The New York herald., 1873-09-01

Ders OF congress took fees as attorneys from
clients who desired their votes and there was
scarcely Senator or member in those days
who was not paid as an attorney" by some
corporation. And although there is no record
that Washington himself engaged in any bust
ness pursuits, his secretaries proved them
selves active and able men of business, so that
in little time they were enabled to earn, in an
honorable way 0he historian avers) fortunes
large enough to justify their building of man.
sions at the seaside for occupation only in
summer.
We read also that as q consequence of this
increase in wealth and the deadening of the
moral tone which justified business specula-
tions and large gains in the White House,
there came spirit of fattery and subser-
viency to the President Rich Senators, with
the money of English widows and clergymen;
the quacks, with eight horses to their car
riages; the managers of revolutionary loans
who became rich by clipping the coin as it
were; railroad princes, with their lemans and
bands Of music; successful smugglers and the
whole class of wealthy citizens We'd with
each other as to which could make the
greatest show. The stories of this social COM
petition are SO extravagant that we suspect
our historian of exaggeration, for we read of
routs and revels that recall the times of the
French Regency. So prevalent was this spirit
that there came a desire for perpetuation
of the power. The Secretaries who were amass-
ing fortunes, the Senators who could sell
mining shares and not be rebuked, the Con-
gressmen who could raise their salaries and
still be powerful in the councils of the Presi-
dent, the quacks and railway princes, their
lemans and horses, formed o powerful party.
And Mr. Burr and his friends each of whom
saw in his own ambitions the impossibility of
advancement, proposed the denomination of
Washington for third time The country
was shocked with the suggestion, and some
journalists who ventured to attribute the idea
to MIR. Burr were set upon by the quacks and
the Congressman and the Senators rich in
back pay and the money of English widows
and clergymen, and denounced as alarmists.
Calmer men were panied and would not be-
lieve it; for, as they remarked, "How much
better to have remained loyal to George than
to endure this thing How much wiser to be
fragment of the mighty British Empire than
struggling kingdom away of on these sea-
coasts How much freer we could have been
with our ultimate right to remove q ministry
that did not please us than now to be under
perpetual Presidency which is really a dy-
nasty, surrounded by court of the worst men
who ever gained power
Well, shall we continue the parallel? What
Americans could read such record of Wash
ington's administration and not weep over
the fall of one who was first in war, first in
peace and first in the hearts of his country
men? And yet does not the history of the
last two years answer every condition we have
imagined under the administration of Wash
ington? Is there single tint in the picture
that is exaggerated or overdrawn? Is not
General Schenck Minister to London, and is
not Senator Stewart rich with the gains from
Emma Mine shares, and were not those shares
sold to English widows and clergymen, and
are they not to-day, worthless issue? And is
not Mr.. Colfax living in retirement, regarded
by the American people as an unworthy man,
as legislator who accepted bribes, and does
he not cherish the endorsement Of Grant? And
is not MIR. Bingham carrying in his stained
hands the honor Of the Americans States to a
foreign court? We repeat, is there single
tint in this picture overdrawn And
is it wise or honest or brave
for the HERALD, or for any journal
that deals fairly with its readers, to be silent
and say these things are not SO merely
because we would they were otherwise, and
because speaking the truth pains men in
power? The men in power are nothing COM
pared to the issue which assumes new gravity
every day. We are not dealing in extravagant
rhetoric. We are not warning upon Grant
We do not care the value of feather whether
republicanism or democracy rules, but we do
feel respondent and anxious in the presence
of the spirit of C@sarism which flames over
our public life, corrupting and debasing it.
reducing the Supreme Court to the level of a
caucus, and making the administration of the
brave and high-minded Grant as weak and
unworthy as that OF Pierce or Johnson. What
are all our wealth and prosperity without
those virtues in the absence of which
there is no curse like the curse Of
gold? What example in onr present
public life invites the emulation of the young
man fresh from home and freside? Why is
it that the name Of America is so despised
abroad, and that, in spite of the fact that we
raise larger surplus of taxation over expen-
diture than any other country in the world, our
credit is the jest and the pity of foreign mar
kets 1t is with ourselves that this is So
Cesarism never comes from Cesar but from
the debasement of morals which generates
ambition, arrogance, insincerity, falsehood
and display. When we speak Of Grants ad-
ministration and this third term treason we
deal with symptoms, not causes The cause
is in our own homes and hearts. Reform our
own lives be more worthy of tie men who