New-York tribune., 1873-07-05
PoRtY UO0D IN CONGRESS.

ROBIN MOOD IN CONGRESS.
There ia certain sort of charming ingcnu-
business III Mr.. Matt Carpenters story OF his
charities which makes a part OF his late argu-
ment in defense of what Is known as the
"Salary Grab" Mr.. Carpenter says the calls
made upon a member of Congress are inces-
SAINT; that the calamites resulting from tho
war have thrown hundreds of poor people
upon Washington from all tho States, and that
the day he left Washington "an old Wisconsin
"yOman fifty years of age" who had been
struggling to take care of four Children came
to him and informed him that one OF her
children was dead and she had not a dollar to
nav the funeral expenses. Mr. Carpenter
saws. and it is quito consistent with his
rcnntation as free e-handed, generous man,
that he gave her $50 "out of his back pay
And he adds with lust tinge of cOmplacency,
4" have always regarded myself as one OF
the disbursing agents of Providence; and the
"mOney | have earned j nave shed, as inc
Grains of heaven fall, upon the just and the
"uniust. the evil and the good. | will enter
"iuto a contract with any man to pay my
"charties for the two years | have to remain
90 in the Senate, and pay him $500 year to
&" do so: and | will venture tho prediction that
" at the end Of the term he would need back
nav to square his accounts All very true
doubtless, if not specially modest, and yet we
fail to see its pertinenCy to the question: II
NAV he q creditablo thing in any man to re-
card himself AZ one of the discussing agents
of Providence. and to shed his money as the
rains of heaven fall. Robin Hood regarded
himself as such disbursing agent; several
distinguished pirates have held the same
nleasjDg faith and shed money in the same
wav. Mr.. William Nj. Tweed of this city,
lately known as the Boss" was and is a
very generous man. He and most of his asso-
ciates acted as the disbursing agents OF Prov
idence and shed money as the rams OF heaven
fall. Doubtless they could cite instance upon
instance where they have relieved the neceSSl-
ties of the poor and succored the distressed
The only drawback that tOccurs to us III con-
nectiOn with their disbursements as agents OF
Providence is the trifling circumstance that they
dlsbursed other peoples money. To be gener-
Gus with the money of other people is not so
difficult, we suspect, "a to dlsburse IN charities
YOUR own. 1t certainly does not seem to IN
yOlye so much of sacrifice. And yet 1t Is not to
be denied that there is kind OF grace III 1t.
But because Mr.. Carpenter spends $500 a
year in charities ia no good reason for his
voting to take $1,000 out of the Federal treas
nary in addition to the salary for which he
stipulated to serve his State and country. 1t
may adOrn the Offense that he bestOws part
of it in charity. That kind of Op0n-handednes5
goes far in the popular mind to excuse the
fault; but we apprehond that if Air. Carpenter
had been serving an individual or private
corporation instead Of the State he would hnd
some difficulty in excusing to his employer his
breach of trust upon the ground that he had
| given $50 Of the amount taken to an old
WISCONSIN woman fifty years of age" The
morality of the Senator from Wisconsin is OF
a loose and shambling order. A parade OF
charities or aiIectatiOn of generosity
is no excuse for such breach of
trust as he undertakes to defend. If
after having served in the Senate through the
session and drawn the pay the law allowed him,
and which he contracted to receive in full for
his work, he had the right to reach his hand
| into the Treasury and draw out $4,000 more,
he had the same right TO draw out ten or
twenty or fifty thousand, and it makes no
difference whether he disbur5ed it IN charity
or bought houses and lands with It, The
quality of the transaction is not changed by
| the disposition of the money. If it was his
| legally and morally, it was his to do what he
pleased with, and he is in very small business
| when he puts up the defense that he disbursed
the plundor, or any part of 1t. unseldshy and
generously.
Indeed, charming and beautiful az this
grace of generosity is-and it goes a great
way with the thoughtless to palliate breach of
| trust and kindred Offenses-we are quite dis
posed to think that it should properly be held
| as an aggrayatiOn rather than mitigation.
| The men who regard themselves as the dis
bursting agents of Providence, and shed their
money as the rains of heav0n fall, upon tho
Just and unjust, are commonly put up on very
| loose patterns, doing mischief as much by
their careless scattering Of money as by their
slack and uncertain methods of acquiring it.
! 1t is not charity to shed money as tho rains
| fall. He only is really and truly charitable
who knows the value !f money and uses it
with thoughtful judgment and discretion. The
lavishness of the spendthrift Is in no sense
| charity it is simply a purchase either Of O
reputation for generosity or of relief from the
personal discomfort of witnessing distress.
| Our Wisconsin Senator argues his own unfit
ness when he talks in this loose way about
shedding money as the rains fall. People who
have that habit are not to bo trusted in
offices where they can fix their own salaries.
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