Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-01-30
HE RUTLAND HERALD.
whittier are we Drifting ?

American politics, whittier are we drift
ing? Is the ship Of state in danger OF
being wrecked on the shoals and quick
sands of bribery and corruption? Is
American politics any more corrupt and
corrupting to-day than it has always
been? Are we drifting to certain ruin,
or does the telegraph and daily news
paper press spread before us, in broader
and clearer light, all that is bad and
vicious and corrupt in our current his
tory than the same elements were pre-
.ented to our fathers in their day Are
there more corrupt politicians, office
holders and OffiCe-seekers, more resort to
bribery and corruption in proportion to
our population and wealth than there
was then? These are questions that are
difficult to answer If we are to believe
the history Of the times, it has always
been bad enough There is no doubt but
that intriguing, if not corrupt practices,
were resorted to by one or both sides to
decide the presidential question between
Mr.. jefferson and Aaron Burr True it
is that members Of Congress from Mas
sachusetts had their ''toddy' charged in
the contingent expenses of the House as
stationery" while the members from
Virginia charged the same necessity as
fuel General Jackson probably went
down to his grave with the opinion that
his first defeat as President of the United
states was the result of a corrupt bar
rain between John Quincy Adams and
Henry Clay. The disclosures of William
l.. Mackenzie prove the New York Gus
tom house and New York politicians to-
have been full as rotten and corrupt as
ANYTHING that we can show at the pres
emit day The defalcations under the adj
mjui,trations of Jackson and Van Buren,
Nill compare with any under later adj
illustrations, when the number Of office
holders is considered Notwithstanding
tine pcculations and stealing of the New
York Tammany Ring the election frauds
80 New York, Boston, Philadelphia and
ter day astounding disclosures of fraud
and corruption, we still cling to the b.
lief that the world as a whole, and the
nitri States in particular, are not
growing worse as we grow older. We
still have some faith in human nature,
although we are forced to confess ii has
nuou badly shattered in the last few days
tad weeks. We need but glance at these
developments. Take the Kansas sena-
lprial election, and what a shameful
spectacle Of open and unblushing bribery
j, displayed. The votes of members
and even the members themselves. were
bought and sold like sheep in the pen.
Candidates selling their chances and their
supporters for a consideration, and then
openly carrying out their corrupt bar
Gains Such an election as this was sup
posed to confer a right to a seat in the
nitcd States Senate, said to be the most
august dcliberatiye body in the world.
And who does the expose come from,
5ut from one of the defeated aspirants
who. having exhausted his financial re-
Sources was fain to sen out to the com
petitor who had the longest purse, and
could therefore pay the highest price
for his influence and the votes Of his
friends. The Missouri senatorial cleo
-ug17, too, is said to be tainted with fraud
and corruption. and we know that a
lavish Expenditure of money was made
ia other States, but it is claimed to have
been used for legitimate expenses. 1t is
no answer to this state Of things to say
that the practice was in vogue more than
twenty years ago, and that Senators, at
that time, as well as now, held their Off
cial positions by the direct purchase of
the balance of power in State legisla-
lures. 1t is no excuse for us, that we
are no worse than our fathers. We
ought to be better Take the latest de-
velopmcnt in the Credit Mobilier inves-
tigation. While we are inclined to agree
with James Brooks and others that, in
the absence of prohibitory law, it is No
worse for senator or representative to
own, or buy and sell, Credit Mobiliet
stock and Union Pacific railroad shares
and bonds, than it is for them to have
the same transactions in bank stock,
flour, salt butter, cheese, etc, docs this
view of the case relieve them? We
thought and believed, from a review OF
the whole testimony of Ames, ColfaX,
Wilson, Patterson, Kelley and others,
that their skirts were clear of any com.
plicity in the transaction. We thought.
if they had ever owned any of this stock.
there was no harm in it, and after Their
positive denial of any dealings therein,
we were bound to believe their state
ments. How stands the case now
With some Of them, Patterson, Kelley
and ColfaX in particular, it seems that
notwithstanding their persistent and re-
terated denials, they did own and specu
late in the stocks and receive dividends
thercfrom. We dislike to believe thai
there was any corrupt motive on thei
part. We prefer to keep our faith il
human nature But the question force
itself back, why these denials? Why, i
it was correct business transaction, no
acknowledge it? The people woulC
have endorsed them then, where nov
they only see concealment and suspicion
We certainly need moral courage ant
back bone infused into our public men
The want of these will be more fatal t,
MS than corruption. The latter is hate
full to the people and can be rooted out
but without the former we are helpless
ANOTHER CREDIT MoBILIER. "A neN
Credit Moblier, Of smaller proportions