Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-07-02
ftsm Ne M..E.lD9sslef cshm~s..
cQFnon1oT @ 77oTaIIty.

bSnaeor V-lNultlIi % W. y, has had tie
courage % dslsnt ~ eoasls q voting for and
keeping the pOu1 Is l5nal baoE eay. he enjoys
the dlet'nctieA of bstag tAe AsstS man who has
done thi1 funny, bquarsiy and denantly. General
Butler has tried TO joke down the Odi1m Of the
thing, bnt haa not HttampteA defense Of it. All
the partakeFs Of the spoils have buttoned their
breeches pockets OvqE their 900 and kept silont
which Is the Mlord pradent pAliey. Exsusing Il,
proVerbially, Belf-accuaation; and Mr.. Carpentef
will somstime regret that he has mads TIE mistako
Of putting such q string Of lame excuses in black
and Whits for hts Oppohsnts TO pick to pieces Bat
We admire his PLUCK in daring 70 confront public
opinion, which is quits unanimous against the
back-pay business. He made his long speech in
response 70 call from large number Of people
OF JanesVille, Wis. This call was couched in
''friendly terms" Of disapprOval, which Mr.. Car
psnter contrasts with the .'angry and unreasonlng
HtnVeEatlon Of the press" HerNfen @ tka nreSs
with great bitterness in several passages and evil
IDENTIFY holds that engine responsible for the popu-
lar indignation directed against the back-pay cul-
pFits. We do mot think that the press can fairly
arroRate that honor TO itself. The back.pay
sWindle was one Of those things that insult the
moral sense Of the whole people the moment the
facts become known. II bore its own condemna-
tion on ita face. II gave 5000 extra money to a
eiAsa OF men who were already amply paid TOR the
work they did. There were two percedonts where
the sane thing had been done, but these do not
WsfFant IA repetition il This instance. Ths quss-
tion Is not whether the Congressmeu broke any
written Law In taking that money from the Treas
ury, but whether their intentions in doing it were
moral and honest. We say they are not. 1hat u
clearly shown by the irregular and shuAaink Way
In which they passed the measure, 1t WaS BAN
died about betVoen the two houses, each one being
Ashamed to take the blame Of adJptinRit. Il was
stuck lnte general appropriation bi 50 that the
PnseIdOnya friends might say in his behalf that hO
could not veto it without blocking the wheels Of
government. 1t was coupled with an increase Of
the Presidents salary to $50, ,O00-a bid from Con.
gFese Ter TIE Executive approval Il appeAred Il
the clOse Of the session, when there was not time
tor tAe people 70 reflect and act upon 1t and send
their circumstances to Washington, All through,
at every stago Of this AagitiOus trAnsaetion there
are the plainest signs Of low cunning and tfick-
cry and ct the shamslacsdness which men feel
whsn thy aFe doing sOmsthlng 'whIch they know
to Be wrong. TIE most atupid 81 EcenuiItuants
could see that their representatives in CopTress
wsre committing an essentially dishonest est BY
the way they enoAk0d about ID ~ ~ "
Thens too the back-pay operation was the
croWning rSckleasneSS aud extEavagance Of . pro-
nlgAte and wasteful session. IL was one OF series
% eets; all in harmony and indicating Q low tone
Of Congressional morality. And Il cane ct time
When1 moss Of ali, economy was needed in all the
pranchss OF government. Bad in itself, it was
Sill worse ~ an example for future Congresses.
1hsy may choose TO think that $1,000 or $4,000
not too great salary, and they can use all Of
Nc Carpentet's arguments about the high prices
ot living In Washington 10 prove it. There has
psen, We admit, more Oxecrati0n heaped upon the
special wrongs OF ba0k-pay than the matter itself
deserved. 1t ts not more iniquitous than other
ehings done by the last Congress which have not
BEEN 20 Soundly denounced. But taking together
all the Oonadoratiana We have memtioned, We do
not wonder that the people by common consent
have seized upon IL as the one outrage which they
will neither forgive nor forget This feeling i
shared bY all parties, and 10 not ehargoaba 70 the
eEsEtions Of the pres. Stats legislatures, HstaI
conventions, and many religious aAd secdhE
bodies have Spontan eOusly ana vigorously Tabukod
the partakers Of the baek-pay. Mr. CaFpontat
himself made his elaborate apology to . nesting
of his own political friends, who like him very
much personally, but eannOt stomach his C0nnsc-
ton with that wrong. While tAe Senator's hand
10 In, ha volunteers q long defense Oh the Credit
Mobiiipr 1obb0rus and aeems 10 be in the rock-
lssa hauog et dafendiRg anything or aAyhOdy thai
y particularly censurahIe and odious. The worst
thing about his apaaoh-Worsa evan than his 0hal-
Low sxcusaa-is the glaaful tone (which he ridi-
Gales - morbid Pablic morality OF 10 sore, hdg.
ETY., sickly morality" Exprsssions like these IN
abundance indicate the extent 10 which . man,
not bad naturally perhaps, may become demOral
lZea n Congress. II thsro eVor was 3 Roauins
and healthy moral feeling induced among the
ranks Of the people BY the miseoafducs Of their
rulers, Il has been awakened by the shocking dis
closures Of the Credit Mobilier and the bQck-psy
trickoTlea. Senator Carpenter hlundsys greatly u
helttlilg this powerful public sentiment With III
MsphisfRPholsaR SueefA He will have time
Paopgh y regret 1t IN that private hfs to which hG
is destined,