The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1873-03-28

that he must he supposed to have sLn,
his eyes when he opened his mouth 10
swallow Ames' sugar plums, and W,
shall he be counted expert enonuL -
stand ut the head of the Judiciary Com
mittee? Has Scofield wit enouoh -
direct the proceedings of tile Nav,
Committee in the House, but NOT w;.
enough to know how the Credit Mob.
lier bonds were to be "foated ?" Hs.
"pig-iron" Kelley intelligence enough
to protect "American industry" 6nt
not enough to protect his own honor
All this the committee asks us IL "bs.
lieve ;" in behalf of these Republican
pundits, and to believe it not only with.
out any evidence, but in direct oppos;.
ton to the confessions made by some Of
these parties when testifying in their
own behalf Could the force Of psrt.
sanship and of favoritism go any further
than this?
With the report of the committee be-.
fore them, the "plain people" of the
United States will be tempted to believe
that in our lowest deep Of national dis.
grace the investigating committee has
plumbed still lower depth. A majority
Of it's members have voluntarily turned
themselves into swift witnesses for the
defense Of these criminals-eyen swifter
and more thorough-going ones than the
accused parties thought it safe to be in
their own behalf, with all the incentives
OF self-preservation to stimulate the re.
sources Of their invention. That men
under the stress Of conscious corruption
md l. <ha oh - Ia
their eyes should betray much squirm.
ing in yielding up the secrets Of their
bosoms was only natural but that
committee of respectable and reputable
men, appointed to make inqlisition for
guilt because Of their supposed probity.
should invent palliations and excuses for
corruption, even beyond all that the
corrupted parties dared to ask or think
implies still greater dereliction from
all public and private honor which should
"feel stain like wound" Yet this
is the implication which necessarily re-
suits from the shufliing report before us.
The committee has indeed barely es-
capped from converting these shaking
reeds into giants of public virtue After
first arguing to prove that they were not
knaves, but only fools, the authors of
the report suddenly turn to descant on
the intellectual and moral strength
which kept these tempted and tried
heroes from being worsted in their
struggle with Cakes Ames. The report
says:
I'VE do not think any member ought 20 feel
so confident of his own strength a. to allow
himself to be brought into this temptation
We think Mr. Ames judged shrewdly In say
ing that man Is much more likely to I've
wstclful Of his own interests than those Of
other people But there is broader view still
which we think ought 10 be taken. This
country is fast becoming filed with gigantic
corporations welding and controlling immense
aggreGatious of money. apd thereby command
ing great influence and power. 1; is notorious
in many State Legislatures that these nhu
ences are often controlling so that in efec:
they become the ruling power Of the State
Within few years Congress has TO some ex
tent been brought within similar influences
and the knowledge Of the public on that sub
ject has brought great discredlt upon the body
far more, We believe, than there we're facts
to justify.
But such is the tendency Of the time. and
the belief is far too general that all men can
he ruled with money, and that the use of such
means, to carry public measures. Is Legitimate
ahd proper. No member # Congress ought
to place himself in crcun- -es Of suspicion.
80 that any discredit OF the ~ = shall arise on
his account. Ii is OF the highest importance
that the national Legislature should be free Of
all faint of corruption and it is Of almost equsl
necessity that the people zhould fcel confident
that il is so
lin q free government like our own cannot
EXPECT the people will long respect the LAVISH
they lose respect for the lawmakers.
For these reasons we think II behoows
every man in Congress- or in any public poti-
ton to hold himself aloof, as far AZ possible.
from all such influences. that he may not only
be enabled to look at every public question
with AN eve only to the public good, but that
his conduct and motives be not suspected or
questioned. The only criticism tho committee
feel compelled to make on the action OF these
members in taking this stock is that they were
not sufficiently careful in ascertaining wha,
they were getting, and that in their judgment
the assurance OF good Investment was All inc
assurance they needed"
The logic of this rcasoningis as fol-
lows: Cakes Ames was shrewd temp
ter of weak-minded Congressman. ne
brought his arts to bear on Bingham,
Garfield, Kelley, Scofeld. and Others.
They all bit Mt his bats, and being
caught in his snares tried to worm them
selves out, not because they did not Ike
TO be caught with their necks in trap.
Hauing this added meanness and pre-
varication to their original transgres-
sion, they are now to be dismissed win
some vaguely limited criticism on the,
imprudcnce as thrifty economists, ana
with implied eulogies on the strength o.
virtue which carried them safely through
the storm Of temptation! In the ethics
Of ordinary men the receiver is Is bads
the thief, and the bribed only little less
guilty than the briber; but in the ethics
OF our Congressional censors receive,
of suspicious gratuities is to be hela
guiltless if only he omits to inquire
what it il that he is getting, and II nc
commits this negligence at the instiga'
A.. r. .-o~:co