Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-01-02
From the Washington Capital. Dec. g
The Credit MobiIIer Panic.

The Credit MobiIIer Panic.
The vigorous, but illegitimate attack by Mr..
Brooks in the House Of Representatives upon the
of Colonel McComb, does not seem to
nave produced the desired effect. II made in
The wrong place and by the wrong party: in the |
wrong place because the floor of the House OF
Representatives is not the forum in which to ar ,
ragn pending an investigation, a witness who is ,
giving his testimony before a committee of Con {
gfcss and by the wrong party beCatIse the name
of that party is connected with the matter under
Investigation. There is probably not a iudicious
person who heard or has read the elIusiou of Mr.
BROOKS who did not feel that the spirit by which
1t was prompted was in the interest of something
else than truth and Justice and that the position
of the parties in behalf Of whom 1t was uttered
was rather injured than benefited thereby. Dis.
interested mankind are under the influence of
natural love of equity, which, when WRONG has
been committed, provoltes them to inquire into,
ant leads them to understand, the motive for its
perperation; and the pretty unanimous judgment
OF such in respect to the case in hand is that If
Mr. Brooks and his counselor5 had not been |
afraid of the truth which might he developed |
through the testimony Of Colonel McCnmb there |
would have been no assault made upon his char |
aetcr 1t needs no very profound degree of sa- |
gacity to comprehend that il was the influence of
| a common panic and not the &dignation of out
| ragged virtue by which Mr. Brooks was inspired
| on the occasion
| In the abstract, member of the Congress of
| the United States is a man above reproach and
| above suspicion. His word, uttered in his place
| in the councils of the nation, is to be taken As
true beyond question, because it Is understood to
| he spoken under sense of high personal honor
and supreme official responsibilities This pre-
SUMPTION while ii binds the public to accept as
nElliblc the utterances of political parsonage,
imposes also an obligation upon the latter to put
forth nothing by which, directly or indirectly, the
truth, in the matter of general coneenment, shall
be in any way disguised ohscured. But this
rule of belief is to be construed strictly that is to
say, it appears only to those utteranees which are
in the line of public duty and in the prosecution
of some necessary business of legislation. As the
obiter dtcta of judge are not necessarily binding
| as law, So the declarations ola member of Con
gress in matter which he may Improperly thrust
upon the body to which he belongs, have no alb
| solute claim to acceptance rs truth. la fact the
presumption is the other way; and for an icgitl-
mate act to infer dishonest motive is strictly in
, accordance with the maXims of reason and the
principles of sound construction.
1t is unfortunate in this connections that while,
in the abstract, members of Congress are entitled
; to demand implicit crcdcucc in their words, and
unlimited confidence in their intentions, there are
g facts enough known to render it more than doubt
n | tul whether in the case of the members of the
Forty Second Congress of the United States, this
credence and confidence are practically deserved
| The evidence that many Of them have permitted
L themselves TO accept of profitable interests in va
riOus enterprises, and this, with the understand
. ing that their legislative conduct was 10 be direct
ed with view to consume or To increase the val
lie of such interests, is too direct and circnmstan
2 tal to permit doubt of its substantial correct
/ ness. The position of members OF Congress
therefore, is not as strong practically as it is theo
fetcally; and this Is so Tar understood tnat IL
e, questionable whether, under any circumstances
q tBaaFeaaimers of the suspected will be accepte
y as such setuements as preclude doubt or tnrthe
m examination.
Moral disturbance unsettles the mental equt
IN rum and impels to injudicous acts. Under thi
ST mpulsion men neglect to consider the indirec
e. effects Of their doings and thereby lay themselve
III open to the very consequences which they are /;
III boring to avert The object of Mr.. Brooks wa
utterly to demolish and extinguish the witness
le the effect of whose testimony he was afraid; an'
as doubtless for the moment he imagined that, trol
9S his high place as member of Congress, he LA
IT. done the work of demolition and exiting guishmet
most etiectually. He was performing an essent
'st service not only to himself but to several 9th
OK honest gentlemen whose names had become ass
Ate ciated with suspicious circumstances, and dout
ess less greatly 10 their satisaaion and his own.
sre probable that by the time the teryors incide
r to impassioned oratOry has cooled OIL, Mr.. Broo
To discovered that he had made a mistake; that Il
work was all to do over again, with no assuran
of any good from the repetition
,ak We publish the above by request; and may AZ
lth that while we take Mr.. Bro Oks' solemn affirm
, - ton that he was not the recipient of any of I
de- Credit Mobilier stock, we would also say that
ION does violence to the truth when he asserts IL
Col. McComb is a man 'without character
h has lived in Wilmington all his life and althou
he may have certain peculiarities as to busine
which energetic and successful business men
rho almost sure to acquire, he has always born
@ e1' character of an upright member of tho Prcsby
ciau Church, of which he is regardeda As an estee
ed pillar, while his libcrality has been extend
in various directions. Without his aid some
our public enterprises could not have been co
pleted. We have yet TO hear him charged W
anything derogatory to y citizen of high char
: ter. 1t is little more than year since he v
'ei chosen President of DELAWARE COLLEGE,
l. only State Institution of learning We can boast
His election was participated in blythe ex-Goye
81 or and Governor of the State and our Senate
Representative in Congress, and other Deawa
,ha aus, whose high character the voice of our p
pie has also yindicated at the polls. Mr. BroC
,c need not tell the world that Delawarcans of 81
art standing would elevate Col. McComb to sue
Distinguishing position if he were man of
has character" 1t is also true that Col MeComb
g Of since endowed the College with a Protessorsl
which only goes to prove that he appreciates
mist honor, as every man who has been the arehii
Ihed of his own fortune and labored TO establish g
name should do-EB GAzErTE.
49,. U..s..,1.,, ~, d. 1rtD-, ~ Npw Work