
said OF Tlm0p,