Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-02-13
HOSTILITY TO ..ri,c system. ,,

in defence of the president, when charged with
responsibility for the numerous abuses existing
in various departments of the public service
and c3nspicuously in the New York custom
house, it is said that the fault Is in the system
which had grown up under the administrations
of his predecessors and become so firmly
established in the theory and practice of official
life, that it is not the work of day nor of sin
gle man, however high in station, upright in
character, or resoute of will, TO overthrow il
and substitute purity and vigor for corruption
and inefficiency. This defence has some reason
and justice in it, especially since Grant is not a
politician, as other presidents have been, and
cannot be supposed to have understood how far
the decentralization of office holders extended.
The excuse, fair as it may have been at first,
loses some of its reasonableress with every day
thata reform in the New York custom house is de-
laVed The system may be pleaded as an excuse
for Grants apparent shortcomings, because he
did not originate it nor knowingly contribute to
its strength; he is believed to have no sympathy
with it; but TO be determined on its destruction
as soon as a scheme of better service can be
framed, and because under his administration it
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disorders and frauds upon the system, if it were
known that Grant himself looked approvngly
upon the worst rascalites and shared in their
r',s' -. - ''e"' % mo- "'i eNou'o ~
iNo' an" 10Y ny anu o'n0is ""o P'"o''seu tne
"i'' " eA'oi'io"' mioeiS anu pecuia'lon' 10
P'e"u Jug SYSTEM III tneli oenaii "ouiu oe an
1.ie"ie VI en'o"'e'l e"en as even nc" 10TH
e'l'li'iAi ia"yer "ouiu haIoIy venture upon'
but some OF Tue central New fork papers are
CARRYING tue theory mat corrupt system IS an
EXCUSE LOT tue crimes committed under 1t, to
gu'e TINS iensth. Inc case Is that OF Mr..
lerwlillger' the clerk OF the New York senate,
VINO was accused oil RECEIVING percentage on
'ue el'Ue Piiuts oiis' a'io at urst DENIED 1t, as
seriihs inat ne Dau received nothing except in
payment lor us services IN reading PROOF, etc,
out silet"arus adihftted that he mad received
as gfatni'y' from the printer oil the state
documents, a sum JUST equal 10 twenty per cent
Oh tue amount pald 10 TINS PRIMER Tor the WORK
Wn'ch came iIom MI lerwillger ONCE Ihal
tuere was any olner more nagrant corruption
tlah Is necessarily impiled IN ihese facts, is moi
Pio'eu' perhaps NOT even oeheVe1 or Claimed
Ou' u y eei' 'nal Aer"ii'lser received hVe tnou'
e@nu uoiiais VI 'ne'eaoout' 10 winch ne had nc
on"uo" VI "oiai'n, "hicn payment 10 nun lncreas-
~ Jus' ~ NUN 'ne COST Oh lne pruning TO the
go 4n nOnes' man certainty would not have
'a.9' i"e ne"spapviS' ol course publish
'o i"0's' anu soiie Vi each poililcai party speak
WIN upploprla'e lhuisna'lon and censure Of
TINS systematic prostitution Of office opportu-
nlties lor Tue purpose OIL piunder and extortion
but other papers, and among them the Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle, feel themselves i'm
peiled' by personal sympathy or partisan obi
gstlons' to excuse Iefwilliger and extenuat
ms iaull' Ihey are aggreyed because other
eApend great amount oil vehement indigna
non upon ihls case and they eXclaim: "Thi
not lalr we are no less hostile TO the sys
tem' we kho" u Is wrong" but I'VE mus
Desliaie oeIote pronouuclns James Terwilige
guiity 50 ne'hous an ohense that he shout